Ivy’s pov
The silence in the grand foyer was so deafening I could hear blood rushing in my ears. I stood there like a statue, clutching the handle of my bag, feeling like I was caught red-handed trying to steal from a museum.
Maybe if I fell to the ground, my brown cardigan would match the brown marble, and I could hide there until they left like a freaking chameleon.
"Hello?" a husky baritone drawled from above, and my head snapped up to see the hazel-eyed Knight that had haunted my dreams, snapping his fingers at me.
"Are you having a seizure? I swear if those folks sent us a faulty housekeeper, they’re fucked."
My brows snapped together, gathering at my forehead. That was rude.
A faulty housekeeper?
My teeth sunk hard on my bottom lip, biting back the tart retort that was ready to slip. It had to be him, right?
"Kai, leave her alone," His twin said, running a hand through his golden wispy curls, his hazel-green eyes glinting as he stopped right in front of me.
I almost had a seizure at the scent of oud that teased my nose. Was it him then? Those eyes were the same. There was a hint of cinnamon to his scent, though. "You’re scaring the pretty lady,"
"I’m not the one looming over her," Kai shot back from the balcony, leaning over the railing with amusement dancing in his eyes.
"She looks like she’s about to bolt. Miss...?" He trailed off, and I felt both their eyes on me, throwing my body in a dizzying, weighty sensation.
"Ivy," I managed to croak out, my throat tight with fear and shock. "Ivy Harpley."
"Pretty name for a beautiful woman," the twin before me winked, a stray curl falling over his face. I had to dig my nails deep in my palm to stop myself from doing something silly like reaching up to push that curl back. All the while, a voice was screaming in my head.
I had sex with a Knight brother. He has a twin, and now I don’t freaking know who. So, what if I knew who? How on earth was that relevant to my mission?
It wasn’t. I wasn’t here to play Where’s Waldo, for heaven’s sake; I wanted a way to get into Knight Industry, and I had just managed to work my way into their house! Father would be pleased.
The highest I would spend was a month to get what Father needed, and Ivy Harpley would cease to exist. Whoever had pounded my brains out in the elevator that night was not important.
No matter how much my thighs tightened together, hot liquid thrills pooling between them as the brother before me beamed at me, holding his right hand out for a handshake.
"Welcome to Winslow Estate. I’m Roman. That menace up there is my brother, Malachi."
Roman and Malachi Knight. Dammit, I should have read that file; then I wouldn’t be so caught off guard. My one-night stand was one of them.
But which? The man smiling at me so gently with that weird knowing glint in his eyes, or the one rolling his eyes at us from the balcony. "If you’re done babysitting the housekeeper, can we leave?"
"Don’t mind him; he can be a toothless Neanderthal sometimes," Roman sighed dramatically, placing his left hand on his chest while keeping the right outstretched. I fought back a snicker, reaching out to take his hand.
My breath hitched when my slender palm slid into his warm, large hand, heat suffusing through my entire body. He gave a low rumble, running his thumb over my palm.
"They’re so soft for a housekeeper’s,"
I snatched my hand back as if I had been burned. The stranger in the elevator had held my hands against his, interlocking our fingers together. If it had been him, what if he remembered my hands?
Roman’s eyes flickered with something- curiosity maybe? "Easy there. I’m not going to bite."
"I, on the other hand, will," Malachi called down from his perch, his smirk widening. "You know, since I’m fucking raised by wolves and all."
Resisisting the urge to stick my tongue at him, I bowed my head in a low curtsy while mouthing, "I’ll be sure to bear that in mind."
Malachi grinned, pushing off the railing. He started down the grand staircase, boots gliding down the glittering stairs confidently. "Speaking of which, we should call the agency. Let them know we’ve received their... prodigy."
"No!" The word shot out of my mouth, full of panic.
Both brothers stopped, their heads tilting in unison, matching hazel eyes fixing on me with identical raised eyebrows. I felt my face flush for the hundredth time in fifteen minutes.
"I-I mean," I stammered, forcing a sheepish smile, "there’s no need. I’ll...I’ll inform them myself. It... It is part of my duties, after all, you know."
Roman’s eyes softened; that warm, disarming smile was back on his face again. "Of course. Settling in is the priority." He gestured down a hallway to the right of the main entrance.
"The house is all yours. We have a chef that comes in, so that will not be part of your duties; everything else in the house is under your care."
"Well, except the west wing and maybe Gideon’s study?" Malachi finally reached the bottom of the stairs and sauntered toward us.
"Gideon?" I muttered without thinking, brows raised in question.
"You’ll fill in the paperwork and your bank account when he arrives," Roman replied while Malachi reached behind a nearby black door and produced a piece of black fabric so tiny it would have been generous to call it a handkerchief.
It had a frilly white apron attached to it. "I took the liberty of getting you your uniform," his eyes danced with mischief.
"What do you think? It’s custom-made."
I stared at the scrap of lace, my mouth agape. This had to be a joke. There was no way that was my actual uniform; my tits and ass would be hanging out of it! I was Harper Kingsley for God’s sake.
"I think it’s a bit conservative for my taste," My voice dripped with sarcasm. "Do you have it in red?"
Roman let out a booming chuckle that echoed in the vast foyer. "Kai, you’re an asshole. Leave her alone. What he means is, your room is the third on the left, just down the hall. You’ll get your uniform and everything else you need is there."
"Thank you," I tipped my head in a curtsy and turned on my heels quickly, practically fleeing down the hallway Roman had indicated, my heart beating wildly against my chest.
I had gone to Knight Industries this morning for an interview to infiltrate the company, only to end up in their house, deep in enemy territory, impersonating their housekeeper who was supposed to resume today—and I had sex with one of them on New Year’s Eve!
What else could go wrong?
My phone chimed with a message from my father once I stepped into the room. "Here’s your first task. There’s a document in the mansion, a ledger. It details all of Knight’s Insurance’s offshore accounts. Find it and get it to me."