Brian Starks stared at the textbook as though it had personally challenged him.
Annie sat behind her desk, chin resting in her palm, watching him with unmistakable amusement.
“Well?” she asked.
Brian turned a page. “This is a medical textbook.”
“Excellent. Your observational skills are improving.”
“You want me to explain the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because you claimed to be intelligent.”
“I never claimed to understand medicine.”
Annie leaned back in her chair. “Then all those expensive degrees and business awards are useless.”
Brian closed the book.
“Are you always this demanding?”
“Only when I’m awake.”
He regarded her silently.
Annie smiled. “You can leave if it’s too difficult.”
Brian reopened the textbook.
“Sit properly.”
Her smile disappeared. “Excuse me?”
“If I’m going to explain it, you’ll need to pay attention.”
Annie blinked.
Then she slowly sat upright.
“Are you giving me instructions in my own room?”
“Yes.”
“You have courage.”
“I’ve been told.”
Brian pulled the chair opposite her desk closer and studied the page. His expression became focused, and for the next several minutes, he explained the system in a way Annie hadn’t expected.
Not like a medical student.
Not with the depth of a professor.
But with clear logic.
He connected the process to business management, comparing the body’s response to falling blood pressure with a company attempting to stabilize itself during a financial crisis.
Annie listened, initially prepared to criticize him.
Unfortunately, his explanation made sense.
When he finished, she leaned back.
“That wasn’t terrible.”
“High praise.”
“Don’t get used to it.”
Brian closed the book and pushed it toward her. “Now explain it to me.”
Annie narrowed her eyes. “You’re testing me?”
“You asked for a lesson.”
“I asked you to prove your intelligence.”
“And now I’m proving yours.”
She stared at him for a long moment.
Then she picked up her pen.
“Fine. But if you fail, you owe me dinner.”
“What happens if you fail?”
“You still owe me dinner.”
Brian’s mouth curved.
“You’ve arranged this very carefully.”
“I’m a woman of strategy.”
Before he could answer, a knock sounded at the door.
Eleanor appeared, holding a tray of tea and sliced fruit.
“I thought you might want something.”
Annie immediately pointed at Brian. “He’s been bullying me.”
Eleanor looked at Brian.
Brian looked at Annie.
“She asked me to teach her,” he explained.
“And he’s enjoying the authority,” Annie added.
Eleanor placed the tray on the small table beside the window. “Then perhaps both of you should take a break.”
Annie reached for a slice of fruit.
Brian’s phone vibrated.
He glanced at the screen, and the faint amusement disappeared from his face.
“Excuse me.”
He stood and walked toward the window before answering.
Annie didn’t mean to listen, but his voice carried across the room.
“What happened?”
A pause.
“Why wasn’t I informed earlier?”
His tone sharpened.
“Freeze the transfer. I want the complete report on my desk tonight.”
Another pause.
“No. Don’t contact him yet. Find out who authorized it.”
He ended the call and remained near the window, his back facing her.
Annie watched him quietly.
The change was immediate. One moment, he had been arguing over a textbook. The next, he was once again the man people feared.
“Business problem?” she asked.
“Something like that.”
“Will it ruin your evening?”
“Possibly.”
“Then you should eat before it does.”
Brian turned to look at her.
She pushed the plate of fruit toward him.
“Your mother said you skip meals.”
His expression tightened. “My mother talks too much.”
“She talks enough.”
“I’m not hungry.”
Annie picked up a slice of apple and held it out to him.
“Eat.”
Brian looked at the apple.
Then at her.
“Are you serious?”
“Completely.”
“I’m not a child.”
“Then stop behaving like one.”
A strange silence settled between them.
Annie expected him to refuse. She almost hoped he would, just so she could argue with him.
Instead, Brian leaned forward and took the apple from her fingers.
His lips brushed her fingertips.
It lasted barely a second.
Still, Annie’s hand froze.
Brian seemed to notice. His eyes lowered briefly to her hand before returning to her face.
Annie quickly pulled back.
“There,” she said, forcing her voice to remain casual. “You’ve survived.”
“Barely.”
She pointed at the plate. “Eat another.”
“Your concern is becoming aggressive.”
“Your stubbornness requires aggressive treatment.”
Brian took another piece of fruit.
This time, Annie looked away.
Downstairs, Linda stood inside the study, facing William.
“You shouldn’t encourage this,” she said.
William closed the folder in front of him. “Encourage what?”
“Annie and Brian.”
His expression became serious. “Brian is an adult. Annie is an adult. Neither of them needs permission to speak to each other.”
“You know what the Starks family is like.”
“I know exactly what they’re like.”
“Then you know this arrangement could become complicated.”
William studied his daughter. “Linda, what are you really worried about?”
She looked away.
For several seconds, she said nothing.
Then she replied, “Annie has already lost eighteen years. She doesn’t need to become involved in another family’s problems.”
William’s face softened slightly.
“Is that what concerns you?”
Linda’s jaw tightened. “She doesn’t understand how people like the Starks operate.”
