As I step out of the black Rolls-Royce, the expensive leather seats still warm her skin. To the world, I look like a girl who belong in this luxury. But as I looked up at the Harper Estate, I knew the truth I was not a guest. I was the blade they never saw it coming .
The rough crunch below my heels shoe that cost more than my father funeral ,I dislike them , I dislike the way the dress clung to my ribs, a beautiful cage design to hide the scars Marcus had left behind.
Above all , limestone of the estate seem to watch close to me, daring me to cross , this was the dragon lair. And I was walking right into its mouth with nothing but faking my smile with a heart full of glass.
The huge door open before I was able to even reach there . A man stand there, and his shadow stretch long away from the marble . He is Christian Harper a very old man ,his eyes looks weak . This is a Butler, the gateman of the Harper secret. Miss Cruz he said ,his voice as cold as the stone wall. Yes, he replied My voice is a sharp contrast to the storm inside of me. I have spent months learning the sound of a girl who has everything and expects nothing in return . He stepped aside and I entered. The air inside is different ,It smells of wax , like old money, and something else like metallic.
Somewhere in this house is a man who saw her father die and also trained to destroy. Mr Harper finished a meeting in the East Wing , the butler said , his footstep silent on a polished floor. You are to wait in his office . He don't like to be kept waiting, but he like to be interrupted even less.
He lead me to the hall line with portrait of men who have the same hard jawline .The Harper Dynasty, I look at their faces and all I see only target. When we have reach the office , the door were so heavy they require both strong men to move it . Inside, the walls are buried under hundreds of books. It should feel like a sanctions , but to me, it felt like
Prison.
I walk to the center of that room and waited for Five minute , and the silence is a physical weight on me . Then, the sounds of the door opened behind me which break the spell.
You are late, a voice said , It is deep, and carries the authority of a man who owns the air he breath, turned slowly , Christian Harper is lean against the door and He is not wearing a suit. His shirt sleeve are roll up, reveal forearm that looks like they are carved from granite . May looking at him he does not look like a businessman . He looks like a king who has just return from a war he won. I was told to wait, I said with my fake smile firm in the place.He walked towards me, his eyes scanning me from my expensive shoe to the silk that cover my scar. He stop so close that I felt the heat off him. I didn't hire you for your punctuality, Daniella, he said , his eyes locking onto mine with an intensity that makes my heart of glass crack. I hired you because you are the only one in this city that look more dangerous than I am.
The silence that followed was thick heavy with everything no one dared to say.
I didn't blink. I couldn't.
Because this… this wasn't the frail, aging man I knew.
"Dangerous?" I huffed out a small laugh. "I'm just a girl trying to start over, Mr. Harper. I thought your interest in me was strictly professional."
"Nothing about me is ever strict or professional," Christian replied, taking another slow step closer.
It was intentional everything about him was. The closeness, the pressure, the quiet demand for me to move.
Even though every nerve in my body was screaming at me to reach for the blade strapped to my thigh.
"Don't play small with me," he said. I know Marcus. And that dress?" His gaze dipped, then returned to my face. "That's the only soft thing about you."
His hand lifted, hovering just shy of my throat.
For a heartbeat, I thought he might touch me.
Instead, he moved past me, reaching for the crystal decanter on the desk. He poured a drink with unhurried ease, like he hadn't just tested how close I'd let him get. His eyes stayed on mine the entire time.
"You didn't come here by accident, Daniella," he said. You think you've finally found the man who ruined your life."
He took a slow sip.
"So the real question is do you have it in you to finish what you started? Or are you just another pretty girl who got in over her head?"
My heart slammed hard against my ribs, fast and restless.
Maybe not everything but enough to be dangerous.
And if he knew… why let me in?
"I can finish what I started," I said, my voice low. It held steady, but there was no softness left in it.
That earned me a smile.
Not a kind one.
The kind that said he'd been waiting for that answer.
He set his glass aside and stepped in again, close enough that I felt the warmth of his breath near my ear.
"In this house," he murmured, "the most dangerous thing isn't the secrets. It's the people trying to keep them."
He pulled back, straightening like the moment hadn't meant anything at all.
"Welcome to the family, Daniella," he added.
Then he turned away from me, walking toward the window, already done with the conversation.
I stayed where I was, right in the center of the room.
No easy way out.
The doors were closed. Whatever this was it had already begun.
And as I watched him stand there, calm and untouchable, one thought settled in, cold and certain
For the first time, I wasn't the only one in the room who came armed.