Lucian rose swiftly, already halfway across the room by the time Dev stood and demanded, “Is this going to be another mess I’m going to have to clean up?”

That was the wrong thing to say.

Twisting around, Lucian faced off with his brother. “Exactly what messes have you had to clean up, Dev? Because if I think back, it wasn’t you cleaning up the biggest messes, now was it?”

“That’s not what we’re talking about.”

“Of course not. When you’re ready to take that walk down memory lane, let me know, but right now, I need to find Ms. Hughes before she walks off the property and stumbles into a swamp.”

“She won’t make it out of the house,” he replied dryly.

That was true, but not the point. Lucian fully understood why Julia was so upset. He hadn’t expected her to smile and go along with everything asking no questions, although that would’ve made life easier. She probably felt tricked, and he could admit to himself that he had.

“Did you fuck her?” Dev asked.

Lucian’s right hand curled into a fist as he stared at his brother. A rush of anger slammed into him. “That’s really none of your business, but no, I didn’t.”

Doubt filled his steely gaze. “That would be like an addict leaving a full syringe behind.”

His lip curled up. “Well, maybe you don’t know me as well as you think you do.”

“That is also unlikely,” Dev replied, glancing at his watch with a disgusted sigh.

“Do you know how hard it was to find someone who I believed wouldn’t be lured to sell their story to the tabloids? Now I’m going to have to start all over. Did you think about that? For someone who is so concerned about his sister, you sure as hell didn’t stop and think about what this meant for her.”

Lucian’s eyes narrowed. “Nothing has changed. Ms. Hughes is perfect for the job.”

“Maybe she was, Lucian, but clearly, not anymore.”

“She still is.”

Dev raised a brow. “Seems to me that she is probably trying to leave this house right now.”

“I just need to talk to her,” Lucian advised. “But she’s not leaving.”

His brother tilted his head to the side. “I hope you’re not planning to try to keep her against her will.”

“I would never do such a thing.”

The expression on Dev’s face turned bland.

“Look, what I said was true. I found out her name from paperwork you had on your desk and I checked her out. We talked about why she was a nurse and shit like that.” He skated over how the evening ended, because that truly was none of his brother’s business. “She didn’t know who I was. That’s why she’s upset. I just need to . . . smooth things over and everything will be fine.”

Dev studied him for a moment. “Did you also do your own background check?”

“Figured she passed that if you hired her.”

Giving him a curt nod, Dev pulled his phone out of his pocket. “If she stays, I’m fine with it, but if she causes problems, I will deal with her.”

The last thing Dev would be doing was dealing with her, but he nodded so he could end this conversation. Turning, he headed out of the room. His brother had been right, though. Julia hadn’t made it out of the house. She hadn’t made it past the hallway.

“I know you’re trying to do your job, but I really need to step outside.” She was speaking fast, her voice pitching high. “I need to do—”

“Lucian,” Richard said, looking relieved as Lucian came around the corner. “I believe Ms. Hughes needs to speak to you.”

She spun around. Her cheeks were the prettiest pink he’d ever seen and those brown eyes were on fire. “Taylor is the last person I need to speak with.”

Richard’s brows rose quizzically.

“Could you give us a moment, Richard?”

Clutching the strap like she was about to use the bag as a weapon, she twisted toward Richard. “You do not need to give us a moment.”

Barely hiding his grin, Richard gave them a quick bow and then pivoted on his heel, rushing off with the speed of a much younger man.

“Ms. Hughes—”

“I don’t want to speak to you.” She spun back to him. “Actually, yes I do.”

Well, he figured that was a good start.

“You are a liar and a piece of—”

“When did I lie to you?” he cut in, clasping his hands behind his back. “Taylor is my middle name. I never said I wasn’t a de Vincent and everything we talked about was true.”

“Don’t you dare play semantics with me. You knew who I was and pretended that you had no idea.”

“I knew of you, but I didn’t know you.”

“Semantics,” she hissed, stepping into him and tipping her head back. “You came to the bar, talked to Anna so you could get introduced to me.”

“That is true. I wanted to talk to you.”

“For what reason?” she demanded and then rushed on before he could answer. “Were you trying to vet me for this job in the most creepy, inappropriate manner humanly possible? When you could’ve just introduced yourself like a normal human being and asked me all those questions. By the way, it now makes sense why you were so interested in my career choices.”

