Lila's POV
Arrival
..
I killed the engine and sat there a minute, staring at the house that was supposed to be my new home. The place looked like something out of a magazine, all glass and stone with a long driveway that curved down toward the lake. My beat-up Civic looked ridiculous parked next to the black SUV in the garage. Three months ago, my dad died in a crash, and now my mom has married some rich doctor and moved us into his world. I still could not wrap my head around it.
I popped the trunk and grabbed the first box. It was heavier than I remembered, full of sketchbooks and clothes I had thrown in at the last minute. The front door opened before I reached it. My mom stepped out, smiling too wide like she was trying to sell me on the whole thing.
"Lila, you made it. Let me help with that." She took the box, but her eyes darted behind me. "Richard had an emergency at the hospital, but Kai is inside. He can carry the rest."
Kai. The stepbrother I had never met. I nodded and followed her in. The foyer was all marble and high ceilings, cold under my sneakers. A guy came down the stairs, tall and built like he lived in the gym. Dark hair fell across his forehead, and tattoos peeked out from under the sleeves of his hoodie. Hockey team logo on the front. He looked twenty-two, maybe twenty-three, and he moved like he owned every inch of the place.
"This is Kai," Mom said. "Kai, this is Lila."
He stopped at the bottom step and looked me over. His eyes were a sharp blue, the kind that pinned you in place. "So you're the new sister."
His voice came out flat, not warm. I shifted the strap of my bag on my shoulder. "Yeah. Guess so."
He grabbed two of my boxes without asking, one under each arm like they weighed nothing. I picked up the last one and trailed him up the stairs. His shoulders were wide, and he took the steps two at a time. We walked down a long hall to a room at the end. He pushed the door open with his foot and dropped the boxes on the floor.
"Guest suite," he said. "Bathroom is through there. Closet is big enough."
I set my box down and looked around. King bed, big window facing the lake, desk already set up with a lamp. It beat the tiny apartment I had shared with Dad. Still felt wrong. "Thanks."
Kai leaned against the doorframe and watched me. "You start at Riverside tomorrow?"
"Freshman orientation in the morning."
He gave a short laugh. "Good luck with that. Campus eats freshmen alive."
I knelt and opened the first box, pulling out a stack of sketchbooks. One slipped and hit the floor. Pages fanned open to half-finished drawings. Kai bent down before I could and picked it up. He flipped through a couple of pages, slow enough that I felt my face heat.
"Not bad," he said. But the way he said it sounded like he was judging more than complimenting. He tossed the book back on the pile. When he straightened, his gaze dropped to the other things that had spilled out. A pair of black lace panties lay right on top. He did not look away fast.
I snatched them up and shoved them into the box. "I can handle the rest myself."
"Sure." He did not move. "Mom and Dad won't be back until late. Some fundraiser thing. You need anything, I guess I'm the one to ask."
The way he said "Dad" made it clear he was talking about his own father, not mine. I stood up and brushed my hands on my jeans. "I'm good."
Kai finally pushed off the frame but paused in the doorway. "House has rules. Don't leave shit everywhere. Don't blast music after eleven. And stay out of the basement. That's my space."
"Got it."
He left. I closed the door and let out a breath. The room felt too quiet after that. I unpacked the clothes first, hanging them in the huge closet that still smelled new. Then the sketchbooks went on the desk. I plugged in my laptop and tried to connect to the Wi-Fi, but it asked for a password. Of course it did.
I went downstairs to find Kai. He was in the kitchen, leaning against the counter with a bottle of water. The lights made the tattoos on his forearms stand out more, some kind of script and sharp lines.
"Wi-Fi password?" I asked.
He took a drink, eyes on me the whole time. "It's on the fridge. But new devices need approval. I'll add yours later."
I found the note on the fridge and typed it in. Nothing happened. I tried again. Still no connection. Kai watched me struggle for a minute before he walked over and took my phone out of my hand. His fingers brushed mine, warm and rough.
"Let me." He tapped a few times, then handed it back. The signal bars popped up. "There. Don't say I never did anything for you."
"Thanks." I turned to leave.
"Wait." He stepped closer. "You look like you just came from a funeral."
The words hit harder than they should have. My dad had been gone three months, but the funeral still felt fresh. I swallowed. "I kind of did."
Kai's expression did not change much, but something shifted in his eyes. "Rough break. This place is a step up from whatever hole you crawled out of, though."
Anger flared in my chest. "You don't know anything about where I came from."
"I know enough." He tilted his head. "Your mom moved fast after the crash. Guess money helps with grief."
I gripped my phone tighter. "Don't talk about my mom like that."
He smiled then, small and sharp. "Touchy. Relax, little sister. I'm just stating facts."
I walked past him and headed back upstairs. My hands shook a little as I finished unpacking. The house felt too big, too empty. I took a quick shower in the attached bathroom, letting the hot water beat on my shoulders. When I came out in a towel, I caught a weird glint in the smoke detector on the ceiling. Probably nothing. New house, new sensors.
I pulled on an old t-shirt and shorts and sat on the bed with my laptop. The Wi-Fi dropped again. I cursed under my breath and went to the thermostat on the wall. It read sixty-eight, but the room already felt colder. I bumped it up to seventy-two. Nothing changed. Ten minutes later, it dropped to sixty.
Footsteps sounded in the hall. Kai appeared in my doorway again, arms crossed. He looked at the thermostat, then at me shivering under the blanket I had pulled around my shoulders.
"Problem?" he asked.
"The heat is not working right."
He stepped inside and checked the panel. "Looks fine to me." But when he turned, his eyes lingered on my bare legs where the blanket had slipped. "Maybe you just run cold."
I pulled the blanket higher. "Can you fix it or not?"
Kai walked over and stood right in front of me. He reached past me to adjust the thermostat again, his body close enough that I caught the scent of his soap and something sharper underneath. His arm brushed my shoulder.
"There," he said. "Should warm up soon."
But the air stayed chilly. I knew he had done something. I could see it in the way he watched me, waiting for a reaction.
I met his stare. "What is your deal?"
His mouth curved. "My deal is simple. You showed up and changed everything in this house. Now you get to learn how things work around here."
He turned to leave but stopped at the door. The blanket had slipped again, and he did not hide the way his gaze travelled over me.
I shivered, but not just from the cold.
Kai leaned in the doorway, voice low and mocking. "You're going to learn real fast, little sister. This house has rules. And I make them. So tell me, Lila, how cold do you want it tonight?"