I scrolled to the security app on my phone and stabbed a finger on the notification to bring up the details, then stared at the screen with disbelief. A window sensor had registered the sound of breaking glass, which tripped the alarm, but it was clearly in error. Not only was it a window on the second floor, but it was in the room I was currently standing in. If glass had broken in my room, I definitely would have noticed.
I flipped on the lights and peered at the offending window, confirming it wasn’t broken, and as soon as I disabled the alarm, my phone rang.
It was Elliot, who wanted to know if I was all right and told me security at the back gate was on their way. In the absence of the alarm, it felt like cotton had been jammed in my ears, but I explained it was just a malfunction and a security guy didn’t need to bother coming up to the house.
It took forever to settle down afterward, which I really needed to do. I hadn’t slept well the last two nights and was beyond tired. If I fell asleep soon, at least I could get a few hours in before I had to be up for work.
I’d nearly drifted off when the alarm blared again.
Same issue, even down to the same window.
“I’m going to rip the goddamn thing off the wall,” I told Elliot when he called again.
“Don’t. It’s tied to the whole system. If you try to disable the unit, it’ll trigger a fail-safe and we won’t be able to disable the alarm at all.”
It wasn’t his fault, but I was exhausted. “What am I supposed to do? The fucking thing’s broken, and you know it’s going to go off again. It’s four in the morning.” It was too late to move elsewhere, like a hotel, and even though Royce and Marist weren’t home, we weren’t the only ones who lived here. Staff quarters were in the east wing, which meant everyone was having a sleepless night. “Just turn it off.”
Elliot sounded as tired as I felt. “You want to disarm the whole thing?”
I didn’t see any other solution. On top of the sophisticated technology, the house was a fortress. There was a scale-resistant fence all along the perimeter of the sprawling grounds, motion-activated lights, and both gates had round-the-clock manned security.
“We still have the exterior cameras and lights,” I said. “They’re on a separate system.” It was plenty of protection even with the alarm system off, plus that would be temporary. “We only need it down for a few hours. After you’ve turned it off, you’ll call the company and have them send someone over.” I didn’t mean to channel my father—it just happened. “When the technician gets here, send him straight up to my room. I want this addressed before I leave for work.”
Elliot barely contained his irritation, but he was a professional. “Yes, sir.”
I jarred awake from my deep sleep and blinked against the light that abruptly filled my room. What the hell?
Deliberate footsteps carried a slender figure across the floor and straight to the window. No attention was paid to me, the owner of the room. I didn’t have my contacts in yet, so I snatched up my glasses from the bedside table and readied to unleash my fury on the serviceman who’d rudely barged in without permission, or so much as a knock on my door.
Except . . . the serviceman wasn’t a man.
I slipped on my frames and watched the woman as she gazed up at the window sensor. She must not have known I was in here. Maybe Elliot had conveniently ‘forgotten’ to warn her because he was pissed about my demand last night and wanted to punish me. He’d worked for my father for years, and now Royce was the owner of our family estate, so technically Elliot didn’t have to take orders from me.
The woman’s back was turned, and I was grateful, because dear God, she had a great ass. She wore a fitted dress shirt, a straight skirt that ended just below her knees, and sexy heels. My irritation with Elliot faded somewhat. Whatever he’d said to the security company, it’d put enough fear in them to send a sales rep to try to smooth things over with one of their premiere clients.
A young sales rep, too.
I sat up in bed and leaned back on my hands, allowing the covers to coast down my bare chest and hang around my waist.
“Excuse me.”
I said it softly, but the woman yelped anyway and spun to face me, her startled eyes wide.
Well, shit.
I’d planned to shock her, and I’d succeeded, but I hadn’t expected her to do the same to me. My confidence stumbled momentarily as I gazed at her. Her cocoa-colored hair was parted to one side and sleek, falling as a long curtain several inches past her shoulders. Bright, sparkling eyes were precisely lined with black, and her smoky eyeshadow walked right up to the edge of what was considered professional. My father would say it was too much, but I found it incredibly appealing.