Dominic Voss sat in the quiet of his penthouse, the city glittering beneath him like a constellation of ambition he had conquered. The whiskey in his hand was untouched, the weight of his life pressing down like it always did.

He didn’t let people in. Not since betrayal had turned him into a man of stone.

But tonight, the nanny lingered.

She was young, too trusting. He noticed the way her voice softened when she spoke to him, the way her gaze lingered longer than it should. When their hands brushed, he told himself to end it. He didn’t.

There was a drink. A kiss. A moment of weakness he would regret.

As dawn bled through the curtains, Dominic stirred. The warmth beside him jolted him awake. Slowly, he turned his head and saw her.

Her hair was a tangle on his silk sheets, her face peaceful, unguarded.

His jaw tightened, and a chill settled over him. Weakness. That’s all it had been.

He rose from the bed, his movements measured, cold. Staring down at her, he let the iciness he lived by take hold again.

“This changes nothing,” he murmured under his breath. Then, without a second glance, he walked away, like she was nothing at all