“I was interested in your answers—”

“Because your family hired me,” she pointed out.

“There is that, but I would’ve been interested nonetheless.”

“Oh yeah. I’m so sure about that. What you did was so incredibly wrong. Do you understand that?”

“Well, it doesn’t sound very appropriate when you phrase it the way you did,” he agreed, fighting a grin. As twisted as it was, he was enthralled by her anger and how she was going toe to toe with him. “But, yes, I was vetting you.”

She barked out a harsh laugh as she took a step back. “I guess I failed then, so why am I here? Just to make a fool out of me?”

“What?” Shock splashed through him like a dousing of icy water. “I need to make something real clear for you. If you failed, you wouldn’t be standing here. You wouldn’t have made it on the plane, and I’m not making a fool out of you.”

That beautiful chest rose sharply. “If you think either two of those things will make me feel better, they don’t. I don’t even know what to say at this point.”

At this point, Lucian decided honesty was the best route to go, but they were too close to his brother. He placed his hand on her lower back. “Let’s go—”

“Don’t touch me,” she snapped.

Tilting his chin to the side, he withdrew his hand as he said in a low voice, “That’s not what you told me last night.”

Her eyes widened. “You son of—”

“My mother was a lot of things, but she wasn’t a bitch. My father? He was a bastard, though.” Placing his hand on her shoulder, he ignored her protests and attempts to shrug off his grip as he steered farther down the hall. Reaching around her, he opened the door and guided her in.

“How many rooms does this house have?” she exclaimed, turning around in a slow circle as she took in the handcrafted chairs and couches. “Like who needs these many chairs and couches?” She ran a hand over an arm, which left Lucian feeling a little jealous of a chair. “Though this craftsmanship is amazing.”

A grin teased at his lips. “I’ve honestly lost count of how many rooms, but there are many.”

Julia dropped her purse on the couch and faced him, folding her arms. “I just need to get something off my chest.”

Hopefully it was her shirt.

He kept that to himself.

“If I had known who you were, I wouldn’t have let you into my apartment or done any of . . . any of that with you.” Her cheeks deepened in color, reminding him of the fact that last night wasn’t something she did often, and the knowledge still pleased him as deeply as it had before.

“So you’re saying you wouldn’t have let me rip your dress and fuck you with my fingers? Is that what you’re saying?”

She made a choking sound as she glanced around the empty room. “I cannot believe you just said that. I mean, I really cannot.”

“It’s what happened and I don’t regret it. At all.”

“Well, I regret it. Obviously,” she spat, throwing up her arms. “The one time I go home with a guy he turns out to kind of be my boss who was scouting me out for the job I was hired for.”

“You don’t regret it,” he said, stepping toward her.

She held her ground. “Just because you had your fingers in me doesn’t mean you know me.”

“That might be true, but I do know you want to save snakes and rats in your animal sanctuary.” He came closer, thrilled when she didn’t back up. He lowered his head so they were almost eye level. “And I also know how it feels when you come all over my fingers.”

Julia sucked in a sharp breath.

“And I also know exactly how your nipples fit between my fingers,” he went on, voice lower and lower. “And I know the hot as hell sound you make when you come. So, I know you don’t regret that.”

She looked away, exhaling heavily. Several seconds passed and then she said, “You left without even—you know what? It doesn’t matter.”

“No, it does.” When she started to look away, he caught her chin and gently guided her gaze back to his. “I wanted nothing more than to get inside you. Hell, it was all I could think about after I left, and no matter how many times I jerked off afterward changed that.”

Julia’s eyes widened once more.

“I didn’t seek you out last night to do that. That’s me being real. That wasn’t my intention,” he said, and hell, he was telling the truth. He hadn’t flown to Pennsylvania to hook up with their newly hired nurse and in honesty he had no idea why he hadn’t gone through with it when he had her right there, more than willing. He did know that maybe he’d gone about it the wrong way. “I probably should’ve told you who I was beforehand, but then I doubt you would’ve showed up here if you knew.”

She swallowed and then stepped back, out of his reach. “I think the best thing at this point is for you to pay for the flight I’m going to have to book to go back home.”

Lucian did not like the sound of that. “Go back to what? You’ve quit your job, correct? You don’t even have an apartment anymore,” he reminded her. “There’s nothing but your family to return to.”

