The biting Seattle wind hit Brook the second they stepped onto the concrete stairs outside the side exit. She shivered, her bare foot curling against the freezing pavement.

Julian let go of her hand.

The sudden absence of his body heat made Brook's stomach hollow out. She wrapped her arms around her ribs.

"This is just a transaction," Julian said. His voice was stripped of any warmth. He adjusted the cuffs of his suit. "I shielded you from your problem. You shielded me from an arranged marriage."

Brook nodded slowly. Her brain was still trying to process the adrenaline crash. "How do we-"

Julian's phone vibrated in his pocket. He pulled it out. The screen flashed with his colleague's name: Jaylin.

He swiped to answer, immediately pressing the phone tight against his ear, stepping slightly away so the biting wind would mask the sound. "Speak."

"Julian, you missed the afternoon meeting with the Carrillo team," Jaylin's panicked voice buzzed faintly against Julian's ear, completely inaudible to Brook. "The old man is threatening to pull your project funding."

Julian let out a harsh breath through his nose. "Tell my grandfather I'm already married."

Brook's chest tightened. The finality of the word married hit her like a physical blow.

Before she could process it, her own phone started buzzing in her cheap purse. She dug it out. It was Brenda.

Brook answered, pressing the phone hard against her ear. "Brenda?"

"Brook, where the hell are you?" Brenda sounded out of breath. "Kevin has been sitting in the lobby of the apartment building for an hour!"

The cold wind seemed to stop. Brook's lungs seized.

"Kevin is at the apartment?" Brook whispered. Her throat felt like it was lined with sandpaper.

"Yes! The guy I set you up with. He never went to City Hall!"

Brook's phone slipped from her ear. She turned her head slowly.

The man standing next to her was looking down at his phone, his thumb swiping across the screen with bored precision.

"You aren't Kevin Parrish," Brook said. Her voice shook so hard the words barely formed.

Julian looked up. His grey eyes locked onto hers. He didn't look surprised.

"I never said I was Kevin," he replied smoothly.

"Then who are you?" Brook's vision blurred at the edges. She gripped the metal handrail to keep from falling.

"Julian Cardenas IV."

He said it without a title. Just a name.

Brook searched her panicked brain. The name meant absolutely nothing to her. She had just legally bound herself to a total stranger. A stranger who wasn't her blind date.

Julian watched her face. He waited for the flash of recognition. The widening of the eyes that always came when women realized they were standing in front of the CEO of Cardenas Consolidated.

Nothing. Just pure, unadulterated panic.

"Do we need to get an annulment?" Julian asked. The words tasted strange in his mouth. He didn't want an annulment. He needed this piece of paper to keep his grandfather away.

Brook thought of Travis Boggs. She thought of his wet laugh and the way he looked at her like a piece of meat. If she annulled this, she had no legal protection. She would be dragged back to hell.

She forced her jaw to unclench. She shook her head.

"No," Brook whispered. "No annulment."

The corner of Julian's mouth twitched upward for a fraction of a second. He reached into his pocket, pulled out a standard-issue corporate business card, and held it out to her. It read Julian Cardenas, Project Manager in a crisp, unremarkable font.

"Call me tomorrow," he said.

He turned and walked down the stairs, leaving Brook standing alone in the freezing wind.

Brook pushed open the door to her apartment. The hinges screamed.

The smell of damp drywall and stale cigarettes hit her instantly. She locked the deadbolt, slid the chain into place, and leaned her forehead against the peeling paint of the door.

She walked to the tiny kitchen table and dropped the white corporate card onto the scratched laminate.

Julian Cardenas IV.

Project Manager. The Cardenas Consolidated logo sat in the corner next to a phone number.

Her phone vibrated on the table, rattling against the wood. The caller ID said Tammy.

Brook snatched it up. "Tammy?"

"Brook, did you get away?" Tammy's voice was a harsh, terrified whisper.

"I got married, Tammy," Brook said. She sank into the wobbly kitchen chair. "I did it."

Silence stretched over the line. Then, the sound of a muffled sob broke through the speaker.

"It's too late, Brook," Tammy cried. Her voice cracked with panic. "Dad already took the deposit from Travis."

Brook's stomach violently cramped. She doubled over slightly, pressing her free hand against her abdomen.

