I twist my hair tighter every time Merritt fills the doorway, his quiet intensity making the old doubt flare and then settle all at once. The inheritance has locked us into this house with its heavy ledgers and sealed envelopes, but nothing prepares me for the way his hand at my waist turns necessity into something I cannot name. I tell myself the discipline is just a way to keep the partnership steady, yet each time he draws me closer the air grows thick with what I secretly crave.

He leads me to the study and his palm finds the small of my back while my skirt still covers everything. Stay still, he says, and the words hang there like a promise I both fear and need.