I had exactly $14 in the bank, two letters to vacate on the kitchen table, and a sister in the hospital fighting for her life who needed a deposit I couldn't pay. The devil then called.

I was sitting on the cold kitchen floor with unread hospital bills and rejected emails all around me. The yellow light from the cracked ceiling flashed above me. The flat smelled like old coffee and hopelessness. As I opened another email, my hands were shaking.

"Thank you for your interest, Miss West, but we have moved forward with another candidate."

The same thing. Today is not the same.

"Dammit!" I slammed my hands together and threw the phone across the room. I held my breath. It hurt my chest. It had been days since I had cried because it didn't help. I tried to stop today, but I couldn't.

I failed Ava. I let Dad down. The worst part was that I failed myself.

My phone rang.

Number Not Knew.

I cleaned my face and took it. "Hello?"

"Miss West," a voice I knew called out. It's cold. Buffed up. Not safe.

I went cold. That sound hadn't been heard in a year. Not since the shame in the workplace that broke my life.

"Julian Blake?"

"I need to see you," was all he said.

I opened my eyes. "Excuse me?"

"My driver will be there in thirty minutes." "Be sure to dress right."

He put the phone down.

Like a rocket landing in a junkyard, the car pulled up in front of my run-down building.

The driver just opened the door and didn't say anything. I thought about it for a moment as I looked at my reflection in the shiny black paint. A stranger with droopy hair and tired eyes looked back at me.

Julian Blake hadn't seen this side of me before.

I felt shackled by the silence inside the car. I had to force back bile when we got to the same high-rise that used to feel like my kingdom.

The lift to the top floor was very quiet. My hands were shaking. But I felt like I owned his office when I walked in.

In a well-fitted suit, he stood by the window and looked like a sin.

"Aria."

"Julian."

His mouth moved. Not a smile. Not yet.

"You look... different."

"You look the same." It's cold and expensive."

"Still sharp-tongued, I see."

I put my arms down. "Why am I here?"

As he turned, his eyes were as bright as steel. "I have a proposal."

I laughed very hard. "You made me look bad, Julian." kicked me off the board in front of thirty people. What possible deal could you make me?"

He didn't move.

"Marry me."

I had to stop laughing.

"What?"

"Get married to me for six months." Very business-like. I'll pay off your loans, take care of your sister's bills, and give you ten million dollars in return.

Keep quiet.

I looked at him like he had grown horns.

"Is this some sick power game?"

"No." To stay alive. Yours. "And mine."

I moved back. "You're insane."

"Maybe. Ava doesn't have much time, though, does she?"

What he said cut like a knife. My body got stiff.

"How do you even know about her"

"I do things my way." Take a look. You have 48 hours.

As I turned to leave, anger boiled in my chest.

He called out, "Aria?"

I turned around.

His face couldn't be read. "You always said I'd come back weak." You were right. That is, I'm not moving. I'm giving you everything. How much is your pride worth?

I yelled and stormed out, but his offer made my heart race.

Get married to the devil, or my sister will die.

I had 48 hours to make up my mind.

I was sure this road would take me there.

Into his arms.

Or straight to hell.

I didn't like how calm he looked. Like that wicked smile he made with his mouth wasn't enough to destroy my whole world a year ago.

I mumbled, "I don't understand," and grabbed the armrest of the chair. "You want me to... marry you?"

"For six months." Julian leaned in closer, and I could smell his dark, expensive, and enticing cologne. "You'll be my loving wife." Outside. At events for the family. Events for fun. That's all.

"Without anyone else?" I shot back with a voice that was sharper than I meant.

He didn't move his eyes. "We'll talk about those terms." But I want you to be loyal. The ring will be on you. Stay in my house. And make sure to smile for the cameras.

I blinked, and my breath caught somewhere between shock and anger. "You made me feel bad." I was fired like trash. Now you want me to smile for the press?"

With his hands together behind him, he stood up and walked toward the window. "I don't trust people easily. At that time, I had no idea who you were.

"Oh, and now I'm suddenly ready to get married?"

When he turned around, the look in his eyes stopped me in my tracks. "You need help badly." I need help badly. This plan works out well for both of us. You need cash. "I need a bride."

I stood up too, feeling something tight in my chest that was like shame and something else. Something very close to being interesting. "What do you get out of it?" What do you have hidden, Julian?"

His eyes became harder. "You'll find out." "If you agree."

I put my arms together. "Why me?"

Slowly, he walked up, and his voice down. "Because you're not smitten with me." Since you dislike me. And because I have power over that.

As he brushed a hair off my face, my breath caught. His fingers were there for too long, half a second too long. A flutter in my heart told me it was lying to me, but I didn't want to see it.

