As I step out of the black Rolls-Royce, the expensive leather seats still warm her skin. To the world, I look like a girl who belong in this luxury. But as I looked up at the Harper Estate, I knew the truth I was not a guest. I was the blade they never saw it coming .
The gravelly crunch below my heels shoe that cost more than my father funeral. I dislike them , I dislike the way the silk dress clung to my ribs, a beautiful cage design to hide the scars Marcus had left behind.
Above all , limestone of the estate seem to watch close to me, daring me to cross . This was the dragon lair. And I was walking right into its mouth with nothing but faking my smile with my heart full of glass.
The huge door open before I was able to even reach for the iron knocker . A man stand there, his shadow stretch long away from the marble foyer. He is Christian Harper he is very old, his eyes looks weak . This is the Butlers , the gateman of the Harper secrets.
Miss Cruz he said ,his voice as cold as the stone wall. Yes, he replied . My voice is a sharp contrast to the storm inside of me. I have spent months learning the sound of a girl who has everything and expects nothing in return . He stepped aside and I entered. The air inside is different ,It smells of wax , like old money, and something else like metallic.
Somewhere in this house is a man who saw her father die. In this house is the man I have been trained to destroy. Mr Harper is finished a meeting in the East Wing , the butler said , his footstep silent on a polished floor. You are to wait in his office . He don't like to be kept waiting, but he like to be interrupted even less.
He lead me to the hall line with portrait of men who have the same hard jawline .The Harper Dynasty, I look at their faces and all I see only target. When we have reach the office , the door were so heavy they require both strong men to move it . Inside, the walls are buried under hundreds of books. It should feel like a sanctions , but to me, it feels like
Prison.
I walk to the center of that room and waited for Five minute , and the silence is a physical weight on me . Then, the sounds of the door opened behind me which breaks the spell.
You are late, a voice say , It is deep, and carries the authority of a man who owns the air he breath, turned slowly , Christian Harper is lean against the door and He is not wearing a suit. His shirt sleeve are roll up, reveal forearm that looks like they are carved from granite . He does not look like a businessman . He looks like a king who has just return from a war he won. I was told to wait, I say, my fake smile firm in the place.He walked toward me, his eyes scanning me from my expensive shoe to the silk that cover my scar. He stop so close that I felt the heat off him. I didn't hire you for your punctuality, Daniella, he said , his eyes locking onto mine with an intensity that makes my heart of glass crack. I hired you because you the only thing in this city that look more dangerous than I am.
The silent that follows was thick with unspoken threat ,I did not blink,I couldn't,this was not the elderly , weak man the rumors had suggest to this was a man in his prime, a wolf in a custom shirt.
"Dangerous " , I let out a soft laugh, I'm just a girl looking for a fresh start, Mr Harper , I thought you were interest in me was purely profession,
Nothing I do is purely anything, Christian murmur, taking another step forward , The proximity was a power play, an attempt to make me retreat, which I stood on my ground, though every instinct I possesses told me to reach out for hidden blade strap to my thigh. And don't insult my intelligent by playing the waif. I know who your father was,I know who Marcus is , And I know that dress is the only soft thing about you.
He reached out, his hand near my throat before he pick up a crystal decanter from the desk behind me. He pour two finger of amber liquid, his eye never leave mine. You are here for a reason, Daniella. You think you are the hunter. You think you have found the man responsible for the wreckage of your life. He took a slow sip, his gaze dark and unreadable. The question is, do you have the stomach to finish what you started, or are you just another pretty thing caught in my web.
My heart hammer against my rib , a frantic bird in a silk cage ,He knew he had to know , But if he knew I was there to kill him, why let me inside Why bring the blade into his study,
I am more than capable to finish what I started ,I whisper my voice to reveal the jag edge underneath.
Christian smiles but it was not a kind expression, It was the smile of a man who had finally found a worthy opponent. He set the glass down and lean in his breath warm against my ear ,in this house the only thing more fatal than a secret is the person hiding it.
Welcome to the family, Daniella. Try not to bleed on the marble. He turn and walk toward the window, looking out over his vast, leaving me standing in the center of the room.
I was inside, the doors was shut ,the game had begun, but as I look at the broad set of his shoulder,I realize that the first time in my life I felt like I might not be the only one in the room with a blade.