The estate was empty. Aria felt it the moment she returned from work — the silence, the absence, the knowledge that they were alone.
Her mother and Richard had left that morning for a weekend charity gala in the city. Forty-eight hours. Just her and Julian in forty acres of isolation.
She should have stayed in her room. Should have locked the door, barricaded herself in, waited for Monday. Instead, she showered. Changed into a thin camisole and shorts and padded down the hallway to the kitchen for water.
The master hallway was dark, lit only by moonlight through tall windows. Aria moved quietly, her bare feet silent on marble, her heart pounding with awareness she couldn't suppress.
He found her halfway to the kitchen. Julian stepped from the shadows, blocking her path, his chest bare