Her brows lifted. “Not like I’ve forgotten that, but thanks for reiterating it for me.”

“I don’t think that you have, but I feel like I need to remind you that this well-paying job is yours and if you don’t take it, you don’t have a job.”

Shaking her head, she pressed her lips together. “This is unbelievable. Is there even someone that I was hired to care for?”

“Yes, of course. It’s someone I care very deeply for, which is why I wanted to check you out.” He paused, wanting—no, needing her to understand. “My brother isn’t really good at making decisions where there should be emotion involved. I had to make sure you were a good choice for the job.”

Her gaze flickered to him. Another long moment passed. “I don’t see how this is going to work. I’m . . . this is embarrassing,” she said, and he saw the truth of those words in the sudden glimmer in her eyes. “I don’t know how I could take this job after what has happened—after feeling like I’ve been set up.”

An acidic knot formed in his gut, a feeling vaguely familiar. Was it guilt? Perhaps, a little regret? A muscle flexed in his jaw. He needed to apologize. Not because he should, but because he needed to.

He took a breath. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t.” Shaking her head again, she turned to the side and started to reach for her purse.

Cursing under his breath, Lucian stepped forward. He caught her hand. “I am sorry. That isn’t a fake apology. I’m sorry that I’ve made you feel like you were set up. That wasn’t my intention.”

Her gaze flew to his as her fingers curled helplessly around air.

“But I don’t regret what we shared.” His eyes searched hers. “I’m not going to take that back. I have absolutely no desire to do so.”

Something else filled those beautiful eyes of hers. Something he’d seen in many, many women’s eyes before, but seemed so entirely different when he saw it in hers.

“We have two options. We can be mature adults who had a moment together and are able to move on from that or you can make a really bad decision because you’re uncomfortable.”

“Had a moment?” she whispered, and then yanked her arm free. She lifted her chin. “It was barely a moment.”

A surprised laugh almost escaped him as he stared down at her. Damn. He liked that. He liked her. He was smart enough to keep his expression blank, because at least she wasn’t trying to grab her purse and storm out.

Lucian didn’t want her to leave and he wasn’t fool enough to even lie to himself that he had purely altruistic reasons for wanting her to stay, reasons that had nothing to do with his sister.

Pinching the bridge of her nose, she lowered her chin. Damn it. She wasn’t convinced. So he did want de Vincents always did. He sweetened the deal.

“How about we offer you a . . . a completion bonus,” he said.

She dropped her hand and looked up. “What?”

“A bonus that you’d receive upon completion of this job.” Now he had her attention. “Once we are no longer in need of your services, you would receive a sizeable bonus.”

Julia was quiet, and he could see her working it over in her head. “How much.”

Fighting a grin, he bent over and whispered an amount in her ear. Her soft curse made him chuckle as she jerked back and stared up at him with wide eyes. “I think that bonus would be suitable?” he said. “After all, it would be more than enough money for you to use as a down payment for a nice farm with lots of land for your animal rescue.”

One hand rose to her chest. “You . . . you can’t be serious. That is a lot of money.”

He raised a shoulder. “It’s really nothing.”

She blinked like she was coming out of a dream. “Maybe to you, but to me that’s the kind of money I can’t even count to.”

His lips twitched. “Will you stay, Ms. Hughes?”

“Will I have that completion bonus in writing?” she shot back.

Clever girl. “Of course. I’ll have the ratified contract to you by the end of the day.”

Julia studied him for several seconds, and for a moment, he really thought she was going to turn him down. Then he’d have to add another number. He’d keep going until she said yes.

She exhaled roughly. “All right. I’ll stay.”

Lucian opened his mouth.

Julia cut him off by raising her hand. “But we’re not going to talk about last night. Again. All right? We’re going to pretend it never happened.”

He inclined his head.

Her eyes narrowed, but then she turned away and picked up her purse. With her back to him, Lucian didn’t fight the smile curving his lips. He didn’t promise to not talk about last night or to pretend that it hadn’t happened. Lucian was a lot of things, but he didn’t make idle promises, ones he would have no intention of keeping.

As Julia followed Lucian Taylor de Vincent back to the room she’d originally been placed in, she kept silently screaming the amount of money he’d whispered in her ear. He couldn’t be serious.

A million dollars?

A million dollars might not be much to him, but to her, based on her spending, that was the kind of money she could live off for decades.

