Page 5 of Forbidden Deception
I have to keep up the appearance of being a powerful man’s sister, to keep that fear instilled in them, to keep them in their positions. I know firsthand what can go wrong when people get too comfortable with you.
There is no need for familiarity with people who will be guarding me if things go south.
“My name is Leo William, and I am your butler, Miss Cainn.”
I nod at the older gentleman with a head full of white hair and a number of wrinkles placed around his face, who greets me with a stern expression. The sharpness in his eyes says he will be anything but soft and compliant.
As soon as we are inside, the door shuts behind us, and I sigh. A wide circular foyer serves as the entryway for the mansion, with two staircases leading up to the second floor. Under the stairs, two hallways lead to either side of the house. I need to check the entire property as soon as I can, just as Helia instructed me.
“Well, Leo, give me a tour of this nice home, and tell me, how long have you been working here?”
Leo’s brows raise a fraction, but he nods at me and starts the tour.
“I have been working here for ten years, ever since Mr Cainn purchased the property.”
I nod and listen to his story, then ask about the rest of the staff.
The rest of the day is filled with logistics. Tomorrow is Monday, my first day of my new job. In my bedroom that evening, I look up Rafael Gustav on Google, but it’s like this man is a ghost. He has nothing. Absolutely nothing.
Rafael took over his father’s legacy of being a real estate giant, but he seems to have gotten in trouble with Remo, of all people. Talk about digging his grave early. Though he isn’t really young. He’s in his mid-thirties, so he could be classified as being older. Or maybe I’m just projecting, since he’s fourteen years older than me, and I feel very young compared to him.
Dropping into my bed, I shut my eyes, willing myself to sleep, but it never truly comes to me.
Sweat breaks out on the back of my neck, and my skin burns as if being torched alive, and it’s certainly not a nice feeling to wake up to. Nightmares would force you to break from dreams to reality, but terrors make you feel trapped in them. Me having that the first night in Edinburgh isn’t a good thing.
Infiltrating the company of someone as powerful as Rafael is akin to stepping into the devil’s lair. Remo gave me no guidance. All I know is that I have to find and delete the incriminating footage of Remo.
3
“It’s my first day, you know. So I’m a little nervous.” I let out a small laugh, watching Danyi closely.
She’s a beautiful Korean woman who will be working under me in my new position and is my second direct form of communication within the Gustav Industrials after Rafael himself. She has high cheekbones and strong, arresting eyes. Her hair is up in two half ponytails today, and she wears high-waisted trousers, a white dress shirt tucked into the pants with the sleeves folded neatly, and black pointed Louboutin heels.
She looks like Ambrose, who screams boss bitch energy.
Even though she doesn’t talk much, I have this pull to be her friend. She feels like Ambrose, and that gives me a sense of comfort and home.
While the city feels like a prison that deprived me of a normal life, needing that closure from the experience of my youth is what pulled me towards this city once more, an unavoidable magnetic force I can’t ignore. The past few years have been filled with mindlessly surviving while searching for my purpose. It didn’t occur to me that maybe my nightmares are anchored to my past.
“Is Mr Gustav quite strict? I want to know if I need to filter my mouth. I’m a little chatty and don’t want to offend him.”
She strides away, grumbling something I don’t catch.
I chase her, my heels clicking loudly. My brown wide-legged trousers match hers, though my white dress shirt isn’t tucked in, and I’ve layered it with a tight brown corset with a slanted cut at the top. I put effort into my outfit today; good impressions and all that.
“Will he mind?” I ask again, huffing and frowning.
She walks so fast. The building also just had to be so many stories high that wearing heels here might prove to be difficult. At least in Remo’s building, the employees didn’t send me up and down in fear of my brother, but that won’t be the case here.
“Running in heels is a little hard—” I screech to a stop when she abruptly turns around and pins me with her stare.
Okay. Time to get serious.
My eyes flick behind her, taking in the gold-plated name on the door, and I straighten.
I clear my throat.
“You’ll have to find out for yourself. You are the fifth assistant this month.”