Dust and bleach. That was what power smelled like when you spent your life cleaning its floors. Tessa Harper knew the rules of the Vain estate down to the letter:

Two days later, Tessa returned to the Vain estate to resume her duties. Despite Gabriel’s orders to take time off, she insisted on working. Idleness bred anxiety, and cleaning the grand foyer felt like the only normal thing left in a world that had completely turned upside down.

The 82 steps of imported Italian marble gleamed under the midday chandeliers.

As she swept the edges of the baseboards near the grand staircase, heavy leather shoes echoed across the marble floor. Tessa didn’t need to look up to know who it was. The absolute silence that followed in his wake gave him away instantly.

Gabriel Vain stopped walking a few feet away from her.

Tessa stood up slowly, clutching her broom in both hands, her jaw set with a mixture of fear and stubborn defiance.

“You shouldn’t be back here yet, Miss Harper,” Gabriel said, his voice calm and level. “Your leave hasn't expired.”

“I don't need a leave, Mr. Vain,” Tessa replied, her voice steady. “I need to work for my pay. I won't sit around in a luxury apartment waiting for your enemies to kick down the door while I feel like a kept woman.”

Gabriel’s dark eyes narrowed slightly, a flicker of genuine surprise crossing his features. Most people who accepted his protection cowered in fear or offered endless, groveling gratitude. Tessa Harper did neither. She looked at him like an equal standing across a courtroom floor.

“You have spirit, Miss Harper,” Gabriel noted quietly. “Unfortunately, spirit doesn't stop a bullet from a rival crew.”

“Neither does locking me in a glass cage downtown,” she retorted sharply. “Rocco told me about Victor Morales. He told me Morales is looking for leverage against you through my brother.”

Gabriel stepped closer, his imposing presence casting a long shadow over her. “And does that frighten you?”

“It infuriates me,” Tessa corrected, her voice rising with suppressed anger. “My brother spent years fighting a failing body just to stay alive, and now some criminal war is going to make him a target because you decided to play hero for five minutes in your hallway?”

The foyer went dead silent. The other domestic workers working near the far corridor instantly vanished into the pantry, terrified of the impending explosion.

Gabriel looked down at Tessa, studying the fierce defiance burning in her clear eyes. Instead of anger, a strange, grim amusement touched the corners of his mouth.

“I didn't play hero, Tessa,” Gabriel said, using her first name for the very first time. “I invested in an asset. And I never lose my investments.”

Before Tessa could fire back another retort, the heavy oak front doors of the estate suddenly burst open with a resounding, violent crash.

Three masked men in tactical gear swarmed through the entryway, raising heavy automatic weapons toward the center of the foyer.