She was in a daze—had been since she realized that she’d be working for the de Vincents and then even more thrown off when she saw who Lucian was. Now this? Being offered a million dollars to not say forget this and get the hell out of here?

In all honesty, there wasn’t a single part of her that wondered if she should turn the money down. Who would? Seriously? It wasn’t like he was offering her a million to have sex with him or to murder someone.

And she didn’t even have the brain space at the moment to figure out how he felt about what had happened between them the night before. She didn’t even know how she felt about it now. This morning she was all “no regrets” but now? Julia couldn’t quite claim that. She still felt like she’d been tricked. It was asking a lot for her to believe that he’d had no intention of almost hooking up when they first met.

Lucian’s hand landed softly on her shoulder again, stopping her from walking past the room. She shot him a look of warning.

He winked.

Insufferable.

That was what he was. An insufferable jerk who just offered her a million dollars to complete the job she was hired to do.

An insufferable jerk who’d also given her the first not self-induced orgasm in many, many years, but that was not something she was going to focus on.

Devlin was still in the room. Turning to her, he said something into the phone and then slipped it into the pockets of his pants. His expected gaze settled on her.

Julia knew it was time to pull it together. Inhaling deeply, her back straightened. “Let’s try this again.” She offered her hand to the oldest brother. “I’m Julia Hughes.”

Dev took her hand, shook it, and then dropped it like any normal human being. “So, I am assuming that everything with my brother is . . . settled.”

Praying that she wasn’t blushing, she nodded.

“Then, please have a seat.”

She sat back down, and much to her displeasure, Lucian dropped back down on the couch beside her. “I’m sorry about the earlier incident, but I was caught a little off guard by, well, everything.” She squared her shoulders. “I was under the impression that I would be caring for Mr. Besson’s daughter. I had no idea that it was, well, that you . . .” She peeked at Lucian. He was back to watching her with that smile. “I had no idea I would be working for your family.”

“That is understandable.” Devlin sat in the chair to her right, crossing one leg over the other.

She realized then that his eyes were the same color as Lucian’s, and just as intense, if not more. It was a different kind of intensity, though, one where she felt as if Devlin could see right through her skin, ripping through niceties, and exposing her deepest, darkest secrets.

“I assume you understand why we didn’t use our name,” Dev said, and she swore she heard the one next to her snort softly. “We value privacy very highly and we have to be so careful when hiring staff and allowing people into our home.”

Julia could understand that. After all, they were the freaking de Vincents, so she nodded. Still didn’t mean what Lucian had done was justifiable. To her, it was legit insane.

“Hopefully that doesn’t change your acceptance of our offer,” Dev said.

“We’ve already covered that,” Lucian answered for her, causing her jaw to lock down. “She’s one million percent on board. Leaving now won’t be so easy.”

Devlin’s gaze slid from her to his brother. The slash of his mouth tightened. “What my brother meant by that is you’ve already come all the way here. From Pennsylvania, correct?”

“Yes.” That was so not what Lucian meant. “It doesn’t change anything. I took the job. I’m not going anywhere.”

“That pleases me greatly to hear,” Lucian murmured.

Dev closed his eyes for about five full seconds before reopening them.

She decided the best possible course was to ignore him. “So, I am guessing the patient is not Mr. Besson’s daughter?”

“It’s our sister,” Lucian answered, and her gaze shot to his. His sister? “You will be caring for Madeline de Vincent.”

From the very second she was in that car and realized that she’d be working for the de Vincents, she couldn’t figure out who she’d be possibly caring for. The sister had never been an option, because she remembered all the drama from about a decade ago. Every news station had covered it incessantly for months.

Julia glanced between the two brothers. “I thought . . . I thought your sister disappeared about a decade ago?”

“You know about our sister?” Dev asked, sounding about as happy as Livie did when they asked her to stay late for one reason or another.

Julia nodded. “It was all over the place. She just vanished the same night . . .” She trailed off and the pink tip of her tongue darted out, wetting her lips.

Oh hell.

Arousal was like a punch in Lucian’s gut. He had to look away, because this was ridiculous. She was talking about some serious, unsexy shit, and here he was, getting hard.

Her nervous gaze darted over to him, and he knew what she was thinking but not saying. So he said it while his brother went characteristically silent. “Our sister disappeared the same night our mother . . . died.”

