The message was short and venomous: Darling Kaius, congratulations are due, I hear. I simply have to meet your little cleaning girl. Midnight. The Rose Garden restaurant. Come alone, or she dies. - Your loving Gemma

My hands trembled as I read the message on Kaius's phone screen for the third time.

"Absolutely not," I said, trying to sound bolder than I was feeling on the inside. "It's obviously a trap."

"Naturally it's a trap." Kaius was already moving towards his gun safe. "The only question is whether I can spring it before she springs hers."

My heart hammered in my ribs. "Then don't go. Send someone else."

He spun, holding me with that piercing gaze that appeared to see all the way to the soul. "She asked for you specifically. This is our first test, cara mia. If we do not play along, she will become suspicious that the engagement is a pretense."

I shuddered. "What if she kills me?"

"She won't. Not yet." The crisp click of him placing the gun there filled the quiet room, each click a painful one. "Gemma's too smart to do something like that. She'll have to watch you first, find your weaknesses."

Lovely. How reassuring. I folded my arms across my chest, shivering on this balmy night. "How reassuringly pleasant."

"In addition," he continued, slipping the gun into his coat and finally looking at me, "you'll be safe."

Twenty minutes later, I was staggering into the Rose Garden. The restaurant had been cleared of all other diners as if by some frantic command, and this done with such haste that my skin crawled with alarm. A nervous maître d' escorted us past the sinewy still dining room to a quiet room at the back.

With each step, my mouth grew drier, my hands sweeter with sweat. I had never been in such a bind before. The only time I had ever been near trouble was when I dodged my landlord when rent money was due.

And I saw her, and my breath was snatched away. Gemma Celestini was perfection. Blonde hair with a French cut, ice-blue eyes shining under the soft light, and a face that graced magazine covers. She wore a white dress that highlighted her angelic beauty, yet she had a shark-like look.

Standing next to her, I felt like the very thing she'd called me. A nobody.

"Kaius, sweetie," she cooed, standing on her tiptoes to kiss both cheeks of his face the European way. "You taste as fine as ever."

Her Russian accent was mixed with American nobility honed over decades. When she aimed those ice-cold eyes at me, I could have sworn the temperature in the room fell by a cool ten degrees and had to battle the urge to duck behind Kaius like a child sneaking behind her father.

"And you're the little nobody who thinks she can take my man." Her tone was icy.

Heat flared up the back of my neck, but I braced myself, determined to stand taller, to gaze into her eyes without flinching. "Gemma," Kaius warned.

"Oh, don't spoil the party." She gave a bright smile, but it didn't reach her eyes. "I'm just eager to meet my replacement. Sit down, please."

With dinner, Kaius and Gemma discussed the equipment of their enterprise, and I was relieved they left me alone and did not try to entice me into any discussion whatsoever.

"Tell me, sweetheart," she inquired between appetizers, "how did you go from cleaning toilets to being a Marchetti wife?"

My hands automatically rose to the massive ring on my left hand, a ring that felt like a ton all of a sudden. "Love makes anything possible."

"Love." She chuckled with amusement. "How beautifully innocent. Do you truly believe that a man such as Kaius, a man who has never once shown emotion to anyone, fell in love with his cleaning woman?"

Each word a needle finding its mark. Because wasn't that the exact question I'd been wondering? What fairy tale was I in where the evil billionaire fell for the girl who cleaned his floors?

"Stranger things have happened," I replied, glad my voice remained firm.

She pressed on, her mouth creasing into a smile. "Did he tell you about us? About our history?"

My stomach tightened. I could sense Kaius's jaw locked in place from where I stood beside him, but I couldn't look away from Gemma.

"We were lovers, you know," she continued, ignoring the warning growl from Kaius. "For years. He knows every inch of me, every sound I make when he—"

"That's enough." Kaius's voice could chill hell itself.

But it was too late. Images that I did not want to see whirled in my mind. Kaius's hands on her perfect skin, his mouth whispering softly into that deep, rasping voice. My own breathing was in short gasps, like I could not breathe.

"Has he slept with you yet, sweetheart? Or are you still playing virgin, leading him on with intrigue?"

"Our personal life is none of your business," I stated, standing firm with more conviction than I truly had.

"Oh, but it is," she said. "Kaius and I were to be wed. Our families have had a plan in place for years."

Her smile turned cruel. "I don't give up what's mine so easily."

My heart constricted. An arranged marriage. Of course. That was how people like them operated.

"I'm not yours anymore, Gemma," Kaius breathed. "I never was, anyway."

A malevolent glint appeared in her ice-blue eyes, and I dared not breathe.

"We'll see about that."

The entree arrived, perfectly cooked lamb that tasted bitter in my mouth. My appetite had vanished between the toilet scrubbing comment and their x-rated description of their sex life. The air was charged, heavy enough I could barely swallow the food.

"You know," Gemma said, "my uncle Viktor is quite eager to meet you, Danielle. He has such a weakness for. interesting women."

The manner in which she employed "interesting" sent shivers down my spine. I'd grown up hearing whispers regarding Viktor Petrov back in my neighborhood. He was the Russian bratva boss who collected stunning women like some guys collected cars. None of those women were ever spoken about again.

"I'm sure that won't be necessary," Kaius said smoothly, but I sensed the tension in his shoulders.

"Oh, but it will. You see, family is so very important in our world. And when families merge." Her grin wasn't innocent. "Well, let's just say loyalty is the first priority."

"What do you mean?" The words slipped out before I could stop them, though part of me didn't want to know the answer.

"It means," she replied, setting down her glass of wine on the table, "that accidents happen to people who stand in the way of fate."

The threat lingered. My hands shook so hard I had to put down my fork and hide them in my lap. This was happening. This woman was threatening to kill me, and she was smiling when she said it.

Kaius's hand went up to his jacket, but Gemma's laughter stopped him.

"Now, now, sweetheart. We're all properly civilized here. But perhaps your little housemaid should be a little more aware of her post-dark working hours. You never know who is watching."

My fork clattered into the plate when I snapped my head up. She knew. Oh God, she knew about the night at the casino and that I had witnessed the murder. How? How had she possibly found out?

"Watch what you say, Gemma," Kaius said nonchalantly. "You're skating on thin ice."

"Am I?" She stood poised, smoothing her white dress. "Well, this has been nice. Danielle, darling, I do hope we can remain friends. After all, we have so much in common."

"We have nothing in common," I snarled.

"Don't we? We both adore the same man. The difference is, I know what he's actually capable of."

She took hold of her designer bag and hooked it around her shoulders. "Sleep tight, darling. I'll be thinking of you."

After she was gone, silence between Kaius and me felt like drawn wire ready to snap. My whole body was shaking with adrenaline and fear.

He signaled for the waiter to bring us the check.

"Well," he said finally, "that went better than it could have."

I stared at him in disbelief, wondering if we'd attended the same dinner. "Better? She told me she was going to kill me!"

"She told you she was going to have you killed. There's a difference." He yanked me from my chair. "But now we know where we stand."

"Which is?" My voice was small.

"At war, and tomorrow night at the gala, we take the first shot."

When we stepped out of the restaurant, I couldn't help but wonder if I'd just signed my name on my own back. Gemma's threats were running around in my head, mingled with her offhand dismissal of anything regarding my night-time work habits. Whatever it was that she wanted from me, I could only believe that she was not going to give up until she got what she desired.