“Neither did you when you were twenty-five.”
“That’s different.”
“Why?”
Linda had no immediate answer.
William rose from his chair. “You don’t have to love every decision Annie makes. But you do need to stop treating her like an intruder.”
Her expression hardened.
“I never called her an intruder.”
“You don’t have to. She hears it in the way you speak to her.”
Linda lowered her gaze.
For a moment, the anger in her face gave way to something more complicated.
Guilt.
Fear.
Perhaps even resentment she didn’t fully understand.
“I’m trying to protect this family,” she said.
William’s voice softened. “Then start by protecting the people in it.”
Linda left the study without responding.
At the end of the hallway, Emily was waiting.
“You heard everything,” Linda said.
“I heard enough.”
Linda folded her arms. “Are you going to lecture me too?”
“No.”
That answer seemed to surprise her.
Emily walked beside her toward the stairs.
“Do you remember when Annie first arrived?” she asked.
Linda gave a humorless laugh. “How could I forget?”
“You stood outside her room for twenty minutes.”
Linda’s eyes flickered.
“I wasn’t doing anything.”
“I know.”
“Then why bring it up?”
“Because you wanted to enter.”
Linda stopped walking.
Emily continued gently, “You were curious. You wanted to talk to her. But you were afraid that if you let yourself get close, everything would change.”
Linda looked toward the staircase.
“What if it already has?”
“It has.”
“And what if I don’t know where I fit anymore?”
Emily’s expression softened.
“Then you find your place without pushing her out of hers.”
Linda said nothing.
But this time, she didn’t walk away.
When Brian finally left Annie’s room, the sky outside had turned dark.
Annie followed him downstairs, carrying her textbook.
William was waiting in the sitting room.
“Are you leaving already?” he asked.
“I have an early meeting tomorrow.”
Annie glanced at him. “You mean you have another meeting where you frighten people into signing documents?”
“Something similar.”
Eleanor came forward. “You should come for dinner again soon.”
Brian looked at Annie.
She immediately crossed her arms. “Don’t look at me. I’m not responsible for your social calendar.”
“Then I’ll ask you directly.”
Her eyebrows rose.
“Will you have dinner with me this week?”
The room suddenly felt too quiet.
Nicholas, seated near the window, lowered his phone with exaggerated slowness.
Emily pretended to be interested in a vase.
Annie looked at Brian.
He wasn’t smiling. He wasn’t teasing her. He was waiting for her answer with a patience that made it difficult to hide behind a joke.
“Is this a date?” she asked.
“If you want it to be.”
“And if I don’t?”
“Then it’s dinner.”
Annie studied him.
He hadn’t pressured her.
Hadn’t tried to charm her into agreeing.
He had simply left the choice in her hands.
That was far more dangerous than arrogance.
“Fine,” she said. “Dinner.”
Nicholas made a triumphant noise.
Annie pointed at him. “One sound, and you’re dead.”
Brian reached for his coat.
“Friday?” he asked.
“Friday works.”
“Seven?”
“Seven-thirty.”
“Why the extra thirty minutes?”
“I need time to mentally prepare myself for your personality.”
Brian nodded. “I’ll give you the time.”
She blinked.
Was that a joke?
Before she could decide, he turned toward the door.
Annie followed him outside.
The night air was cool, and the driveway lights illuminated the path. Brian stopped beside the car and turned to her.
“Your sister is worried,” he said.
Annie’s smile faded. “You noticed?”
“I notice most things.”
“Then perhaps you should ask her what she’s hiding.”
Brian’s expression became unreadable.
“Linda doesn’t trust easily.”
“Neither do I.”
“I know.”
Annie studied him. “You’re not going to tell me to stay away from her?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because you’re capable of deciding who deserves your trust.”
The answer unsettled her more than a warning would have.
Brian opened the car door.
Annie caught his sleeve before he could enter.
He looked down at her hand.
She released him immediately.
“Eat dinner when you get home,” she said.
A faint smile touched his lips.
“Are you giving me instructions?”
“Yes.”
“Then I’ll consider it.”
“Don’t consider it. Do it.”
Brian looked at her for a moment, then nodded.
“I will.”
The car pulled away, leaving Annie standing beneath the driveway lights.
She watched until it disappeared through the gates.
Then she touched her fingertips—the ones he had brushed earlier—and frowned at herself.
“This is ridiculous,” she muttered.
From the doorway, Nicholas called out, “What is?”
Annie turned sharply.
“Why are you always listening?”
“Because you’re always interesting.”
“I’m going to bed.”
“You have a date on Friday!”
Annie pointed at him. “It’s dinner.”
Nicholas grinned. “That’s how dates begin.”
She marched inside, refusing to answer.
But later that night, while lying in bed, Annie opened her phone and checked the calendar.
Friday — 7:30 p.m.
She stared at the entry.
Then, after a moment’s hesitation, she added one note beneath it.
Do not fall for the arrogant man.
Annie considered the reminder.
Then she deleted it.
It was far too late to pretend she wasn’t curious.