Ring, ring. Jozef’s phone rang, the sound slicing through the silence of his dimly lit apartment. He stirred, barely awake, and answered with a sleep-roughened voice. "Yes?" His assistant’s voice came through the receiver, crisp and professional, informing him of his brother Jacob’s latest arrest. Of course. The fourth time this month. And it was only the second week. Jozef exhaled a long, weary sigh—not from exhaustion, but exasperation. "I’ll handle it. Thank you." Another sigh. He should be used to this by now. But somehow, he wasn’t. Funny. Beside him, she slept peacefully, her face serene, her beauty effortless. Jozef reached out, tracing a feather-light touch over her cheek. He’d been seeing her—well, been her sugar daddy—for five months now. The longest arrangement he’d ever had. She was everything he could ask for in a partner. She met all his requirements: three years younger, compliant, understanding of his family business, never asked unnecessary questions, and was incredible in bed. *Except for one tiny flaw. She expected attachment. Of course, she never said it out loud, but Jozef wasn’t a fool. Reading people was his literal job. He saw it—the way her eyes softened whenever he let her in a little closer, whenever he answered a question he normally would have deflected, whenever he looked at her in a way he shouldn’t. That look in her eyes... She was falling for him. And that was bad. Jozef didn’t do attachment. Not because he was a notorious womanizer like Jacob, who collected women like trophies, nor because he was the kind of man to devote himself to one woman like their eldest brother, Johan. No—his reason was far less romantic. It was insecurity. A deep-rooted, insatiable hunger for validation that had festered since boyhood. No matter what he achieved, however hard he tried, it was never enough. He was always chasing the next goal, the next milestone, the next ounce of approval. Always the next, and the next, and the next. It was in his nature now—competing, striving for something undefined. Something no one had ever told him he needed to have, yet he did. --- Jacob’s face lit up the moment he spotted Jozef. Arms outstretched, he pulled his younger brother into a hug—like he always did, like Jozef always pretended to hate. "Baby bro! You came for me." Jacob ruffled Jozef’s hair like he was still eight. "Hope I didn’t wake you." Jozef leveled him with a deadpan stare, monotone dripping with sarcasm. "Sure. You didn’t wake me to bail you out at four in the morning." Jacob just laughed, slapping his brother on the back as they strolled out of the station, as if he hadn’t just spent the night in a holding cell. --- "The Partners are asking for your—" Jozef’s attention drifted the moment his amber gaze landed on her. She stood in the firm’s lobby, examining his award shelf with childlike curiosity. She was far too innocent—too pure—to be in a place built on sin, lies, and deceit. "Yes, I understand. You're dismissed." Jozef strode toward her, clearing his throat to get her attention. She turned, her face lighting up the moment their eyes met—despite the firm set of his expression. "What are you doing here? Didn’t I make it explicitly clear that my workplace is off-limits?" His voice was even, controlled—yet he still grabbed her wrist and pulled her into his office, ensuring no one saw them together. The last thing he needed was a scandal. He wasn’t ready to open that particular can of worms. She simply stared up at him with the same unwavering innocence, no matter how cold or dismissive he tried to be. And lately, he had been trying. Harder and harder, as her attachment grew and his denial tightened like a vice around his chest. "You wanted to surprise me?" His voice sharpened with incredulity. "Why on earth would you want to do that?" He saw it immediately—the way her shoulders slumped at his scolding. Fuck.* That ugly, gnawing feeling twisted in his gut. He hated seeing her upset. He shouldn’t care. He couldn’t care. But he did. —No. He didn’t. "Look, I’m sorry for getting upset, but we laid down the rules from day one." His tone was firm, final. "You can’t come to my workplace. You can’t be seen with me in public. You know that." He had to put an end to this. She was getting too attached. He was getting too attached.