Monster In Silk

⚜️ The Brother

The elevator doors closed on Selene's smile, but the tension in the penthouse lingered like smoke.

Adrian's hand dropped from Cassie's back, leaving a cold spot where his palm had been. He walked to the bar, poured two fingers of Macallan 25, and handed it to her without asking.

"Drink," he said. "You look like you're going to faint."

Cassie took the glass, her fingers brushing his. The whisky burned going down, but it was a distraction.

"Your brother," she said, trying to piece together the fragments. "Julian. He's..."

"Dangerous in a different way than I am," Adrian said, his voice flat. "Julian is charming, reckless, and has a talent for losing money he doesn't have. He owes people. Important people."

"And Selene is exactly his type," Cassie finished, the puzzle clicking into place. "She's using him to get to you."

Adrian nodded, a small, cold smile playing on his lips. "Selene doesn't know how hard it is to use Julian. He thinks he's manipulating her, but she's the one who's predictable."

Cassie watched him, the way he moved with precision, like a man calculating ten steps ahead. "You don't like him much, do you?"

Adrian's smile vanished. "I love him. He's my brother. But Julian is a liability. And now he's connected to your step-sister, who is definitely a liability."

The whisky was hitting Cassie's bloodstream, making her edges fuzzy. She set the glass down.

"Why did you let them in?" she asked.

Adrian leaned against the kitchen island, arms crossed over his chest. "I wanted to see her reaction. I wanted to see if she'd try to contact you tonight."

"And?"

"She will. Tomorrow. She'll pretend to be worried about you. She'll try to get you alone."

Cassie felt a shiver run down her spine. "How do you know?"

"Because Selene doesn't do anything without a reason. And her reason is you. Or, more specifically, what you have that she wants."

The way he said it — low, certain — made Cassie look up at him. Adrian was watching her, his eyes dark in the dim light of the penthouse.

"What do I have?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

"You have me," he said, his voice dropping an octave. "For the next twelve months."

The words hung in the air, too heavy, too true. Cassie felt her pulse quicken.

The phone on the island buzzed, breaking the tension. Adrian picked it up.

"Blackwood... Yes, Silas. I see it. Get the team on it. Tomorrow, 6 a.m."

He hung up, his expression unreadable.

"What?" Cassie asked.

"The photo of us on the City Hall steps is live. Page Six. The Van Alen family is calling it a 'sham marriage' to avoid the merger. My mother is calling it a 'disaster.'"

Cassie felt a jolt of panic. "What do we do?"

Adrian's smile was back, cold and sharp. "We do nothing. We let them think it's a sham. It makes them underestimate us."

He walked toward her, stopping just short of touching her again. His eyes dropped to her mouth, then back up.

"Get some sleep, Cassie. Tomorrow is going to be... interesting."

Cassie nodded, her legs unsteady as she walked to her room. She felt his eyes on her the entire way.

In her room, she changed into the softest pajamas she'd ever worn — also in her closet, also with a tag: Lundstrom, $280 — and collapsed onto the bed.

But sleep didn't come.

At 1:42 a.m., she heard the sound of glass shattering in the kitchen. She got up, found Adrian in the dark, pouring himself another drink, his eyes fixed on the city below.

"Can't sleep?" she asked.

He didn't turn. "I don't sleep much."

Cassie walked closer, the silence between them thick. "What are you thinking about?"

He turned then, his eyes black in the shadows. "I'm thinking about how easy it would be to take advantage of you right now."

The words were a dare. Cassie's heart was racing, but she didn't step back.

"Clause 9.1," she whispered.

Adrian's smile was a ghost. "Clause 9.1 is a safety net, Cassie. Not a challenge."

He turned away again, but not before she saw the tension in his shoulders, the way his jaw was clenched.

Cassie went back to bed, her mind spinning.

Selene was playing a game. So was Adrian. And Cassie was caught in the middle, wearing a ring that felt like a warning.