Chapter 2

Juno

My heart lurched. I lowered the binoculars at once and abandoned any thought of slipping into Leo's room early.

The wait dragged on into the dead of night.

I changed into my most seductive lingerie and studied my face in the mirror, over and over. Flawless as it was, I couldn't afford to be careless. This face was exactly what Leo loved.

He was getting old. In bed, he'd long since lost his edge—but he still spent a fortune keeping me. He needed to show off in front of his friends, to prove he was still virile enough to make a young, beautiful woman devote herself to him body and soul.

When I saw the headlights of Leo's car flare up in the distance, I pulled myself together and took out the pills I'd prepared. The persona I'd so carefully crafted meant I could never ask for money outright. But once the pills had done their work, a satisfied Leo might just remember my wages afterward.

I waited a little longer before slipping out of the servants' quarters and creeping into the lavish villa across the way. I took off my shoes at the door, making sure my steps made no sound on the floor. It was deep in the night, and not a single light burned inside the villa—only the dim moonlight filtering through the windows.

Feeling my way along the banister, I started up the stairs—and suddenly noticed a figure standing beside them. A tall body stood motionless in the darkness, still as a demon, deep blue eyes fixed on me without so much as a blink.

"Ah—"

I shrieked in fright, then clapped a hand over my mouth just in time.

Then I saw who it was. Caleb.

Not asleep at this hour, lurking by the stairs to scare me?

"What are you doing here?" I pressed a hand to my chest, my breathing still ragged from the shock.

The figure stepped out of the darkness, its sharp contours softening in the moonlight. Caleb and his brother Orion had inherited their late mother's beauty—none of Leo's coarse, brutish edge. They were as beautiful as noblemen in a medieval oil painting. But beauty like that, in the dark, looked more like a vampire's, waiting for the chance to tear open my throat.

"That's my question to ask," he said. "Is this really a place you belong?"

I stand a full five foot nine, yet before Caleb I could only tilt my head up to meet that oppressive face of his. A faint, unreadable smile played at the corner of his lips as he raised an eyebrow at me.

"Coming here in the middle of the night—are you after something valuable, or trying to steal Father's confidential files? Either way, you need to get lost."

The confidence written all over Caleb's face made me laugh out loud. Children were children—their ideas were so simple. I'd come here at this hour, and he actually thought I meant to steal something?

I looked up at Caleb and, with a teasing finger, tipped up his chin.

"Baby, maybe I came looking for your father in the middle of the night because I wanted to do something you boys aren't supposed to see."

Once my meaning sank in, Caleb's skin visibly reddened. His lips parted, but for the longest moment no words came out; even his neck flushed crimson. Those aquamarine eyes brimmed with shock, then he turned his head away and spat out a vicious curse.

"You shameless [expletive]!"

Being cursed at only made me laugh harder. For reasons I couldn't explain, though Caleb opposed me at every turn, I found this bashful side of his especially endearing.

Maybe we'd been too loud, because we woke Leo upstairs. Light spilled from the second-floor bedroom, and then came Leo's voice.

"Who's down there?"

His low voice tolled like a death knell in the night, and my heart gave a violent shudder. Almost on instinct, I began scanning for somewhere to hide. Luckily there was an unused liquor cabinet in the living room—as long as Leo didn't turn on the lights, he shouldn't spot me.

"It's—"

I clamped a hand over Caleb's mouth just before he could speak.

"Are you insane?" I leaned close to him and hissed a threat, my voice thick with terror. "Do you know what my position is? If he finds us together, do you have any idea what will happen to me?"

After my warning, Caleb clearly grasped it too. Leo was a stubborn old traditionalist—not even his own son was allowed to lay a finger on his woman.

He'd meant to resist, but now, before Leo could come downstairs, he ducked with me into the cramped liquor cabinet.

There wasn't much room inside—just enough for Caleb and me to stand face to face. It was so tight that my chest was crushed hard against his body, and in the light seeping through the cabinet's gaps, the two-fold curve pressed up at my chest was plainly visible. Caleb took one look and quickly averted his eyes. I couldn't make out his expression, but I could feel it clearly—the body pressed against mine was burning ridiculously hot.

"Come out."

Leo's voice was right outside, right up against the cabinet. My heart shot into my throat. Through the gap I saw the gun in his hand. Had he found us after all?

If I got hauled out like this, Caleb was his own son—even if Leo disliked him, the punishment wouldn't be severe. But the moment I was thrown out of the estate, my creditors would have my life. I bit down hard on my lower lip, my body trembling with fear.

Just as I was weighing whether to step out, a large hand across from me covered my mouth. In the darkness, I saw Caleb shake his head at me.

I understood at once. No one knew his father better than Caleb—Leo hadn't found us. He was only bluffing.

Sure enough, after calling out a few more times, Leo let his guard down, tucked the pistol back at his waist, and turned to head up the stairs.

But no sooner had I breathed a sigh of relief than I sensed something was wrong. A hard, scalding object was pressing against my belly, like a second gun. I looked down.

The front of Caleb's trousers bulged high, and his ever-hotter body leaned back against the cabinet as if trying to get away from me. But there was no escaping the soft pressure of my chest. His breathing was heavy as a worn-out bellows, and the fire building in him made his body blazing hot.