"Fifty thousand dollars," Tammy choked out. "They're going to sell you to him, Brook. Mom said if you don't come back, she's going to hunt you down and make your life a living hell until you beg to marry Travis."

Bobbi's twisted, furious face flashed in Brook's mind. The memory of Bobbi's heavy rings striking her cheek made her skin burn.

Brook looked down at the corporate business card.

Julian was a stranger. But he was a stranger who had stood between her and Bobbi. He was a legal shield.

"I'm not coming back, Tammy," Brook said. Her voice dropped an octave, hardening into something brittle and sharp. "I am legally married. They can't force me to do anything."

"Who is he?" Tammy asked. "Is he safe?"

Brook closed her eyes. She remembered the solid wall of Julian's chest. The calm, cold way he handled the clerk.

"His name is Julian. That's all I know."

"Just... be careful, Brook. Please."

The line went dead.

Brook dropped the phone. She couldn't stay here. Bobbi had the address. Travis had the address.

She picked up her phone again, opened a new text message, and typed in the number from the corporate card.

Mr. Cardenas, this is Brook. When can we discuss the living arrangements for this marriage?

She hit send. Her heart hammered against her ribs.

Three seconds later, a reply popped up.

I'll come get you at 9 AM tomorrow. Be ready.

Brook stared at the glowing screen. She didn't know what she was walking into. But as the Seattle rain began to lash against her cracked window, she pulled her knees to her chest and felt a tiny, fragile spark of hope.

Sunlight stabbed through the gap in the cheap blinds, hitting Brook directly in the eye.

She gasped, sitting up so fast her head spun. She grabbed her phone from the mattress.

8:30 AM.

Her chest seized. She had slept through her alarm. The sheer exhaustion of yesterday's terror had dragged her into a dead sleep.

There were three missed calls on her screen from an unknown number.

Brook's fingers fumbled as she tapped the screen to call back. It rang once.

"Are you still inside that condemned building?" Julian's voice was a low, impatient rumble in her ear.

Brook swallowed hard. "I... I overslept. I'm sorry."

"Come down. I'm outside." The line clicked dead.

Brook threw off the thin blanket. She shoved three worn t-shirts, two pairs of jeans, and her toothbrush into a faded canvas duffel bag. She didn't look back at the moldy walls. There was nothing here to miss.

She pushed through the front doors of the apartment building.

A sleek, black sedan was idling by the curb. It wasn't a flashy sports car, but the paint gleamed under the overcast sky.

The passenger window rolled down. Julian was sitting in the front seat, wearing dark sunglasses and a crisp, charcoal button-down shirt. He looked entirely out of place against the backdrop of graffiti and overflowing trash cans.

Brook clutched her canvas bag to her chest. She felt a hot flush of shame creep up her neck.

Julian opened his door and stepped out. He didn't say a word. He just reached out and took the bag from her hands.

"This is it?" He looked at the deflated canvas. His brow furrowed slightly.

Brook nodded, staring at the pavement.

Julian popped the trunk and tossed the bag inside. He opened the rear door for her.

Brook slid onto the back leather seat. It smelled like expensive cologne and new car. She noticed a man in the driver's seat wearing a baseball cap.

"This is Jaylin," Julian said, glancing back at her. "He's a coworker from the office. He offered to give us a ride today."

Jaylin's eyes met Brook's in the rearview mirror. There was a sharp, calculating look in his gaze before he quickly looked away, masking his confusion at the CEO's sudden demotion.

The car pulled away from the curb.

Brook kept her eyes glued to the window as the rundown buildings faded into tree-lined streets and modern architecture. Her hands were sweating.

The car pulled into the driveway of a sleek, modern apartment complex. It was nice. Very nice. But it wasn't a billionaire's mansion. It was the kind of place a successful middle-class professional would live.

Julian got out and swiped a grey key fob against the security panel. The glass doors slid open.

"This is my apartment," Julian said, holding the door for her. "From now on, it's your home."

Brook stepped inside. She followed him into the elevator.

The doors slid shut, sealing them in a small, mirrored box. The scent of cedar and rain radiating from Julian's shirt suddenly filled the tight space. Brook's breath caught in her throat. She pressed her back against the wall, her heart kicking into a frantic, uneven rhythm.