Page 48 of Rejected By My Shifter Billionaire

I spent the entire next day in a state of panic that bordered on clinical.

Every time I closed my eyes, I could feel Nicolo’s hands in my hair, could taste him on my lips, could remember the way he’d made me fall apart with just two strokes of his fingers.

And every time I opened them, I saw that note on my bedside table promising another “test” that I was absolutely not prepared for.

I’ll choose what you wear.

What did that even mean? Was he going to show up with some horrible formal dress that made me look like a rejected bridesmaid? Something so revealing I’d spend the entire evening trying not to flash supernatural dignitaries?

Or worse—something so perfect and beautiful that I’d have to admit he knew my body better than I did?

All three options were equally terrifying.

I was pacing around my office for the fifteenth time that afternoon when Ada knocked on my door.

“Your stepbrother is here,” she announced, poking her head inside with the expression of someone delivering bad news. “And he’s carrying a garment bag.”

My stomach dropped. “Tell him I’m not here.”

“I tried that. He said to tell you that hiding from protocol violations won’t make them go away.”

“Protocol violations?”

“His words, not mine.” Ada stepped inside and closed the door behind her. “Also, he looks really good today. Like, unfairly good. The kind of good that makes you forget you’re supposed to be a professional.”

“Ada.”

“I’m just saying, if my stepbrother looked like that, I’d—”

“Ada!”

“Right. Sorry. He’s waiting in Conference Room B.”

I took a deep breath and tried to channel some semblance of professional composure. I could do this. I could walk into that conference room, find out what fresh torture Nicolo had planned for tonight, and handle it like the mature businesswoman I was pretending to be.

I made it exactly three steps into Conference Room B before my brain short-circuited.

Nicolo was standing by the windows, dressed in another beautiful and beautifully expensive suit that just made him seem more lethally hot even without revealing any of his abs. His loosened tie and rolled-up sleeves, however, added a touch of roughness to his magnetism, and the way he—

Stop it, Maryah!

Because I had just noticed my stepbrother was smirking at me like he knew exactly what I was thinking about for the past fifteen seconds.

Ugh.

“Close the door, please.”

Since he said the magic word, I did as asked, but as soon as I turned around, I wished I hadn’t done it at all, seeing how he now had the garment bag in his hand.

“Um...” I cleared my throat. “About last night—”

“We should talk about tonight instead,” he suggested.

“But—”

“But yes, you’re right, you should change into this first.”

I stared at the bag like it might contain a bomb.

“You have nothing to worry about. It’s entirely appropriate.”

Right, right.

I’m totally buying that.

Not.

“What do you know about the Lucent Summit?”

“Not much,” I admitted warily.

“It’s to celebrate the revival of the Faes’ High Circle,” Nicolo murmured, “and this is their second year to host it.” Nicolo unzipped the bag while speaking, his fingers working its usual brand of elegance and efficiency.

“Invited guests are to showcase the floral species unique to their territories...”

My breath caught as Nicolo pulled out looked like the most beautiful dress I’d ever seen.

The dress was midnight blue silk that seemed to shimmer between black and deep purple depending on how the light hit it. It was cut in a classic style that would hit just below my knees, with delicate straps and a neckline that was modest but somehow still managed to look sinfully elegant.

“The ballroom is enchanted,” he continued, seemingly oblivious to my stunned silence.

“The walls bloom with every flower represented by the attending delegations. Moonflowers that only open in darkness, solar blossoms that glow like captured sunlight, ice roses that never melt, and passion vines that respond to the emotional state of nearby couples.”

“That sounds incredible.”

“The air is perfumed with natural scents from the botanical displays,” he said, “which means scent dampeners are mandatory for all attendees. No one can detect natural pheromones or identify others by scent alone.”

“So it’s truly anonymous.”

“Completely. Which makes it the perfect venue for compatibility testing without outside influence.”

He reached into the garment bag again and pulled out a small, sleek box that definitely hadn’t been there when I was admiring the dress.

My blood turned to ice.

“What is that?”

“Required monitoring equipment,” he said calmly, opening the box to reveal something that looked like a piece of very expensive, very discreet jewelry. “All test participants wear them during formal evaluation periods.”

I stared at the device, my brain struggling to process what I was seeing. It was small and elegant, designed to look like decorative jewelry, but I wasn’t stupid. I knew exactly what it was.

