I fell in love with the one man who could destroy my family. The first time I met my fiancé’s older brother, he looked at me like he already knew how our story would end. His name was Adrian. Thirty-four. Divorced. Wealthy enough to make people nervous, handsome enough to make them forget why they were nervous, and so emotionally distant that even his own family seemed afraid of disappointing him. I was twenty-six, engaged to his younger brother, and determined to convince myself that the strange feeling in my stomach had nothing to do with the way Adrian watched me. He never flirted. Never touched me unnecessarily. Never said anything a respectable man shouldn't say to his future sister-in-law. That was what made it worse. He remembered how I took my coffee. He noticed when I was uncomfortable at family dinners. When everyone else laughed at my jokes, he watched my face as if he were searching for the things I hadn't said. And whenever our eyes met, he was always the first to look away. Until the night of my engagement party. I had escaped to the balcony because my fiancé had spent the entire evening discussing business with his friends, barely acknowledging that I existed. I was standing in the dark when Adrian appeared beside me. "You're unhappy." It wasn't a question. "I'm tired." "You're a terrible liar." I turned toward him. "And you're a terrible person to have this conversation with." Something changed in his expression. "Why?" Because your brother loves me, I wanted to say. Because every time you enter a room, I become painfully aware of where you are. Because I have started measuring the quality of my evenings by whether you look at me. Instead, I said, "You know why." He stepped closer, but there was still enough distance between us for me to pretend I was safe. "Then tell me to leave." I opened my mouth. Nothing came out. For the first time since meeting him, Adrian looked genuinely wounded. He nodded slowly, as though my silence had answered a question he had been asking himself for months. Then he walked away. And I stood on that balcony, furious with him for leaving. More furious with myself for wishing he hadn't. Because that was the night I finally understood something terrifying. I wasn't afraid Adrian would tempt me into betraying my fiancé. I was afraid I would eventually stop needing to be tempted.