THE TWINS WHO CLAIMED ME

before the devil returned home, and I was wast

til the housekeeper's nightly security sweep. Downstairs, the party raged on clinking champagne flutes, hollow laughter, the heavy bass vibrating through the floorboards. Up here

Pillar mansion's security rotations, charming the head gardener into revealing the family's darkest secrets, and stitching a hidden pocket into my uniform for nothing. My mother

open with enough force to r

gainst my ribs. I pressed my back against the bookshelf, willing myself to melt into the shadows. My fingers found the smal

the raw, athletic power coiled in his shoulders. His tie was already loosened, his jaw tight with a familiar, simmering aggression. Behind him, Jefferson Pillar, the feared lord of the city's m

alarmed. The drawer I'd been trying to open was still closed, but the lock was old, pickable. The s

low, gravelly rumble that seemed to vibrate straight through my chest. He stalked toward the ce

liquid from the decanter. He didn't even look at his brother, but the tension radiating from him was a

rry's space. They were inches apart now, a mirror image of

ery move before he made it. Jefferson was impulsive, unpredictable, the type who acted first and asked questions never. If I had

't m

s head, but his dark eyes were suddenly fixed on me in the reflection of

low. He didn't say anything. He simply walked to the door, his heavy boots deliberate on the ha

. A slow smirk curved his lips. "What do we have here? A

to remain steady, submissive. I clutched the feather duster to my

knowing I was trapped. But I needed to see how they'd

chin and tilting my face up to meet his. His touch was electric, a spark of danger that shot straight down my spine. I let him see the fear i

opping an octave, laced with dark amusement. "She'

o was used to owning everything in his path. He stopped just behind his brother, his eyes raking over my uniform, the plain black dre

more like a question. His eyes narrowed, assessing m

ree weeks. I'd been here three weeks, and

was so close now I could smell his cologne clean, sharp, and expensiv

ped. He was too obse

you, sir,

ous whisper. He reached out, his fingers brushing against the collar

in close, his breath warm against my ear. "You heard him, little mouse. My brother doesn't like l

. The drawer was still unlocked. If I could

I insisted, my voice shaking despi

ching the duster. But then his gaze shifted to the floor jus

left of my mother, had snapped from its chain during my panic. It lay

ocket with two fingers. He examin

fingers

e anymore. He was look

is brother's face transform. The cold, calculating mask Jerry wore slipped, just for a

was no longer the smooth, controlled tone of a man who

eart was pounding so hard I thou

ght, he looked at me not as a maid, not as a trespasser, bu

rd me, and there it was the photograph I'd stared at a thousand times. My mother, young and smil

Jerry's jaw tighte

en. The security sweep would begin in five minutes. I

dangerous eyes that had haunted my nightmares for ye

rst time since they'd walked in. "Her name was

e room thickened, heavy with unspoken accusations and de

nd the locket, his knuckles w

ouse tonight," he said, hi

g against my back, trapping me between them

our father was standi

troyed. But as the identical twins closed in on me, their dark eyes promising

longer th

the

going to let me go until they'd

ng the worn silver edge. His expression was unreadable, b

d the locket up to the light, and I saw a tiny inscription I'd never

. 1

s shoulder, his jaw tightening. "T

struck twe

utes until the

running ou