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“Remember I mentioned I wanted you to dress as my personal assistant rather than a maid? I ordered clothes. They arrived.”

His assistant. That feels like a lifetime ago and I wince as I push away. I’m his assistant. His employee.

Rising from the bed, I head for the bathroom, hoping to hide as I collect myself. I can’t forget my role in this house.

He even paid for the sex. That makes me cringe.

Because somewhere after orgasm number three, and falling asleep in his arms, it has felt way more personal.

But if I wanted a moment, I don’t get it. He gets up and follows. “I’ll get you another cup of espresso.”

“Just show me how to use the machine and then I can make the coffee for you.” I don’t look at him as I stop in middle of the bathroom. “Is it all right if I use the shower?”

“Of course,” he answers, and I catch the slight furrow of his brow. But I turn away, opening the glass door and reach for the knob.

The water is instantly hot, and I step in, going to close the door behind me but Triston is there, hand on the door.

“My brothers are all arriving in the next hour,” he says as he steps in. “Including my eldest brother.”

“The duke?”

“That’s right. His flight should be landing shortly.”

I dip my head under water, trying to puzzle this out. “Did he already have a flight booked?”

“No. He was able to find a friend with a private jet who’s bringing him over.”

“Private jet?” I reach for the shampoo, feeling as though I am in deep over my head.

“We’re working on buying our own. Next on the list,” Triston says, turning on a separate sprayer as he wets himself down. “I want you to meet him.”

“Why?” I ask, a weight settling in my belly.

“Because,” he turns back to me then. “You are part of this too.”

Right. I’m the reason that a major deal is about to fall through. His family surely hates me.

I’m the maid who managed to detonate a major real estate company. I scrub out my hair, applying the expensive conditioner. I might as well look good as I face the jury.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

Triston

Honeyeh has beenquiet since we woke up for the second time. And not a good quiet. She doesn’t purr with contentment. If anything, tension simmers under the surface.

Is she worried about my brothers? Hers? Dimitri? All of the above? We’re due for a good long chat about the future, but I need to handle my family first.

Ryker, Rush, and Killian will follow my lead. Gris, my twin, does a lot more questioning, but if my choices mitigate danger, he’ll be on board. He’s about to get married and is all about quality of life and more time for his soon-to-be bride.

But Win. He’s got my father’s uncompromising nature, my mother’s head for business, and the kind of alpha energy that makes most other men tremble.

It’s not a false bravado. Win is deeply confident, and it makes changing course nearly impossible once he’s decided upon a path.

Honestly, he’s a prick.

Not that I don’t love him. But he thinks he answers to none of us. He’s a giant pain in the ass.

My responsibility is to support him and the rest of this family, and that has made me feel heavy. Until Honeyeh.