I shut the door to Aiden’s suite behind me, my feet dragging on the carpet. It had been a long day, and dinner with Aiden’s family had worn me out. There was only so much of Gage I could take. Keeping my cool when I wanted to throw my wine glass in his face took way too much energy. I’d spent my day going to two interviews and swimming laps in the pool, but I felt as if I’d run a marathon.

If I’d been more awake, I might have seen it before I was almost on top of it. On the other hand, if I’d been more awake I probably would have screamed loud enough to alert the entire house.

I slapped my hand over my mouth to hold in my shriek. I couldn’t stop my feet from stumbling back, tangling and almost spilling me to the floor in my haste to get away from the long black snake curled in a circle on the crisp, white sheets of the bed, half hidden beneath my pillow.

My heart thumped in my ears, drowning out the sound of my harsh breathing, panicked whimpers leaking from behind my hand.

Run, I ordered myself. Run, run, run!

I sagged against the window frame, mere feet from the side of the bed, knees like jelly, feet rooted to the carpet. That was a big snake. Big, and black, and…not moving.

Reason slowly invaded my panic-stricken brain. The snake wasn’t moving. And how the heck had a snake that belonged in the woods made its way to the master suite on the second floor of Winters House?

I’d only been there a week, but a few hours was enough to tell me that Mrs. W ran a tight ship. I wasn’t sure a field mouse would have the nerve to breach the walls of Winters House, much less an enormous rat snake.

I don’t know how long I stood there waiting out what I was increasingly sure was a rubber snake. I’d have to touch it to verify my hunch, and I couldn’t quite bring myself to move yet.

Maybe it was sleeping. Were snakes light sleepers? I had no clue. I was a suburban girl. I’d never been camping. I didn’t hike. My experience with snakes was limited to a quick trip through the reptile house at the zoo.

I’d like to say I kicked the ice queen into gear, strode to the bed, and picked up the snake. The woman I wanted to grow up to be might do that. I wasn’t there yet. Instead, knees still shaking, I sprinted to the dressing room and grabbed shoes at random, snatching sandals, heels, and sneakers from the closet shelves. Armed with footwear, I crept back to the bed, stopping a few feet away, watching the snake warily.

It hadn’t moved.

I was absolutely, positively, almost sure it hadn’t moved.

For a second, I thought about yelling for Mrs. W. I had a feeling she could rout an invading army. One rat snake under my pillow would be no match for her.

Only one thing stopped me. If the snake wasn’t real, if it was, in fact, a rubber snake, then I knew exactly who’d slipped it beneath my pillow, and why.

Aiden’s great aunt Amelia was known as a prankster. And she didn’t like me. She didn’t dislike me, either. Aunt Amelia didn’t pull her punches. She’d said straight out the day before, “I can’t quite figure you out, girl. You remind me a little too much of his first wife. I’m keeping an eye on you.”

I’d given her a cool look and said, “Fair enough. I’m not sure about you either.”

Sophie, Gage’s wife, who I’d learned was sweet and endlessly patient, had given me a kind smile at my answer. I was pretty sure Sophie liked me. Then again, Sophie was nice to everyone, so it was hard to tell.

Annalise and Riley were polite, but not particularly warm. Gage was the same, and I could tell being civil cost him. Every day I debated leaving Winters House. Every night I told myself, just one more day. Aiden had asked me to stay. He’d asked me to give this a chance, give his family a chance, and I’d promised I would.

In Aiden’s favor was the fact that I didn’t, at the moment, have anywhere to go. I didn’t want to blow my savings on a hotel and finding an apartment would take time. It made sense, both in terms of finance and my potential commute, to find a job first. I was working on it, but that too took time. My only sensible option, other than Winters House, was my room in Chase’s condo.

If I wanted to go home, I had to forgive him first. I wasn’t ready. Not yet. I was close, but as much as I loved my brother, I was still pissed.

I forced myself to inch closer to the side of the bed. The head of the rubber snake stuck out from beneath the white pillowcase, just a little more exposed than the coils of black scales tucked mostly beneath the pillow. The snake had a dull sheen to it. If it were real, wouldn’t the scales be shiny?

I shifted my weight to the balls of my feet, ready to run screaming bloody murder if the creature beneath my pillow moved. I tossed a sneaker at the pillow, letting out a barely audible squeak and jumping back even as it struck the snake and tumbled harmlessly to the floor.

The snake didn’t move.

I threw a sandal. The sneaker had knocked the pillow awry and the sandal landed square in the middle of the snake’s coiled body.

The snake still didn’t move.

It’s rubber, you idiot. Just go pick it up.

That would be sensible. But, just in case, I tossed a nude pump, a spike-heeled sandal, a pink wedge, a ballet flat, and a flip-flop. The snake looked less terrifying and more silly covered in my shoes.

And I was absolutely, positively, mostly, really, sure that it was fake.

