Rhett
“Ayla, you still awake?”
I knocked on her door lightly. Twice. Before I could go for the third knock, the door opened. Ayla stood there with damp hair dripping down her shoulders, wearing an oversized Winnie the Pooh T-shirt with a honey stain on it. The shorts were plain—and way too short. I had to clear my throat and force my eyes to stay above her neckline.
For a second, I just froze… then finally looked away, focusing only on her face.
That innocent face dragged me straight back to the first day she walked into the Corsetti mansion—a ten-year-old girl with confused eyes and a ponytail. Back then, Reese, Reid, and I had just lost Dad a week earlier. A sudden heart attack ripped him away too soon, leaving our world in pieces.
Dad passed the entire Corsetti empire to Uncle Viro
