Chapter 7
The Vanderbilt estate was less a home and more a fortress. Stone walls, iron gates, and shadows that seemed to stretch too long across the lawns.
Sienna stood in the grand foyer. Her sneakers squeaked on the marble.
"This way," the butler said, his nose wrinkled in distaste at her attire.
He led her to the East Wing. The door to Leo's room was covered in caution tape.
Sienna pushed it open.
The room was dark, lit only by the glow of six monitors. Techno music blared. A boy sat in a gaming chair, his back to her.
"Get out," Leo said without turning around. "I'm busy."
Sienna walked over to the wall. She found the master breaker for the room.
She flipped it.
The music died. The screens went black.
"Hey!" Leo spun around. He was lanky, with messy hair and Julian's sharp eyes. "Do you know how much progress I just lost?"
"You can recover it if you know the kernel patch sequence," Sienna said calmly. She grabbed a piece of chalk and wrote a complex algorithm on his blackboard wall. "Solve for X. You have three minutes. If you fail, I delete your Steam account."
Leo stared at the board. "That's... that's doctoral level calculus."
"Two minutes, fifty seconds."
Leo scrambled for a marker. He started writing furiously.
Upstairs, in the study, Julian watched the security feed.
"She turned off his power," Maverick said, sounding impressed.
Julian zoomed in on the screen. He watched Sienna leaning against the desk, her arms crossed. She looked bored.
"She's not teaching him," Julian murmured. "She's breaking him."
That night, dinner was a formal affair.
Ivy had let herself in, uninvited, wearing a dress that was too tight and laughing too loud. She sat in the lounge, swirling a martini, waiting for Julian to acknowledge her. When Sienna walked in, wearing a simple black dress provided by the staff, the room went quiet.
"Oh," Ivy said, looking Sienna up and down with disdain. "The tutor. I didn't realize the help was allowed in the family wing."
"Julian invited me," Sienna said, bypassing the lounge to take a seat at the far end of the dining table.
"It must be overwhelming," Ivy followed her, leaning against the doorframe. "All this... luxury. Compared to what you're used to."
Sienna picked up her fork. "Luxury is a state of mind, Miss Vance. Desperation, however, is a perfume. And you're wearing too much of it."
Julian entered just in time to hear the retort. He choked on his wine, covering his mouth with a napkin to hide a smirk. He didn't offer Ivy a seat.
After dinner, Sienna escaped to the gardens. She needed air. The house was full of ghosts, and she was adding one more.
She walked toward the old oak tree near the perimeter wall.
A twig snapped behind her.
She spun around. Julian was there. He moved silently for a big man.
He stepped closer, forcing her back until her shoulders hit the rough bark of the tree. He placed a hand next to her head, boxing her in.
"You have a sharp tongue, Sienna."
"I thought you hired me for my brain."
"I'm starting to wonder," he leaned down, his lips inches from her ear, "what else you're hiding under those oversized clothes."
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