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The lock disengages with a quiet click, and the doors swing open like a secret letting itself be seen.

No creak. No resistance.

Because power like that doesn’t announce itself - it just is.

Kai whistles. “Jesus. The doors don’t evensqueak. What’s next - a moat full of tax lawyers?”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Lucian says without looking back. “The moat is geothermal.”

“Ohgood,” Kai mutters. “Environmentally conscious evil. My favorite kind.”

Ash leans in slightly as we pass the threshold. “Behave.”

Kai just grins. “Definebehave.”

Inside, the energy around the house somehow gets worse.

It's like a modern museum of repression -everythingsmells like money and secrets.

“I’m activating perimeter lockdown,” Lucian announces as he closes the front door firmly. “No one in or out.”

“That include us?” Kai asks, one brow lifting.

Lucian’s eyes flick up. “Yes.”

“Kinky,” Kai says, stepping in and giving the room a once-over. “Didn’t realize we were starting the kidnapping so early.”

“Will you fuckoffwith the kidnapping shit already?” Ash grumbles. “She came willingly.”

Theo steps past them all, heading toward another room - a sitting room. He lowers me to a couch with more reverence than I’ve shown any piece of furniture in my life.

The moment I hit the leather, it’s like flipping a switch. The ache roars back, slick and hot and immediate.

And it’s not just my body betraying me - it’s the tension in the room, thick and rising, curling beneath my skin like smoke looking for a match.

Theo drops to his knees in front of me. His hands are warm on my face, thumbs brushing my cheeks.

“Rhea,” he says, soft but sure. “You’re okay. You’re safe.”

“Don’t lie to me,” I snap. My voice is hoarse, shaking. “I’m unraveling like a Victorian widow with no corset and three secret lovers.”

“She’s not wrong,” Kai says, nudging Ash as they enter the room. “This has real gothic drama energy. We just need a storm and someone to fall off a balcony.”

Ash doesn’t blink. “If anyone’s falling, it’s you.”

“I hope it’s onto her,” Kai says, grinning. “And gently.”

“Can you shut the fuck up?” Theo growls, one eye twitching.

“I could,” Kai replies. “But then how would you all know what we’re thinking but too repressed to say?”

Theo doesn’t even look back. “Get out.”

“Please,” Kai says, ignoring him completely. “Can you believe how whipped you've got him already, Bambi?”

“Kai -”

“I'm serious!” he insists. “You're kneeling like you’re about to propose.”

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