“It is imperative that no one outside the immediate family is aware that she is home,” Dev said then. “She is in a very . . . fragile state. Media attention would only complicate things.”

She lowered her gaze as she seemed to draw in a deep breath. “I understand. You have nothing to worry about. Patient privacy is of the utmost importance, whether you were Billy Bob off the street or a de Vincent.”

“Billy Bob?” Lucian chuckled, and her eyes narrowed a fraction of an inch.

Dev’s jaw tightened. “I am glad to hear that.”

“Do you have an idea of where she may have been or what she might have been doing?” Julia asked.

“Why would you need to know that?” Dev asked.

Lucian opened his mouth to tell his brother to watch it, but Julia beat him to it. Her chin tipped up and she held his gaze. “I get that discretion is a big deal for you. Totally understand that, but there are going to be things I need to know to be able to effectively do my job.”

Dev folded his hands around his knees. His knuckles were turning white.

The corner of Lucian’s mouth curved up. Good to know she wouldn’t be easily pushed around by Dev. That would prove . . . entertaining.

“You will have to be open and honest with me,” she continued, undaunted by Dev. “If not, I’ll be going in blind and that’s not going to help anyone. Knowing these things could possibly help with her treatment. If she was without food or basic nutrients, for example. The type of conditions she may have lived in would also help guide me in what would be needed.”

“She appears to have been well cared for,” Lucian answered, earning a sharp look from Dev. He also had Julia’s attention again, so win for him. “She is thinner than I remember, but that was ten years ago. She’s also taller than I remember, but she . . . she appears healthy.”

“Okay. And you’ve had her checked over by another physician?” When Lucian nodded, her brows puckered together. “Did she just show up at your front door?”

“No,” he answered as pressure walloped him in the chest again. “Gabe—Gabriel—our other brother found her floating facedown in the pool.”

“Oh my God.” She blinked several times as a bit of the rosiness faded from her cheeks. “Was their water in her lungs or—”

“She was breathing when Gabe pulled her out. Our doctor said she did not appear to have suffered any damage to her lungs.” Lucian exhaled heavily. “We don’t know how she ended up in the pool and we don’t know how long she was in it.”

Julia appeared to mull that over and then she nodded curtly. “I think the best thing is for me to see her at this point.”

“Doctor Flores will be coming over shortly to meet with you and go over Madeline’s medical records.” Dev unfolded his hands and then rose. “I will take you to her room. And Lucian,” he added, “I need you to wait for me in my office. There’s something important we need to discuss.”

Lucian smirked as he dipped his chin. “Of course.”

Julia rose, picking up the purse that was large enough to stash a baby in it. Maybe even a toddler. Thank God she hadn’t hit him with it. Would’ve left a bruise.

She glanced over at him and a small frown marred her features. She didn’t say anything, just nodded and then hurried to join Dev where he waited for her in the archway. Lucian wasn’t frowning at all as he watched her lovely ass sway side to side.

As Julia passed under the archway, Dev placed his hand on the small of her back. She didn’t even seem to react to the polite gesture, unlike earlier when Lucian had done the same.

Dev looked over his shoulder at Lucian, raising a challenging eyebrow.

A muscle flexed along Lucian’s jaw as he held himself in place, denying the sudden primal need to remove Dev’s hand very forcibly. Very painfully. Like snapping some bones painfully, and Jesus, that was a bit concerning.

Because that kind of raw reaction was excessive, but then again, Lucian was excessive in all things.

A huge part of him knew he should’ve squelched the building interest last night and he really shouldn’t be entertaining it now. Julia was here for his sister and if he kept after her, things could get messy.

And his sister meant the world to him. They were inseparable until that night. After all, they were fraternal twins. When she disappeared, it had killed him, and when she reappeared in this state, it had killed him all over again. Dev had almost been right earlier when he claimed she was the only other thing he cared about. He should focus on something—someone—else. There were plenty of options available.

But that would be the smart thing to do.

That also meant that would not be what he would do.

Rising from the couch, he left the room and found Richard near the entryway. “Got a job for you.”

“Yes?” he replied.

A slow grin appeared. “Move Ms. Hughes’s belongings to the second floor.”

His expression was remarkably bland as he asked dryly, “Is there a particular room you have in mind?”

“Yes.” That grin spread to a smile as he started backing up, heading for the stairs. “Move her to the corner room.”