I still approached the side of the bed with my eyes squeezed half shut. I reached out, fingers trembling, and grasped the heavy, cool, rubber length of the fake reptile.

At the confirmation that there was not a giant snake in my bed, I sank on the side of the mattress in relief.

I thought about calling Aiden, and just as quickly rejected the idea. He was in Houston overnight. It was the first time he’d traveled for business since we’d officially been together, and the trip was so quick he hadn’t invited me to join him. I didn’t mind being left out. Twelve hours of meetings didn’t sound like my idea of fun.

If I told Aiden about the snake, he’d rush to my defense. And if I wanted to make a place for myself with his family, I couldn’t hide behind him every time they tested me. I wasn’t afraid of Amelia Winters. I’d heard about her pranks.

I pulled the heavy rubber snake onto my lap and stared down at it, considering. She’d probably been expecting me to scream. Maybe to come running out of Aiden’s rooms, terrified and hysterical.

Aunt Amelia didn’t know me very well. I didn’t do terrified and hysterical. At least, not in public. The shoe throwing episode, my pounding heart, and my wobbly knees were between me and the rubber snake. If Amelia was expecting me to entertain her, she’d be disappointed.

I’d learned that when people wanted to get a rise out of you, the most satisfying response was to give them absolutely nothing. It was guaranteed to drive the other person crazy.

Smiling to myself, I picked up the shoes I’d thrown, silently apologizing for the abuse, and replaced them in the closet. I hid the snake in there along with them.

I had plans for that snake.

Aiden didn’t call that night. I got a quick text close to midnight that said only, Miss you. Been a long day. Be home for dinner tomorrow.

His bed was too big without him. I’d gotten used to falling asleep beside him, used to waking up with him. Used to the feel of his lips on my skin, his hands on my body. It was a little scary, how easily I’d fit into life at Winters House. To life as part of a couple. I’d never had anything like this with a man.

I thought I understood the pattern of relationships. Dating, sex, maybe moving in together. What I had with Aiden was different. We fit. We could talk all night or sit in silence. I knew what he was thinking by the way he raised an eyebrow, and when no one else saw beneath my cool mask, Aiden could read my mind.

He was everything good and honest, and when he smiled at me, my heart beamed. This was way too fast to fall in love. I didn’t seem to be able to stop myself. I wasn’t sure I wanted to.

I tossed and turned for hours before I found sleep. When Aiden was beside me, I could bury my worries. His presence overwhelmed me, distracting me with the physical, giving me a rock to lean on while I sorted out everything else. Without him there, I was adrift.

I’d feel better once things were settled. Once I was talking to Chase again. Once I had a job and a place to live. Once we’d found the people who’d sold me to my parents.

I hadn’t called Chase. Hadn’t texted him. Hadn’t told him I’d stolen our files from our parents and handed them over to Sinclair Security. I knew from Aiden and Gage that Chase had taken a temporary position with Winters, Inc. working in the department they’d created from his company.

When Gage mentioned him, it was with admiration and even a hint of affection. They must have been getting along. I was happy for Chase. For both of them.

It wasn’t that I was upset about being adopted. I’d been estranged from my parents for so long this additional wedge of separation didn’t mean much. And Chase was my brother, blood or not.

But he’d lied to me. Lied about something fundamental to who I was, for years. He’d had chance after chance to come clean. Every time I thought about sending him a text or dialing his number I got angry all over again. I loved him, but I wasn’t ready to forgive him.

I’d sent out my résumé and applied for a few jobs that looked promising, even gone on a handful of interviews, but so far, I hadn’t found anything that felt like a good fit. I hadn’t had a job offer or a second interview. Even in a good market, finding the right job didn’t happen overnight.

I’d only been looking a week, but on top of everything else not having a steady paycheck left me anxious. I had money saved, but that was for school. Not money to burn while I lounged around Winters House, unemployed.

Ditto for the apartment. I’d looked at a few places, but everything I liked was over my budget. Until I found a job it didn’t make sense to sign a lease.

All the un-woven threads of my life kept me up, circling in my head, questions without answers, until I finally dropped off to sleep.

I woke in time for breakfast, still tired, but without circles under my eyes to show it. Perfect. Evidence of a sleepless night wasn’t part of my plan.

I had another interview later in the morning, and I dressed for it before breakfast in a pale gray sheath dress with matching jacket. My plum heels brought out the hint of lavender in the gray fabric and matched the filmy, patterned scarf I wound around my neck. I braided sections of my hair, smoothed other sections until they shone, and twisted all of it into a chignon at the nape of my neck.

I reached for a pair of pearl earrings, stopped, and let my hand fall to my side. They went with the dress—professional, appropriate, and pretty. And they reminded me of my mother. I had nothing against pearls. I loved pearls. But not today. I chose a pair of simple sterling knots and put them on. Dressed in my armor of choice, I was ready to face the enemy.