Es twirled the keys in her hand as she turned off the ignition and stepped out of her car, the soft click of tal against tal grounding her buoyant mood.
Ignoring the greetings tossed her way by those in the employnt of her family—the staff, the security posted like silent sentinels—she walked at an unhurried pace toward the front door of her father’s house.
There was a lightness in her chest, a smug, almost effervescent satisfaction. She was pleased with herself.
Pleased that she had finally won Noah to herself, if not fully, then at least where it mattered tonight—in the careful orchestration of events that would make Gianna belong to him.
Even if it was just for one night...
Her lips curved as she stepped inside. Her parents were seated in the living room, the television murmuring softly in the background, so news anchor droning on.
"Good evening, Mom. Dad." Her voice was warm, sweet. She bent, kissed their cheeks with affection, then straightened and asked if they had had dinner, as though she hadn’t already noticed the cleared trays.
They answered in the affirmative. Her father then added casually that Noah was waiting for her upstairs. In her bedroom.
"Noah?" Es blinked, tilting her head. "Is there a problem?"
Her father’s brows drew together. "Would there be a problem? Es, you know Noah just ca back after many years of turning down our requests. Don’t go around chasing him away now."
She pouted, a picture of injured innocence. "But I am a good girl."
Levi scoffed, lips twitching. "We both know you can be crazy when the occasion demands it. If you weren’t affiliated anyway with that Aldo girl, I would have suspected you had a hand in the tomato saga this morning."
Es carefully kept her expression light, noncommittal. Not a flicker out of place. "Is that so?" she said, patting his cheek gently. "Well then, I see how it is. But you can rest assured, I’m not up to anything."
Not that you can see, she added smugly to herself as she turned and headed upstairs.
Like Mason—who had chosen to stay out of his family house, which was only a stone’s throw away from hers, within the sa sprawling compound owned by the Becketts—Noah had taken the sa step upon his return.
She didn’t get it. Truly. What better way to live than in a house where you were waited upon by servants eager to serve, to please, to anticipate your needs before you even voiced them?
Her room door opened smoothly.
Noah sat at the edge of her bed, one of her Shakespearean books in his hands, fingers flipping idly over the back cover as he read the blurb. He looked up when she spoke.
"I thought you’d read that one already."
His calm gaze raked over her from head to toe with slow appraisal, as though she were on audition. "I have," he said mildly. "Just feeding my eyes while waiting for you. Where are you coming from?"
She shrugged, setting her handbag on the table. "From Mason’s." Her eyes stayed on his face, watching closely.
Nothing. Neutral. Not even calculating.
Of course.
"He’s our cousin, Noah. I don’t get the bad blood between you two."
"There is none," he replied easily. "Just a competitive streak. Nothing much. How is he doing then?"
She shrugged again. "Fine. Only heartbroken. Seems your Gianna turned him down."
Noah laughed, a short sound. "He’s still on that? Still haven’t learned from experience..."
Es slipped out of her blazer, then her jewelry, her movents unhurried as she placed each piece where it belonged. "Maybe you should stop going after won he likes. Don’t you get tired of that?"
His face remained impassive. "I didn’t even know he had a thing with or for Gianna. The girl was up for grabs. I was fast enough to do so. Why can’t he understand that..."
There was a pause. His eyes darted to her phone on the dresser for half a second too long. "I hope you didn’t agree to help him get Gianna."
Es licked her lower lip as she tugged her trousers down, stepping out of them and leaving herself in her underwear. "Well... I might have..."
Noah laughed again, but this ti the sound was cold, humorless, and it sent a shiver racing down her spine.
"You haven’t cared other tis. You even helped do it. You don’t want the satisfaction of watching the ga?"
He shook his head. "Gianna is mine. I’m not sharing her with another male. Not even my cousin. Have I made myself clear?"
Es hesitated. She wasn’t sure if it was the vehence in his tone or the echo of Sabrina’s words ringing suddenly loud in her head. Did her brother really like Gianna that much?
"But... I promised Mason—"
"Well then, sister..." Noah rose to his feet and strolled toward the table. "You’ll have to break that promise. If I even get a sniff of plans between you two... you’re both gone."
Her fists clenched, anger flaring hot and sharp. "What do you even see in her? Why is she different?"
Noah ignored her. He picked up her phone.
The light that glead in his eyes when the screen ca on made her lunge forward instinctively, but he was taller, lifting it easily out of her reach.
She jumped futilely, like a rat scrambling for cheese, fury and panic tangling in her chest.
"If you don’t want going through your phone myself," he said coolly, "tell why you were eting Sabrina Aldo at the restaurant today."
Es swallowed, shrinking before she could stop herself. Not fast enough to put on an act. Never fast enough for Noah.
"Nothing," she said finally. "We were just talking..."
The unsteadiness in her voice betrayed her instantly.
"Es," he said softly, dangerously. "We both know I’m impatient. Get straight to the truth, or I’m going through the phone myself."
She couldn’t speak. Her tongue felt heavy, useless, as she watched the familiar cold seep into his eyes—the one reserved for others, never her. Or so she had thought.
Did he already suspect? Had he put n to tail her?
Her heart shook as he opened the phone, scrolled. She knew the exact mont he found Sabrina’s contact. Knew when his eyes skimd the ssages.
When he looked at her again, his face was sothing deadly. His eyes were cold as death. "What is this?" he asked quietly. "You were behind the attack?"
She shook her head imdiately. "Sabrina brought it up. And I just—"
"Don’t lie to !" His voice rose. "I’m reading the chat now, and it seems you reached out first. Used her already-there hatred to further your own goals, even after I told you to leave Gianna alone."
"She needed to be put in her place!" Es shouted desperately. "She’s making uncomfortable. You usually take care of people who do that! Why is she—"
Her voice cut off as his hand closed around her throat.
She hadn’t even seen him move.
"I told you, little sis," Noah said lowly. "Didn’t I? I told you to cut off your shenanigans when it ca to Gianna. Did you forget?"
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