“That’s not monitoring equipment,” I said slowly. “That’s a—”

“Biometric response tracker,” he finished smoothly. “It monitors heart rate, skin temperature, stress hormones, and other physiological markers relevant to compatibility assessment.”

I might not be the most experienced person in the world, but even I knew what that was.

“Seriously, Nicolo?”

“It’s completely wireless and calibrated to respond to remote commands during testing scenarios.”

“You want me to wear a vibrator to a formal ball?”

His expression didn’t change. “I want you to wear regulation testing equipment during a mandatory compatibility evaluation.”

“That’s the same thing!”

“Semantics.”

Oh, if only I were born alpha as well, I would...I would semantics the stuff out of him!

“You seriously can’t expect me—”

“Collect data to determine whether your algorithms are accurate?”

Argh!

“This isn’t funny, okay? There is no way I’d subject myself to public humiliation—”

“Why would you think I’d be fine with that myself?”

Oh.

“The device is designed to be completely discreet. And with scent dampeners in effect, no one will be able to detect any physiological changes.”

When all I could do was stare at him, Nicolo went on to elaborate, “Think heart rate elevation, increased skin temperature, perspiration—”

“I know what you meant!”

“Perfect.” He stepped closer, and suddenly the conference room felt much smaller. “What’s the problem then?”

“The problem is you— ”

“—seemed to forget that this is part of the testing protocol, and if you refuse...”

His eyes glinted in a way that almost made me step back.

“You’ll be in violation of your signed participation agreement...which means I can shut down your agency for breach of contract.”

And so to sum it all up, I was trapped.

Completely.

If I refused, I’d lose everything I had worked hard for.

But if I agreed, I’d lose all of myself to him.

“This is insane—”

“I believe what you mean is that this is science— ”

“Or you being a controlling alpha who’s mad about Prince Alexei!”

The words slipped out before I could stop them, and the moment they hit the air, I knew I’d made a mistake.

Nicolo went very still.

“Prince Alexei,” he repeated softly.

“I didn’t mean—”

“Is that what you think this is about?”

“I—”

He moved closer, close enough that I could see the flecks of gold in his green eyes, close enough that I could smell his cologne and feel the heat radiating off his skin.

“If you can’t handle the device in a ballroom full of strangers, how do you expect to handle a relationship with someone who might set your body on fire with just a look?”

The question made my insides twist with a mixture of anger and desire. Because he was right, and I hated him for it.

“Fine,” I said through gritted teeth. “But if I get arrested for public indecency, I’m blaming you.”

“Noted.” He closed the box with a soft click. “The car will pick you up at seven-thirty. Wear your hair up.”

“Why?”

“Because I said so.”

And with that, he walked out, leaving me alone with a designer dress and a device that was going to either kill me or cure me of my stepbrother obsession.

I was really hoping for the latter.

I SPENT THE ENTIRE drive trying not to think about the device Nicolo had insisted I wear.

It was surprisingly comfortable, designed to feel like expensive lingerie rather than scientific equipment, but knowing what it could do made me hyperaware of every sensation.

I felt like that princess from the fairy tale with the pea under twenty mattresses, except in my case the pea was. ..well, definitely not a pea.

Like, seriously. What even was my life right now? If someone had told me a week ago I’d be going to a masked ball wearing a secret vibrator controlled by my stepbrother, I would’ve asked them what kind of weird fanfiction they’d been reading.

The car pulled up to what looked like a palace made of living trees.

Massive oaks and willows had been coaxed into growing together, their branches intertwining to form walls and archways, their leaves shimmering with an otherworldly light.

Everywhere I looked, flowers bloomed in impossible profusion, climbing roses the size of dinner plates, orchids that seemed to glow from within, and vines heavy with blossoms that changed color as I watched.

Nicolo’s driver, a cheerful-looking woman in her fifties surprisingly, smiled at me through the rearview mirror when she saw my reaction. “First time at a Fae-hosted event?”

“Is it that obvious?”

“The jaw-dropping is a dead giveaway. Plus, you have that ‘I’m definitely not qualified to be here but I’m trying to fake it’ energy that most first-timers get.”

She pulled up to the main entrance, where a red carpet made of actual flower petals led between two towering archways of white roses. Guests were arriving in vehicles that ranged from luxury cars to horse-drawn carriages to what appeared to be a chariot pulled by actual phoenixes.