So is the rain attacking in a torrential downpour. The relentless precipitation has been a steady annoyance for days. We return to the tower drenched and all shopped-out. The bodyguard Liam insisted on—a stoic man with muscled arms and a thick neck—opens the door of the main entrance, and my ladies and I spill inside, dripping rainwater everywhere.

“Today wasn’t the best day for an outing,” Faye says, letting the bags she’s holding drop to her feet.

“It’s as good a day as any.” Elise sets the rest of our haul on the floor. “Jerome says it rains at least 250 days out of the year here.”

Jerome is the wealthy businessman who’s been courting Elise for the last few weeks.

Faye rolls her eyes. “Jerome this and Jerome that.”

Elise shoots her a rare scowl. “You don’t have to be catty about it.”

“Sorry,” Faye says, sheepish. “I’ll try to rein it in.”

Selma appears from the kitchen. “The chancellor would like to see you in the library,” she tells me as she hands out towels to the three of us.

“Do you know why he requested to see me?”

“It’s not a request. I don’t know his reasons.”

I dry my hair, patting down the combination of strands and braids, and a tingle of wary excitement rushes through me. Ever since our chess game, things have become more strained, teeming with undeniable sexual tension. He hasn’t sought me out at all.

Until now.

I part ways with my ladies and take the journey down the long hallway. My dress sticks to my skin from the rain, but I forgo a trip to the penthouse to change first, much too eager to see Liam. As I pass the portraits of the Brotherhood’s ancestors, the portrayal of Evangeline Castle draws my focus. What must it have been like to be in her position, locked away and used by twelve men? Did she grow to love any of them?

One?

Two?

Three or more?

I can’t fathom falling in love with two men, but I can’t deny I’m attracted to both Liam and Sebastian.

The latter makes zero sense.

I turn down another hallway, and that’s when I realize I took a wrong turn. As if my thoughts conjured his presence, Sebastian’s raspy timbre filters into the hall from an ajar door on the left.

“Fucking gorgeous, Mona.”

A feminine voice murmurs something in response, words indiscernible, and I slow my steps, drawn to what lies beyond that door. Every bone in my body bids me to keep going, to not look into that room and lay eyes on him. To not give him another opportunity to unleash his cruelty on me.