"Forty-eight hours," he said in a deep, silky voice. "Tick tock, sweetheart."

Before he could see how scared I was, I stormed out. Even though the car door shut behind me, I could still smell him.

I took out my phone and looked at Ava's hospital bills. The calculator app made my thumb shake.

Then it made a noise. Number Not Knew. A new message.

"If you say no..." I'll find someone else. She loves your sister more than you do, though.

I went cold.

What the hell did he know?

"My name looks so small beneath the signature line. Like it doesn't even belong there. Like I don't belong here."

The contract lay flat on the polished mahogany desk, each clause screaming louder than the one before it. Silence wrapped around me like a noose.

"I assume you've read it all," Damien said, voice cool like untouched ice.

I nodded, my throat dry. "You've turned marriage into a transaction."

He leaned back, not even blinking. "It's always been a transaction, Miss West. I'm just not pretending otherwise."

My heart slammed against my ribs. "No touching," I said sharply, my fingers trembling as I tapped the clause I added.

"That's my one condition."

He raised an eyebrow. "I don't mix business with pleasure, so your virtue is safe."

The words stung more than I thought they would. I didn't want him, but his indifference burned hotter than desired. Still, I held my ground. "Then we agree."

"Temporarily," he said. "Until I secure full control of WestCorp. After that"

"You'll divorce me?" I cut in.

He didn't answer. His silence said more than his words ever could.

I signed.

He took the pen from my hand without touching me, signing with swift, final strokes like he'd just purchased a building instead of a bride.

Damien stood. "Our engagement will be announced tomorrow night at the Hawthorne Foundation Gala. Wear something decent."

I stood too. "This is humiliating."

He paused at the door. "No, Miss West. This is survival. Learn the difference."

"Is there a part where I get to feel like a human being again?"

"No. That wasn't in the terms you agreed to."

"You really are heartless."

"No. Just focused. And you're a means to an end. You knew that when you walked into my office."

"Maybe I did. But I thought you'd at least pretend to care."

"Pretending wastes energy. I'd rather invest it where it matters."

"Like running my father's company into the ground?"

"Like saving it from destruction your father caused."

"You don't know anything about him."

DAMIEN (quietly): "I know enough."

Aria's phone buzzes right as Damien walks out.

A new message flashes across the screen:

You signed your soul away. You just don't know it yet.

Her hands shook. Then another message appeared.

Ask him what happened to LUCAS.

Aria's stomach dropped. That nameLucaswas buried deep in a part of her past she'd been trying to forget.

She looked toward the door Damien had just walked out of.

Who the hell was she marrying?

My fingers hovered over the screen, pulse thudding in my ears.

Ask him what happened to LUCAS.

The name twisted something sharp in my gut.

Lucas.

He was the first person I ever trusted. And the first person to vanish without a trace.

I stumbled to the window, heart hammering against my ribs as the city lights blurred before me. The air in Damien's penthouse suddenly felt too thin.

I had no idea what kind of man I had just signed my life to.

I didn't even hear Damien return until his voice broke the silence behind me.

"You look like you've seen a ghost."

I turned slowly. He had shed his jacket and rolled up his sleeves. The perfect image of control. Cold. Dangerous. Beautiful.

"Who is Lucas to you?" I asked, cutting to the chase.

His eyes didn't flinch but something in them flickered. "Why?"

"Someone just texted me. Said I should ask you." I showed him the phone. "And warned me I signed my soul away."

His jaw tensed as he took the phone. Read. Then handed it back like it burned.

"Who's sending these?" I demanded.

"I'll find out," he said simply, already reaching for his own phone.

"No." I stepped between him and the door. "Don't brush me off. Tell me who Lucas is to you."

He paused. His gaze locked with mine, and for a moment, the air between us felt combustible.

"Lucas was a mistake," Damien said, voice low. "One your father tried to erase. I tried to help him. But by the time I got involved, it was too late."

"What happened?"

"He disappeared."

"That's not an answer."

"It's the only one I have."

I stared at him, frustration boiling beneath my skin. "You keep saying you're saving my family's company. But all you do is speak in riddles, twist truths. If you know something about what happened to Lucas, you owe me the truth."

"Owe you?" He stepped forward, too close, voice razor-sharp. "I owe you nothing, Aria. You came into my office desperate and bleeding power. You handed me your signature like it was the last card in your deck. I took it. That's the deal. That's the truth."

"You're a monster," I whispered.

He leaned in, his breath brushing my cheek. "You don't want a hero. You want someone to blame."

My throat closed up. The wordsthe firethey lodged somewhere between pain and fury.

