NATALIE'S POV
"Marcus didn't just destroy the Steele family business, Natalie. He murdered Adrian's father. Made it look like suicide. And I have proof."
The woman's words echo in my head as I scramble to pick up my phone from where it dropped.
"Hello? Are you still there?" the cold voice asks.
"Who are you?" I demand, my voice shaking. "How do you know all this?"
"Let's just say I have a vested interest in Adrian Steele. And you're in my way." A pause. "Meet me at Café Noir in one hour. Come alone. Don't tell Marcus, don't tell Elias, and definitely don't tell Adrian. If you do, I send everything I know to the police. Your father goes to prison for murder. And you become an accessory for helping him."
"I didn't help him murder anyone!"
"No? You've been feeding him information for months. You've been infiltrating Adrian's life on Marcus's orders. The police won't care about your intentions. They'll only see conspiracy."
My whole body goes numb. "What do you want from me?"
"One hour. Café Noir. We'll discuss terms then."
She hangs up.
I stand in the empty hallway, trembling. Murder. My father murdered Adrian's father.
If that's true, then everything is so much worse than I thought.
My mind spins back to three months ago. To the night I had to decide whether to sign Adrian's contract. The night I made a choice that sealed my fate.
THREE MONTHS AGO - ONE WEEK AFTER RECEIVING THE CONTRACT
I sat on my apartment floor, surrounded by the contract papers Adrian had given me. I'd read them so many times the edges were getting worn.
Seven days. That's how long I'd been thinking about this. Seven days of barely sleeping, barely eating, just reading and re-reading these pages.
The contract was detailed. Specific. It outlined boundaries, safe words, expectations, and rights. It promised privacy, respect, and the freedom to walk away at any time.
It also promised something I hadn't felt in years: the chance to let go.
But it wasn't that simple. Nothing in my life was simple anymore.
My phone buzzed. Marcus calling for the third time today.
"Did you get access to his penthouse yet?" he demanded when I answered.
"I'm working on it."
"Work faster. I need those account codes, Natalie. We're running out of time."
"Time for what?"
"Just get me what I need." His voice hardened. "Or did you forget about the debt collectors who called your landlord yesterday? About the eviction notice you're going to get any day now?"
My stomach twisted. "How do you know about that?"
"I keep track of what's happening to you. Someone has to, since you seem to be forgetting why you're doing this." He paused. "Sign whatever he wants you to sign. Get into his private spaces. Find those codes. That's all that matters."
He hung up before I could respond.
I stared at the contract in my hands. Marcus wanted me to sign it to get closer to Adrian's secrets. To betray him more thoroughly.
But that wasn't why I wanted to sign.
I thought about how Adrian had looked at me when he offered this. How he'd said he saw how hard I worked to hold everything together. How he promised this could be a place where I didn't have to be strong every second.
God, I was so tired of being strong.
Since Mom died, I'd been drowning in grief and debt and lies. Every day felt like barely surviving. And here was someone offering me a life raft—even if he didn't know I was the one who'd helped sink his ship.
I picked up my pen.
My hand hovered over the signature line.
If I signed this, I'd be betraying Adrian in a whole new way. Using intimacy as a weapon. Letting him trust me while I stole from him.
But if I didn't sign, I'd lose this job. Lose the only income keeping me afloat. Lose the chance to pay off the debt that was crushing me.
And worse—I'd lose the chance to know what it felt like to surrender. To trust someone. To feel something other than grief and guilt.
I was going to hell for this. I knew that.
But I signed my name anyway.
The next morning, I walked into Adrian's office and placed the signed contract on his desk.
He looked up from his computer, surprise flickering across his face.
"You're sure?" he asked quietly.
"Yes."
"You read everything? You understand what you're agreeing to?"
"I understand."
Adrian stood and walked around his desk. He picked up the contract and read my signature. Then he looked at me with those penetrating gray eyes.
"Last chance to change your mind, Natalie. Once we start this, the relationship between us changes. Not your job—that stays professional. But everything else becomes different."
My heart pounded. "I want different."
"Why?"
The question caught me off guard. "What?"
"Why do you want this? I need to know your reasons before we go any further."
I could have lied. Could have said something simple and safe.
But Adrian's eyes demanded truth.
"Because I'm tired," I whispered. "Tired of holding everything together. Tired of being strong. Tired of fighting every single day just to survive." Tears pricked my eyes. "You said this could be a place where I don't have to do that. Where someone else carries the weight for a while. I need that. I need to stop drowning."
Adrian's expression softened. He reached out and gently wiped a tear from my cheek.
"Then I'll make sure you never drown again," he said. "Not when you're with me."
He pulled out his own pen and signed his name next to mine.
"Tonight," he said. "Come to my penthouse at eight. I'll show you the space. We'll talk about your limits. And we'll begin."
"Okay," I breathed.
As I left his office, I felt two things simultaneously: relief and terror.
Relief that I'd made a choice. That something in my life was finally moving forward.
Terror that I'd just made the biggest mistake of my life.
That night, I stood outside Adrian's penthouse door at exactly eight PM. My hand shook as I knocked.
He opened the door, and for a moment we just looked at each other.
Then he stepped aside. "Come in."
I crossed the threshold into his private world.
And everything changed.
PRESENT
My phone buzzes again, yanking me back to now. A text from the mystery woman.
UNKNOWN: Fifty minutes until our meeting. Don't be late. And Natalie? Bring the original contract you signed with Adrian. I want to see exactly what you agreed to.
How does she know about the contract? How does she know everything?
Then another text appears. This one from a number I don't recognize, but the message makes my blood freeze.
"Dear Natalie, this is Vivienne Lange. I believe we have a lot to discuss about Adrian. I'm the one who's been watching you. And I'm the one who knows all your dirty little secrets. See you in fifty minutes. Don't even think about running."
Vivienne Lange. Adrian's ex. The woman he ended things with a year a
go.
She's the one blackmailing me.
And she's been watching me this whole time.