dream Elena couldn't quite place. Not becau

ver the back of her chair, a crushed shimmer of borrowed elegance. The events of last night flickered in flashes as his lips on her skin, his voice low in her ear, the way

nt. Seeing this, she stared at the screen as her father rarely used the word "urgent" unless the buildi

rol. Fabric samples littered the desk. Contracts were stacked beside a half-empty bottle of bourbon. Her father, Char

aid without t

ng on? You said

sunken, exhausted. "Hart & Co. is done. We're drowning. The bank is fr

"No. We're supposed to be fin

y found another firm.

t. "You promised me we had

y. "Because I didn't want

over her chest like armor. "So

tly. "We merge. Th

d her eyes.

a manila folder across the

caught. "Yo

m n

s a merger proposal, a legal documen

ge con

dry. "What th

ategic alliance through marriage. It's... symbolic.

off like a ba

ising. "Your mother's legacy, this company,

"Absolutely not. I don't even k

oice from the d

ned and discovered it was

Just sharp cheekbones, storm-gray e

en T

tepped inside, looking cal

rage and disbelief floodin

slight n

t the masquerade

" he said smoothly. "But

d me," she snap

th me," he said, voice ste

ke she'd be

her father. "I'll

, closing the

o her father. "How

" Charles admitted. "But I agreed to the deal l

n trapped in a cage. "This is

he said gently. "You just

akes it

r Hart & Co. goes under. We would lose ev

ked at the folder again as the cold weight of it and her moth

e when she spoke. "Fine. B

way where Lucien was waiting, his po

ther's legacy. But don't think for one second this makes us an

for a long moment. "I ne

you shouldn'

dn't ask for my name. You wante

walked past him and into the of

th a hand that

era flashes exploded in her face. Paparazzi shouted her name, m

the engag

Lucien Thorne fo

dating i

ortable to Elena, and all of a sudden, Lu

a perfect match, but to her, it

Elena stared out the tinted window and s

ht paint them as a fairytale. But this wasn't love,