Emily’s POV

"Stay in the bathroom and don't make a sound," Daniel Walker ordered in a razor-thin whisper.

In three seconds flat, his trousers were buckled and his dark hair was smoothed back. He pulled the thick white duvet up over my mother’s shoulders, making sure she looked completely undisturbed as she slept off the wine on her side.

I squeezed into the adjoining master bathroom, holding the door until only a hair-thin crack remained, my chest heaving as I tried to control my breathing.

The bedroom door clicked open.

"Mr. Walker?" a polite, elderly voice called out.

It was Mrs. Gable, the mansion’s housekeeper. She was standing in the...