Chapter 9:A Game of Sin

Carolina's lips curved into a slow, knowing smile. She had Samuel's attention, but attention wasn't enough—she needed him to break. To slip. To expose the secrets he carried like armor.

She swirled the wine in her glass, letting the crimson liquid catch the moonlight. "You say that as if I should be afraid," she murmured, her gaze flickering between his eyes and the way his fingers gripped the edge of his whiskey glass.

Samuel smirked, but there was something guarded in his expression. "You should be. People who dig too deep into Alexander's affairs don't always like what they find."

Good. He was warning her, which meant he believed she was in danger. She could use that.

She took a slow step closer, just enough for the scent of her perfume to reach him. "Then maybe you should protect me." Her voice was laced with a challenge, a whisper of something forbidden.

Samuel chuckled, shaking his head. "You're bold, Carolina. Either you don't know the game you're playing, or you think you can win it."

She tilted her head. "What if I don't see it as a game?"

His smirk faltered for just a second, a flicker of something unreadable crossing his features. He set his glass down with a soft clink, stepping forward, closing the space between them. "Tell me, Carolina," he murmured, his voice a low rasp. "Are you trying to make Alexander jealous? Or are you just reckless?"

A rush of heat crawled up her spine, but she refused to back down. "Maybe I just like dangerous men."

His gaze darkened. He was watching her now, not as Alexander's wife but as a woman—a woman who wasn't afraid to test him.