Elena Rossi did not sleep.
She lay beneath the heavy silk sheets in the unfamiliar bedroom, staring at the ceiling while Damien Moretti’s words replayed inside her mind.
You don’t have to love me.
You only have to survive.
She turned onto her side.
Tomorrow.
She had told him she would give him her answer tomorrow.
But every time she closed her eyes, she saw her father’s frightened face.
She saw the documents.
The debt.
Three million dollars.
Then nearly seven.
A debt that should have been impossible for her father to accumulate so quickly.
Someone had lied.
Someone had manipulated him.
And now Damien believed that person was inside his own organization.
Elena pulled the blanket closer.
A faint sound came from outside her door.
She froze.
Footsteps.
Slow.
Careful.
Her heart began pounding.
She sat up.
The footsteps stopped.
Elena held her breath.
Nothing.
Then—
Click.
Her bedroom door handle moved.
Her blood ran cold.
She quietly reached for the phone on the bedside table.
The handle moved again.
Before she could make a sound, the door opened.
A man stepped inside.
Elena’s hand flew over her mouth.
He wasn’t one of the guards Damien had assigned to her.
He wore a black suit.
His face was partially hidden in the darkness.
He closed the door behind him.
Elena backed away.
“Who are you?”
The man said nothing.
He reached inside his jacket.
Elena’s eyes widened.
She grabbed the nearest object—a heavy glass lamp—and raised it.
“Don’t come any closer.”
The man stopped.
Then, unexpectedly, he smiled.
“You’re Elena Rossi.”
Her grip tightened.
“How do you know my name?”
He took another step.
“Because everyone in this house knows your name.”
A sharp voice suddenly came from behind him.
“Put your hands where I can see them.”
The man froze.
Elena looked toward the doorway.
Damien stood there.
His gun was already raised.
His expression was terrifyingly calm.
Two armed men stood behind him.
“Turn around,” Damien ordered.
Slowly, the intruder turned.
Damien’s eyes narrowed.
“Marco.”
Elena’s heart dropped.
The man was Marco Moretti.
Damien’s own brother.
Marco smiled faintly.
“Relax, Damien.”
“Why are you in her room?”
“I heard something.”
“You heard something.”
Marco shrugged.
“I came to investigate.”
Damien lowered his gun by an inch.
“At two in the morning?”
Silence.
Marco looked toward Elena.
“I wanted to see the woman who has caused so much trouble.”
Damien’s jaw tightened.
“Leave.”
Marco didn’t move.
“Brother—”
“Now.”
Something passed between the two men.
Something Elena couldn’t understand.
Marco finally turned toward the door.
As he passed Damien, he leaned close and whispered something Elena couldn’t hear.
Damien’s expression changed.
Only for a second.
But Elena noticed.
Marco left.
The guards followed him.
Damien remained.
He slowly closed the door.
Elena stared at him.
“Your brother came into my room.”
“I know.”
“He had a gun.”
“I know.”
“And you’re telling me to sleep?”
Damien looked at her.
“No.”
He walked toward her.
“I’m telling you that you’re not leaving this room alone again.”
Elena frowned.
“Why?”
Damien’s eyes hardened.
“Because I was wrong.”
“About what?”
“I thought the enemy was outside my house.”
He looked toward the closed door.
“Now I know he’s already inside.”
An hour later, the entire Moretti estate was awake.
Security guards searched every hallway.
Cameras were reviewed.
Doors were locked.
Nobody was allowed to leave the property.
Elena stood behind the glass doors of the balcony, watching armed men move through the gardens.
Damien stood several feet behind her.
“You don’t trust anyone,” she said quietly.
“No.”
“Not even your family?”
Damien’s silence answered her.
She turned.
“What did Marco whisper to you?”
Damien looked at her.
“Nothing you need to know.”
Elena scoffed.
“That’s becoming your favorite answer.”
“It keeps people alive.”
“Or keeps them ignorant.”
His eyes met hers.
For several seconds, neither spoke.
Then Damien walked closer.
“Elena.”
“What?”
“If I tell you something, you listen.”
She crossed her arms.
“I’m listening.”
“The person who sent that message knows everything about my organization.”
He paused.
“They know where you are.”
Elena swallowed.
“They know about your father.”
“Yes.”
“They know you’re considering marrying me.”
Damien’s face became colder.
“Yes.”
“And they know how to get inside your house.”
His eyes hardened.
“Yes.”
Elena’s voice dropped.
“Then they’re not just watching you.”
Damien stepped closer.
“They’re watching you.”
A chill moved down her spine.
Suddenly, the phone on the table rang.
Both of them looked toward it.
Damien answered.
“Speak.”
The voice on the other end was hurried.
“Boss, we found something.”
“What?”
“A security camera was disabled for exactly eleven minutes.”
Damien’s eyes narrowed.
“Which camera?”
There was a pause.
“Elena’s hallway.”
Damien’s expression became murderous.
“When?”
“Twenty minutes before your arrival.”
Elena stared at him.
Someone had been watching her.
Someone had entered the hallway.
Someone had deliberately disabled the camera.
Damien slowly lowered the phone.
Then he looked at Elena.
“Stay here.”
She caught his arm.
“Where are you going?”
“To find out who did it.”
“Damien.”
He stopped.
She looked into his eyes.
“Be careful.”
For the first time that night, something softened in Damien’s expression.
Only slightly.
“I will.”
He walked away.
Elena watched him disappear through the doorway.
She didn’t know why her chest felt strangely tight.
She didn’t know why she suddenly feared something happening to him.
And she certainly didn’t understand why the thought of losing a man she had only known for days frightened her.
But there was something else.
Something Damien didn’t know.
As Elena turned back toward the balcony, she noticed something lying on the floor beneath the curtains.
A small black envelope.
Her heart stopped.
She picked it up.
There was no name on it.
No address.
Only one sentence written across the front.
FOR THE FUTURE QUEEN.
Elena’s fingers trembled.
She opened it.
Inside was a photograph.
Her father.
Standing beside another man.
Elena stared at the stranger.
She recognized him.
Her blood ran cold.
It was someone she had seen inside Damien’s house.
Someone who had been standing beside Damien only hours earlier.
On the back of the photograph were six words.
ASK DAMIEN WHO HE REALLY TRUSTS.
Elena slowly looked toward the door.
And for the first time since entering the Moretti mansion, she wondered—
What if Damien wasn’t the only person she needed to fear?