Chapter 4

POPPY'S POV

I was tired, literally cleaning where i was instructed to clean.

But.....

I wasn’t supposed to be here.

That was the first thing my brain screamed at me the second I saw the door. It was heavy, dark mahogany with a silver handle that gleamed like it had never been touched. I’d passed it three times during my shift on the second floor. Each time, I slowed. Each time, I told myself no.

But something was different today.It was open. Just slightly. A single breath of space between the frame and the lock.

The master’s room.

No one ever spoke of him directly. Not by name. Just “the master,” in hushed tones with lowered gazes and quick steps. I’d never seen him not really. Just a voice in a hallway. A shadow passing at a distance. A myth everyone feared.

But now, the myth left his door open. And my feet, betraying every ounce of common sense I had, stepped closer. Just a peek, I told myself. I’d just peek and walk away. No one would know.

But when my fingers wrapped around the cool silver handle… it gave way. The door opened soundlessly.

And the breath in my lungs caught.

The room was massive. Midnight-toned. Every surface screamed wealth and power and danger. Black floors. Heavy bookshelves. A glass bar with decanters of dark amber liquor. A bed massive, king-sized, draped in crisp sheets as black as the night outside.

The scent hit me next. Sandalwood. Leather. Something smoky and sinful.

And then…

Him.

I didn’t see him at first. I was too busy being nosy. My eyes were on the tall mirror against the far wall, the cufflinks gleaming on a dresser, the gun lying casually next to a glass of half-drunk whiskey.

Then I heard the voice. Low. Smooth. Deadly. “You always break rules this easily, little maid?”

I froze.

My heart crashed against my ribs so hard I thought I might drop dead.

And then I turned. And I saw him. Lucien Moretti.

Leaning against the wall just beside the open balcony, sleeves rolled, two buttons undone on his shirt, cigarette between his fingers like a king bored with his empire.

And he was… unreal.

Tall so tall. Broad shoulders that strained against that black dress shirt. Strong arms that made his veins look like something sculpted, not born. His skin was sun-kissed, just enough to make the contrast with his black hair hit even harder.

And his face? Fucking art.

A jawline like a blade. Full lips in a flat, unreadable line. Eyes that weren’t brown or black but steel. Cold and watching me like I was a mistake he hadn’t decided whether to erase or keep.

I couldn’t speak. I couldn’t breathe.

My knees? Weak.

Every single one of my senses screamed run. But something deeper, darker held me in place.

Those eyes pinned me to the floor.

“I. . . I’m sorry,” I whispered. “I didn’t mean to The door was just. .”

He stepped closer. Not fast. Not slow, Just enough that I felt it in my bones.

“Open?” he finished for me, voice soft and lethal.

I nodded quickly.

“So you walked in.”

“I was just curious”

“That’s dangerous,” he murmured, stepping close enough that I could see the faint scar under his jaw. “You don’t belong in this room.”

“I know,” I said quickly. “I’ll go. I swear”

“Too late.”

My heart stopped.

He looked me over. Slowly. Like he was reading my pulse from under my skin.

“You’re new.”

“Yes,” I said.

“You clean.”

“Yes.”

He tilted his head just slightly. “You always wander into men’s bedrooms while you clean?”

My cheeks flushed. “No! Of course not, I. . . I wasn’t thinking”

“Clearly.”

I swallowed hard. Silence. Tension, Heat.

Then he smirked.

Not fully. Just a twitch at the corner of his mouth. But it undid something in my stomach.

“Curious little thing,” he said. “What’s your name?”

“Poppy.”

A strange glint flickered behind his eyes. Of all the answers I could’ve given… I didn’t know why that one made his jaw tighten.

“Poppy,” he repeated, almost to himself.

I bit my lip. He noticed and then turned. Just like that he Dismissed me. Like I hadn’t just barged into the most forbidden room in this mansion.

“You can go,” he said, already pouring himself another glass of something dark.

I stayed frozen.

He didn’t look back.

But his voice dropped once more before I slipped out.

“Next time you walk into a wolf’s den, little girl… make sure the wolf isn’t home.”