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“I’ll call you,” Willem murmured. “Lock up now and have a good night’s sleep.”

Knowing the billionaire was used to being obeyed without question, Shane simply smiled and nodded. “Good night.” She closed and locked the door, and after a moment’s hesitation, she rushed up the stairs, eager to tell Melanie about her progress.

Patience was the key, Shane thought to herself. Even if it took years, she would be patient and bide her time to ensure that she would be able to bring the Dutch billionaire to the altar.

****

WILLEM DE KONIGH WAITEDfor the sound of Shane’s footsteps to fade before turning around to leave. When he rounded the hallway, he saw with a frown that his bodyguards were busy chatting up a woman.

Before he could ask what the hell was happening, his security sensed his presence and immediately swung around to face him, their faces as stiff as their posture. Behind the two guards, a pair of blue eyes, startlingly similar to Willem’s, peered warily at him.

Not a woman, Willem discovered, stunned. Instead, it was a teenage girl, whose face was extraordinarily pretty...and blank.

Too blank.

He gave his guards a look, and understanding the silent command, his security immediately stepped back to reveal the girl hiding behind them.

Ah.

Seeing more of her face now, he immediately recognized who she was, her resemblance to Shane too strong to make her anything other than the younger sister Shane had briefly told him about.

He watched her watch him as he approached, and amusement gleamed in his eyes as the girl’s expression remained unchanging all throughout.

How perfectly composed, he thought. How utterly unlike her rather vivacious sister and, for that matter, nothing at all like any of his audacious younger sisters either.

“Hello.” Willem kept his voice light as he offered his hand, per the customs of his kind. “Willem de Konigh.”

“Hello.” Her voice was quiet but clear, her hand soft and frail in his. “Serenity Raleigh.”

“You are Shane’s younger sister?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Willem would do.”

The girl simply nodded.

They stared at each other.

He should leave, Willem was thinking. He had never taken the time to speak with teenage girls, and he had no reason to start doing so with Shane’s sibling.

He should leave...but he couldn’t.

He should leave, Serenity was thinking. Or at least she should want him to leave, knowing that the less time she spent with her sister’s date, the less trouble she would likely be in.

She should make him leave, really...but she couldn’t.

He asked finally, “Have you been talking to my security for long?” She answered him with silence, and correctly interpreting the reason for it, he said gently, “It’s not a trick question. Whatever your answer is, it won’t place their jobs on the line.”

At his words, some of the tension visibly left the girl’s body, but her voice remained cautious when she replied, “Just a while.”

“How many minutes,” he asked curiously, “would a while be?”

“Just a while,” the girl answered, firmly.

He raised a brow.

The girl raised a brow back at him.