The house had looked exactly like the pictures.

Secluded. Modern. Expensive without being ridiculous. The kind of place that offered a few quiet days away from absolutely fucking everyone.

The spare key had been right where the message said it would be, tucked inside a lockbox beside the back door. The code worked. The address matched the confirmation. Nothing about walking inside had felt unusual in any way.

At first.

You carried your things in, left your bag near the stairs and started putting away the groceries you'd brought with you.

That was when the house became... strange.

There were far too many computers.

An entire setup took up one corner of the next room, multiple monitors arranged above a desk with cables disappearing neatly behind it. A security panel near the kitchen showed a handful of live camera feeds from around the property.

Then there was the laptop sitting closed on the dining table.

Beside it sat a half-finished mug of coffee.

Not an old, crusty mug someone had forgotten to rinse before the next guest arrived. There was still coffee inside it, and a faint ring beneath the ceramic suggested it hadn't been sitting there long.

Apparently whoever was running the place was fucking terrible at preparing for guests.

Still, you had a key. You had a booking confirmation. You had paid for the house.

So the groceries went into the refrigerator. Your things started finding temporary places around the house, and after a while, the odd technology became a lot easier to ignore.

Nearly an hour later, headlights swept across the windows.

An engine approached along the private road before falling quiet outside.

The front door opened several moments later.

Three men stepped inside.

All three were dressed in dark clothing. All three still had black balaclavas covering their faces.

Jarvis Conley entered first, broad shoulders nearly filling the doorway as he reached automatically for the lock behind him. Sutton Yorke followed, already pulling a phone from his pocket as though whatever they'd just come back from hadn't technically ended yet.

Rafe Calloway came in last.

Jarvis was halfway through pulling off his gloves when he spotted the unfamiliar bag near the stairs.

He stopped.

Sutton nearly walked directly into his back.

Then both men looked toward the kitchen.

Toward the groceries.

Toward you.

The silence lasted a few long seconds.

Sutton's attention went straight around the room, his whole expression sharpening as he took in every small sign that someone had been inside their supposedly secure house for a while. Jarvis didn't move at all. His posture simply changed, going rigid and alert.

Rafe looked at you.

Then at the groceries.

Then back at you.

Instead of alarm, something dangerously close to amusement crossed his face.

'Don't.'

Jarvis slowly turned his head toward him, already recognizing that expression and apparently disliking whatever it meant.

Rafe hadn't actually done anything yet.

His eyes creased slightly at the corners.

Sutton had moved toward the security panel, fingers already moving over the controls while his gaze flicked between camera feeds.

'There's a fucking stranger in the house, Rafe.'

That seemed to make Rafe's amusement worse.

He stepped farther inside, casually pulling off his gloves as his attention came back to you. His gaze moved briefly over the things you'd brought in before settling on the spare key lying innocently on the counter.

He lifted it between two fingers.

The humor stayed in his eyes, but something more analytical settled underneath it now.

Jarvis muttered something under his breath.

Sutton was a lot less subtle. He stared at the key, then at his screens, as though personally offended by its existence.

'Nobody has a key.'

Rafe turned it once between his fingers before looking back at you.

He started toward you.

There was nothing hurried about it. No immediate accusation. No raised voice. If anything, Rafe looked more entertained with every step.

But his eyes were working.

The groceries. Your belongings. The key. The room. You.

Everything.

Whatever explanation you might have offered never got the chance to leave your mouth.

Rafe reached you, closed his hand firmly around your wrist and turned toward the hallway in one smooth movement.

Sutton finally looked away from the security feeds.

'Where the fuck are you taking her?'

Rafe glanced back at him while continuing toward the hallway, completely unconcerned by the question.

Jarvis folded his arms across his chest, his expression hidden beneath the balaclava but his disapproval somehow perfectly obvious anyway.

'Try actually interrogating her before you decide you like her.'

That made Rafe stop.

For one second, he looked at Jarvis.

Then his gaze shifted toward you.

There it was again.

That tiny fucking spark of amusement.

He continued down the hallway.

The room he chose was small and deliberately plain, holding little more than a desk, two chairs and another computer. Rafe opened the door, guided you inside and finally let go of your wrist.

The door clicked shut behind you.

Only then did the easy humor in his posture change.

Not disappear.

Change.

Rafe didn't take the chair behind the desk. Instead, he leaned back against its edge, folded his arms and watched you in silence.

His gaze was considerably more focused now.

Sharper.

The kind of attention that made it obvious this wasn't the first time Rafe Calloway had brought someone into a room because he wanted answers.

Several seconds passed before his head tilted slightly.

His eyes dropped briefly over you, taking in whatever you had arrived wearing, before returning to your face. A faint smirk pulled at one corner of his mouth.

He paused, apparently considering something.

Then his gaze flicked toward the door.

The smirk returned.

His attention settled completely on you again, amusement lighting his eyes.