BOUND BY A RING

in something other than lavender linen and sandalwood. But the silence on the to

he edge of a glass console table. Every piece of furniture

he wron

open. The air inside was still and faintly dusty. Cabinets sealed shut. A mir

mother's? A room for som

the click of the lock ech

tside, she could see rows of neatly shelved files, a matte-black desk, and a series

kind of place meant to exhaust emotio

air as the city stretched below like a quiet storm. This part

the hallway ag

o comes up here?" she m

r: "Because she's trained. She knows how to

usiness. No other staff. No footsteps. No life. For all the size of the

e of the doors

-

nd level, she felt like she was stepp

could seat twenty-though she suspected it had never held more than two at a time. A piano stood in the cor

of velvet and cold air conditioning. One of the guest rooms ha

gh an open door. Empty. Neat. A

ty, the level felt h

-

or, at least,

f pans from the kitchen. The smell of fresh croissants floated through the

nineteen, looked up and f

, ma'am," she

d. "Just Te

d too quickly

r, she caught faint voices behind a

ispered. "She's so pretty. Like one

. I thought I was

it's real? T

ves, but from the surrealness of it all. She was the ghost

ed her fingers against the glass as she passed, wondering

. Spiral stairs. Dust. Books that hadn't been touched in years. S

-

surgical precision. The reflecting pool shimmered like a sheet of glas

Hidden in p

beyond it

r

t swim. At leas

on fractured in the emptiness of the pool. Some

n't move, just stands there in the shadowed light, hands in h

-

ng warm drifting from the kitchen-bacon? Maybe eggs? Definitely not something she e

Xavier's-though, legally, it was her room too now. A soft clinking drew her to the op

she asked, s

. And I don't trust most

rmi

arms. "You're full of surprises. First the p

"Don't get used to it. I had

impressed. "So... yo

rel

widened. It was so good, she almost said something e

. Her eyes widen again.

her, one

oisoned," h

" she mutters-then cat

king of forks on porcelain. It wasn't tense. Just... unfamiliar. Do

sole in the living room. He opened a drawer, pulled out a sl

she asked, wi

f our arr

e contract we signed at the

This..." -he tapped the fold

pened the folder a

-

nt Between Mr. Xavier

course of this arrangement. If either party is

Any rumors of intimacy

st be agreed upon at le

alling

-

p sharply. "

ow. "It's the most

so sure you're

t complica

exasperated. "Do people really do this

s, that's exac

he flipped the page over and l

sign. On one

ed, intrigued

ve into the

ghed. "Are you starting to fall for me already? Th

h." She

ell, your staff already think I'm fake. And come to think of it, we have a

outh, but she h

en pretend w

" he co

wing it, people will keep suspecting something's of

flicker of something-maybe amusemen

"But how do we te

truthful lie-just

s head. "How

you called me 'wife' at that

nod

lessly in love with his wife actually call

uld act like I'm hopele

act

g?" he said, la

But what's wrong with pretending

n aside from the danger of

I am dangerously beautiful.

said that?" he asked,

d side to side with a playful shrug.

t that I'm beyond-human-comprehension

ounter, still laughing.

. "Dangerously pre

d. That was.

's a

more," he said,

e reached for her empty plate and pl