DON'S CONTRACT WIFE

A FIRSTWARNING

The First Warning

Maya didn't move.

The footsteps below grew louder.

One step.

Then another.

She pressed herself against the wall, barely breathing.

A shadow appeared at the bottom of the staircase.

Luca.

He looked up.

Their eyes met.

For a second, neither of them spoke.

Then Luca smiled.

"You shouldn't wander around this late."

Maya forced her voice to remain steady.

"I couldn't sleep."

"Understandable."

His gaze moved briefly toward the corridor behind her.

"New house."

"New husband."

She almost regretted saying it.

Luca's smile disappeared.

"Be careful with that word."

Maya frowned.

"Why?"

He climbed another step.

"Because in this family, words have consequences."

She held his gaze.

"Are you threatening me?"

"No."

He stopped several steps away.

"I'm warning you."

"About what?"

Luca's expression hardened.

"About believing everything Adrian tells you."

Before Maya could respond, another voice came from behind him.

"Luca."

Adrian stood at the end of the hallway.

His shirt sleeves were rolled up, and his tie hung loose around his neck. He looked exhausted.

But his eyes were alert.

Luca turned.

"Adrian."

"What are you doing?"

"Talking."

"At two in the morning?"

Luca shrugged.

"Couldn't sleep."

Adrian's gaze moved to Maya.

"Go back to your room."

She bristled.

"I can handle a conversation."

"I know."

His voice softened.

"Please."

The single word made her pause.

She looked at Luca once more before walking away.

Maya closed her bedroom door.

She leaned against it.

Her heart was still racing.

Luca had warned her.

But why?

And what exactly had he meant by disappearing?

She walked toward the window.

The estate was quiet beneath the moonlight.

Then she noticed a vehicle parked beyond the gates.

A dark sedan.

Its headlights were off.

It hadn't been there earlier.

Maya watched it for several seconds.

Then the car slowly drove away.

Downstairs, Adrian entered his study.

Luca was waiting.

"You shouldn't have spoken to her."

Luca poured himself a drink.

"She deserved to know."

"You don't know what she deserves."

"I know what you're doing."

Adrian stopped.

Luca looked at him.

"You're protecting her."

"She's my wife."

"She's your contract wife."

Silence.

Adrian's jaw tightened.

"Watch yourself."

Luca set down the glass.

"That's exactly what I'm doing."

He stepped closer.

"You've spent ten years building walls around yourself. Now one woman walks into this house and suddenly you're opening doors."

"Enough."

"Is she worth it?"

Adrian's expression hardened.

"Don't make me answer that."

Luca studied him.

For a moment, something almost like concern crossed his face.

Then it disappeared.

"You should be asking why she was chosen."

Adrian's eyes narrowed.

"What do you mean?"

Luca walked toward the door.

"Find out who approached the lawyer before the contract was drafted."

He paused.

"Then ask yourself why someone wanted Maya Bennett inside this house."

The door closed.

Adrian remained still.

The next morning, Maya found a small envelope beneath her bedroom door.

No name.

No seal.

She picked it up cautiously.

Inside was a photograph.

Her father stood outside a building she had never seen before.

Beside him was a much younger Adrian.

Maya stared.

Her father had never mentioned Adrian.

At the bottom of the photograph, someone had written:

Ask your husband what happened that night.

His fingers began to tremble.

A second photograph slid from the envelope.

This one showed a newspaper clipping.

LOCAL BUSINESSMAN DIES IN MYSTERIOUS FIRE.

Her father's name was printed beneath the headline.

Maya stopped breathing for a moment.

She knew about her father's death.

Everyone did.

An accident, they had said.

But the photograph suggested something else.

Someone had been hiding the truth.

And apparently, Adrian knew it.

Maya found him in the study.

She placed the photographs on his desk.

"What happened to my father?"

Adrian looked at the first photograph.

The color drained slightly from his face.

"Where did you get these?"

"That isn't an answer."

He picked up the second photograph.

His thumb passed slowly over the newspaper clipping.

"Maya..."

"No."

Her voice shook.

"Don't protect me from the truth."

He looked at her.

There was something in his eyes she hadn't seen before.

Regret.

"I promised your father something."

She swallowed.

"What?"

"That I would keep you away from this life."

"Then why did you marry me?"

His silence lasted too long.

Maya stepped back.

"Adrian."

He finally spoke.

"Because someone else knew your father made that promise."

A chill ran through her.

"Who?"

Adrian looked toward the window.

"I don't know yet."

He paused.

"But whoever they are..."

His gaze returned to hers.

"They're the reason you were never supposed to become my wife."

Maya stared at him.

The contract suddenly felt different in her hands.

It was no longer a deal between two desperate strangers.

It was beginning to look like a trap.