Sophia Vale stepped out of the sleek black town car with her small suitcase in hand, the cool night air of the estate grounds raising goosebumps along her arms. Blackthorn Estate loomed before her like something out of a dark dream — a sprawling modern mansion of glass, stone, and shadowed luxury, surrounded by acres of perfectly manicured lawns and dense woods that made the property feel completely isolated from the rest of the world.
Victor Black had interviewed her himself two days earlier. The billionaire hadn’t smiled once. At 48, he was even more imposing in person than in the rare photos she’d seen online: 6’4” of solid, disciplined muscle beneath an impeccably tailored black shirt, silver threading through his dark hair, and those piercing steel-gray eyes that seemed to strip her
