I gave him a flat look.

“You knew his doctor studied under Dr. Wren. You deliberately sent me in there.”

His smile widened.

“You offered to help me compete with Lucian. Naturally, I needed to see what you could do. Congratulations. You survived the test.”

He held out a hand.

I ignored it.

“I need a phone.”

I had nothing.

Starting this life couldn’t have been much harder.

Dorian snapped his fingers.

A subordinate brought a new device.

“My number’s saved in it. Wherever you are, whenever I call, you answer immediately. Hey. Come back.”

I had already spotted Miles coming outside.

I hurried over.

“Mr. Reed.”

I gave him my brightest, most harmless smile.

“Your employer has only just woken. There could be some unusual behavior afterward. If you need me for anything, call. Any time.”

Before he could answer, I dialed his number.

He looked at the incoming call and frowned.

“How do you have my private number?”

I stopped.

Before I could invent an answer, he found one himself.

“Of course. Dorian brought you.”

He looked toward the car and gave a dry laugh.

“So much for spending all those years abroad. Apparently, he’s cultivated plenty of contacts here. Even has my private number. Next, he’ll have the passcode to my employer’s house.”

“Exactly.”

I followed his lead without hesitation.

“Shameless. No respect for boundaries. I hate people like that. If Mr. Blackwood needs staff, let me know. I can start immediately.”

Miles looked me over.

Suspicion filled his eyes.

I leaned closer and lowered my voice.

“If he needs it, I can stay with Dorian and spy for him. A double agent.”

Now he looked not only suspicious but alarmed.

As though I might be unwell.

I scratched my head.

Right.

To him, I was a complete stranger.

A little too enthusiastic.

“Just please call if anything happens to him.”

Before leaving, I looked up at the room reluctantly.

Lucian appeared at the window.

Joy rose in me.

I waved.

He closed the curtains.

My face fell.

I sighed.

In my last life, I had never thought him so difficult to approach.

Apparently, apart from Stella Whitmore, he cared about nobody.

I looked down at this unfamiliar body and felt worse.

How long would it take to reach him as someone else?

I got into Dorian’s car.

My mood stayed low throughout the drive.

He glanced at me.

“Loving Lucian is asking for misery. A woman at your level could wait another lifetime, and he still wouldn’t look twice.”

I didn’t answer.

Before he could continue, his phone rang.

Whatever he heard wiped some of the laziness from his face.

“Understood. I’m coming.”

He told the driver to stop.

Before putting me out, he gave me a task.

“The family matriarch turns eighty next week. Choose a birthday present she’ll like. If she doesn’t…”

He still smiled.

His eyes were cold enough to feel like a snake moving across my face.

“Then, darling, you have no value.”

Nobody in that family was easy to deal with.

I walked along the street with one hand in my pocket and considered what came next.

Getting back to Lucian was the goal.

First, I needed somewhere to live.

And I had a promise to keep.

I would take back everything stolen from Nora.

Next stop, the Bennett family.

“Nora! Finally found you, you little bitch.”

A hand caught my arm and jerked me backward.

The voice was coarse and unpleasant.

I looked up, my gaze sharp.

About twenty.

Bleached, spiked hair.

Heavy build.

Acne across his face. Dark circles beneath his eyes. Thick, purplish lips.

He looked thoroughly unhealthy.

Memories flooded me.

Dylan Bennett.

Frank and Doreen’s biological son.

Nora’s wonderful little brother.

Another animal.

He had secretly photographed her in private and sold the pictures.

Dropped out before finishing high school.

Spent his days drifting and gambling.

Whenever he lost, Nora paid for it with bruises.

“What are you staring at?”

He was so used to bullying her that my contempt enraged him.

“You found a rich bastard to crawl into bed with? Two slaps will remind you how to behave.”

His hand rose.

The same vicious slap he had given her so many times before.

But this time, he had chosen the wrong woman.