hina

first thing I saw was a ce

g like the storage room I spent countless nights in. The fruit fragrance of t

eath me. My balance faltered, and I scrambled backwards, tangling in unfami

oth hardwood, coo

oked

om was

y c

nd coconut, it lingered in the air, subtle but deliberate. Nothing like the damp storage room I h

hing gre

rne's house? Or did

at the centre, dressed in white sheets, so crisp it almost glowed in the f

dows, only a beautiful white

ble res

ot look li

as one hell of a

before I could

fr

ely groomed. Suit pressed without a crease. He carried

hat

are of the state of my clothes. Faded. Worn. I look

he said evenly. "G

as controll

ling to my feet. "I can't s

" He placed a file neatly on the be

can't be Ev

calmly. "Ensure you understand everything on th

rk?" I

already t

with a soft me

ck

llowed was heavie

Evander Thorne e

. Hates women. A man who could e

bed slowly and pi

hold

art time. Finish time. Allocated minutes for

to six p.

e to be a housekee

for the transaction tha

he wardrobe

for

rs. Crisp aprons. Identical. L

ide were five

my s

ightened aro

k

poken blindly. This

be and pushed ope

ath

o

shower. Clean towels

ndow, beneath the standing pipe. My parents had

in the bathrooms des

f the most feared man in the

rible man, but he provid

rv

settled i

edroom just as the

man stepp

int on several document

tively st

there was warning beneath the c

not roughly, pressed my thumb ont

of Se

nto my vision before he f

my hand again.

lph

l and more like a command. He took my thu

e," h

sked, my voice thin

This is Lord Evander Thorne's empire. Not

ld my

ublic, the agreed punishm

pau

ea

t did not need to. Cold spread thr

w clean the environment was and recalling how my mum constantly t

eady collected payme

ym

ore I could

oor l

es gav

ym

orking, and they are

my mouth to stop the sound

dia

t. She told them abo

me to the country's most fea

myself

t out of here,

udy the environment, a

nother tho

d me. If he cannot find

may have treated me like an inconven

lowly, stea

i

he terms. I will complete w

will leav

deal. The man who just left said I was he

unlocke

sk near the window. Only then did I notice the subtle extensio

ly. Nothing like the man

" I said in

not r

icken Caesar salad. Fr

thout he

skin. I stood beneath it longer than necessary,

of the pyjamas an

impossibly soft

yes, and slee

, I gasped and shot upright. The same ma

at five fifty," he s

art p

e five m

lef

rom my face, br

ad made m

it perfectly. The white collar lay sharp against my throat.

ck

tepped back, i

s wai

me," h

lined with neutral walls. W

a home and more like a luxury hotel lobby. Polished floors

the door bef

ai

fly and returned wi

Cloths. Dust

to be immaculate. You

to leave,

o to the

explain, bu

an cl

rivate sitting areas. Bathrooms bigger than entire sections of my fo

I worked quickly, pulse stead

aw the s

rds discreetly

top

id not to

second before climb

r felt

he landing

ss partition,

rtl

w against his narrow waist. His skin was pale but

a chain, pulling it down towards

tightened and released

ing frantic in

ggre

dis

a man who needed to

ike one who

ot from attraction,

that

nued to

a man of

lcula

petition, head t

he sensed

ules on you

came from

y my shoulder struck the wal

r stood on the stai

hough offering a courtesy. "I

allo

'm so

through the glass,

as g

ow that w