Eva stepped through the doorway into a foyer that was larger than her entire apartment.
The interior matched the exterior...dark wood floors polished to a mirror shine, stone walls hung with tapestries that looked genuinely medieval, a chandelier overhead that was made of actual wrought iron and candlelight. It should have felt like a museum. Instead it felt lived-in. Used. Like a predator's den that had been occupied for generations.
"I'm Mrs. Adam," the woman said, closing the door behind Eva with a sound that was far too final. "Head of household staff. The masters are waiting for you in the study. If you'll follow me."
Masters.
Plural.
Eva followed Mrs. Adam through a maze of hallways, trying to memorize the route and failing completely. Every corridor looked the same...more dark wood, more tapestries, more evidence of wealth that had been accumulating for longer than Eva had been alive. They passed closed doors and open archways that led to rooms she couldn't fully see, and with every step the pressure in the air seemed to increase.
She could feel them before she saw them.
Mrs. Adam stopped in front of a set of double doors, knocked twice, and then pushed them open without waiting for a response.
"Miss Santos, masters," she announced, and then stepped aside.
Eva walked into the study and forgot how to breathe.
**
The room was exactly what she should have expected...floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, a massive fireplace with a fire burning despite the fact that it was barely autumn, leather furniture that looked like it cost more than most cars. But Eva barely registered any of it.
Because the three men standing in the center of the room consumed every scrap of her attention.
She'd seen them before. Briefly. Through stage lights and distance and the protective buffer of performance. But seeing them here...in their space, in full daylight, with nothing between her and them except air...was entirely different.
They were devastating.
Zain stood slightly ahead of the other two, his pale grey eyes fixed on her with an intensity that made her skin feel too tight. He was the tallest, the broadest, all dark olive skin and controlled stillness. He wore all black...dress pants and a shirt with the sleeves rolled to his elbows, revealing forearms that were corded with muscle and marked with scars. He looked like violence barely contained in a civilized package.
Cael was to his left, leaning against the edge of a desk with his arms crossed and a small smile playing at the corners of his mouth. He was watching her the way someone might watch a particularly interesting chess problem...analytically, with dark green eyes that gave nothing away. He was dressed similarly to Zain but somehow made it look elegant instead of dangerous. Almost.
Riven stood at the window, backlit by afternoon sun, and when he turned to look at her Eva's heart did something complicated in her chest. He was beautiful in a way that felt aggressive...all dark skin and intense eyes and that barely-restrained energy that seemed to vibrate in the air around him. His tattoos were visible beneath his rolled sleeves, intricate patterns that drew the eye and refused to let go. He was smiling, but it was the kind of smile that made her pulse spike with something that might have been fear or might have been something else entirely.
"Miss Santos," Zain said, and his voice was exactly as she remembered...low, controlled, absolute. "Thank you for coming."
As if she'd had a choice.
Eva forced herself to step fully into the room. "Mr. Blackwood."
"Zain," he corrected. "We're going to be far too familiar for formalities." His eyes moved over her slowly, cataloguing every detail, and Eva fought the urge to cross her arms over her chest. "My brothers...Cael and Riven."
Cael inclined his head slightly. "A pleasure to finally meet you properly."
"Finally," Riven echoed, pushing away from the window and crossing the room toward her with a predator's grace. He stopped just inside her personal space...not touching, but close enough that she could feel the heat radiating off him, smell something that was cologne and something else underneath it. "We've been looking forward to this."
Eva's mouth was dry. "I'm sure."
"Please, sit." Zain gestured to one of the leather chairs positioned in front of the fireplace. "We have things to discuss."
It wasn't a request.
Eva sat, and immediately regretted it when all three of them remained standing. The position put her at a disadvantage....she had to tilt her head back to look at any of them, and the chair was deep enough that standing quickly would be awkward. They knew it. She knew they knew it.
This was a power play, and she'd just lost the first round.
Cael moved to a side table and poured something amber into a crystal glass. "Would you like a drink?"
"No, thank you."
"Are you sure? This is a twenty-five-year-old scotch. Excellent for steadying nerves."
"I'm fine."
"You're trembling," Riven observed, still standing too close, still watching her with those dark eyes that seemed to see everything.
"I'm cold," Eva lied.
"Liar." But he said it almost fondly, like he appreciated the attempt.
Zain moved to stand directly in front of her chair, and Eva had to force herself not to shrink back. "Let's establish something right now," he said quietly. "You're here because you agreed to be here. You sent the email. You accepted the offer. But if at any point in this conversation you want to leave, if you want to walk out that door and pretend this never happened, you can. The money won't transfer until you sign the contract. Do you understand?"
Eva met his eyes. "I understand."
"Good." He studied her face for a moment longer, then nodded once and moved to retrieve something from the desk.
A contract. Thick, bound, official-looking.
He set it on the small table beside her chair. "Read it. Every word. Ask questions. We have time."
Eva picked up the contract with hands that were steadier than she felt and opened to the first page.