Bought A Lover, Got A Butler: The Demon CEO’s Secret Chapter 07

Bought A Lover, Got A Butler: The Demon CEO’s Secret Chapter 07

Liam crouched down as if nothing had happened and swept the broken pieces off the floor. “Cheap

hardware. I’ll replace it tomorrow.”

Then he grabbed a pillow, crossed the room, and shoved Ethan straight off the bed. “Alice, my wish

is to sleep in here tonight.”

Before I could get a word out, Ethan was already pushing back. “Liam, get out. I’m Master’s

companion – you’re the housekeeper.”

“Shut up.” Liam smacked him across the face with the pillow.

Ethan blinked, visibly recalculating after taking in the size difference between them, and took a

step back. “Fine. You take the floor, I get the bed.”

“In your dreams.” Liam’s voice could have frozen water in the pipes.

I pressed my fingers to my temples and remembered the customer service agent’s advice. The new succubus was supposed to get extra attention during the adjustment period.

So I held my hand out to Ethan. “You sleep next to me.”

Ethan beamed at me, both little fangs peeking out, and climbed into bed without a single complaint.

A long silence passed before Liam let out a rough little sound. His voice came out dry, scraped raw.

“If that’s what you want.”

I wasn’t. Not even close.

Something heavy sat on my chest all night, and I tossed and turned until sometime near dawn,

when sleep finally dragged me under.

When I opened my eyes again, Liam’s face was inches from mine. I was curled up against him in his arms, and my right hand was resting flat against his stomach.

I jerked away like I’d touched a live wire. Liam stirred, his gaze still heavy with sleep, dark eyes

finding mine. “Morning.”

“You – what – how did you even “I couldn’t get a full sentence out. “Who said you could come up here?!”

The faintest curve tugged at the corner of Liam’s mouth. “You came down to me, actually.”

I looked around and realized he was right. I’d rolled off the bed and onto the floor where he’d been

sleeping, and heat rushed up in my chest, half frustration, half humiliation.

Apparently, old habits died hard. I’d spent so long orbiting Liam that my body had gone looking for him on pure autopilot.

Which meant he was probably disgusted with me all over again.

Sure enough, Liam put distance between us before I could say a word. He swung his legs out, stood, and left the room without looking back.

I dragged myself to the bathroom like a zombie and woke Ethan on the way. He perked up instantly, squeezed toothpaste onto my brush, and held out a warm washcloth like this was already part of our routine.

Then he spotted the laundry basket and reached for the underwear I’d changed out of, ready to toss them in the wash. Heat exploded across my face.

“Don’t. You don’t have to wash those — just leave those for Liam.”

Ethan froze. He stood there processing that for a full ten seconds. “That’s a partner’s job. Not a housekeeper’s.”

The words hit me like a slap. He was right, and the realization took an embarrassingly long time to

land.

I said nothing and waved him off. “I’ll wash them myself,” I said quietly, swallowing hard against the sting.

By the time I finished, Liam already had breakfast on the table. I sat down and picked up my fork the way I always had.

My phone started buzzing in the bathroom, loud and insistent. I bit into my fried egg and called out to Ethan, who was still washing up. “Can you grab that for me?”

Ethan answered it, and a panicked voice burst through the speaker loud enough for me to hear. “Hun, this is urgent! You can only keep ONE of the two succubi in your house!”

A sharp crack rang out. Liam, midway through pouring oatmeal into a bowl, had crushed the bowl in his hand.

The back of his hand was already flushing an angry red. I dropped everything and rushed to him, pulling his hand under the faucet before I’d even fully processed what happened.

“Does it hurt?” He hadn’t made a sound through any of it, hadn’t even so much as flinched.

“Yeah.” His voice dropped, tight and hollow. “It burns like hell.”

“Alice, it hurts. It hurts a lot.”

I panicked. I tore through the cabinets for burn cream and spread it over the burn as carefully as I

could.

Ethan wandered over with my phone. “Master, she left you some messages. Said to make sure you

check them.”

“Okay,” I said gently. “Go eat, I’ll look in a minute.”

I didn’t glance up, but I could feel the weight of Liam’s silence pressing in from all sides. I was terrified of making things worse, so I kept my head down and focused on wrapping his hand.

Once I’d bandaged him up, I finally opened the messages from customer service. She’d been texting

me since last night.

[Hun! We’ve corrected Liam’s profile – please review it ASAP!]

I opened the updated file. His type and interests were both listed as unknown, his loyalty as

top-tier, and his level as high-level succubus.

Since when was Liam a high-level succubus?

[According to the records, it was changed three months ago.]

Three months ago. That was right when he’d first arrived.

Before I could process that, the next message buried the thought.

[Because high-level succubi are self-aware and highly territorial, we strongly recommend keeping

only one of the two succubi in your home.]

[Otherwise, there’s a real risk of lethal conflict.]

They could actually kill each other? I steadied myself – there was never going to be a real fight, just Liam flattening Ethan one-handed.

For Ethan’s safety, there was only one answer.

[Hun, want to take some time to think it over? Please respond within 24 hours.]

“Nothing to think about,” I typed without hesitation. “I’m keeping Liam.”

[Aw, sounds like you two have a really good thing going!]

“Not really,” I wrote back, and a sigh slipped out before I could stop it. “He’s been a high-level

succubus for three months and he still hasn’t fallen for me. There’s nothing going on.”

In the end, I arranged for Ethan to be picked up Monday morning. He’d stay one last night, then

leave tomorrow.

I felt bad for sending him back after only two days. I ruffled the little cowlick sticking up on his head. “Want me to take you somewhere fun today? One last outing?”

“Yes!” Ethan nodded so fast he was practically a blur. He threw on his jacket and stood by the door, his hands clasped behind his back, bouncing on his heels like a kid waiting for recess.

Liam leaned against the doorframe, his gaze fixed heavily on me. “I’m coming too.”

“Next time.” The answer came out before I’d even thought it through. “Your hand’s burned. Stay home and rest.”

It never occurred to me that “next time” might sound like a promise I couldn’t keep. I walked out with Ethan without looking back.

Just as the door swung shut behind me, I thought I heard Liam’s voice, barely above a whisper.

“Will there be a next time?”