"You know what?" I spat. "You're right. This is a deal. A contract. So stick to it. Stay the hell out of my personal life."

He gave me the faintest smile. "You don't have one anymore. Not since you signed that dotted line."

I slapped him. I didn't even think. My hand just moved.

He froze, then slowly turned his face back toward me.

"Feel better?"

Tears blurred my vision. "No. But it's a start."

We stood there, chest to chest, breathing heavy. The tension between us cracked and flared like a storm about to break.

His gaze dropped to my lips for one dangerous second then he stepped back.

"Get ready for tomorrow night," he said quietly. "And delete that number. Whoever's sending those texts... they're playing a game you don't want to win."

He walked away again.

But before he reached the hallway, he stopped.

"One more thing," he added without looking back. "If you want to survive in my world, Aria... stay out of the past."

My hands trembled. I sat on the edge of the bed, heart pounding.

My phone buzzed again.

You shouldn't have signed.

He's not who he says he is.

I texted back, fingers cold.

Who are you?

The reply came instantly.

Someone who tried to warn Lucas.

My breath caught.

And failed.

The flash from the cameras felt like gunfire, but when his lips hit mine, the world really went off.

It looked like a dream when I was at the gala. If I walked on the marble floor, my heels would click. Damien would walk next to me, his hand on the small of my back. Maybe it was because his touch was so light that it burned through my dress.

He said in a low voice that only I could hear, "You're shaking."

I lied and said, "I hate crowds."

He smiled in a cold way. "It will get easier for you to act."

I looked at him. "Did you do that with Cassandra?"

His jaw moved.

I also said, "I've read the tabloids." "You liked her." Beautiful. Rich. Not touchable."

He said angrily, "She was a mistake." "One I won't do again."

I really wanted to ask more and find out more, but we were already in the spotlight.

A lot of people looked at us. Lights flashed like lightning. It got tougher to take each breath.

"Miss West, how does it feel to be engaged to the city's most powerful bachelor?" yelled a reporter.

I spoke up but didn't know what to say, but Damien spoke first. "She's right where she should be."

That sound was like a threat.

For the cameras, we smiled and looked like a picture-perfect pair. But I felt sick to my stomach, and my phone kept buzzing in my hand.

Caller Unknown: He's joking with you.

Find out about Lucas.

Leave while you still can.

I put my phone away and looked up. That's when I saw her.

To Cassandra.

It was hard to miss. It was tall, beautiful, and dressed in blood red. As soon as she walked in, the air changed. Damien's body tensed up next to me.

He said, "Don't react," with his teeth clenched. "She wants that."

"It's too late," I said quietly.

She came straight at us with a smirk on her face.

That's what she said, "Damien." "You've moved up." Does this only last for a short time?"

His hold on my waist got stronger.

He said, "Nice to see you again, Cassandra."

She looked at me. "And your name is Aria West." I think you signed a pretty strict deal.

I opened my eyes.

Damien spoke up. "This is not the right time, Cassandra."

"Oh, but it is," she said, her eyes shining. "Putting on a show was always your thing."

I tried to smile. "What a lovely night. "Let's not mess it up."

"Yes, of course," Cassandra replied. "Enjoy it while it lasts."

When she left, there was a faint smell of something valuable and dangerous.

I looked at Damien. "What the hell was that?"

"She doesn't matter."

"She didn't look unimportant." It seemed like she knew something I didn't.

It wasn't an answer. He instead led me to the stage where the host was thanking donors.

I said in a whisper, "This wasn't in the plan." "Why are we going up?"

"These words make it official."

I went cold. "You said to make an announcement. "You left the stage."

He said in a soft voice, "Smile, Aria." "This is the part where everyone thinks we love each other."

We went out into the light.

The host gave the mic to Damien. "Gentlemen and ladies, please welcome Damien Hawthorne and Aria West, who is his fiancée."

There was polite clapping from the crowd. Damien spoke about business, charity, and the city when he got the mic. I didn't hear any of it. Everything else was lost in the sound of my heart beating so loudly.

After that, Damien looked at me.

He then said, "Let me show you how much I love my fiancée."

He kissed me and cupped his hand around my cheek before I could ask what he meant.

Not even a peck. Not a nice lip brush.

It was on fire.

Fingers got caught in my hair. He touched my mouth with his like he owned it. People in the crowd laughed, cheered, and took pictures, but I wasn't there. I was on fire living.

I didn't know if I was going to push him away or pull him closer when I put my hands on his chest. I only knew he smelled like heat and danger, and for one scary second, I kissed him back.

The world went away. There was no more time. There was only Damien and this kiss.

Until he moved away.

I blinked, out of breath. "What was that?" I made a noise under my breath.

His lips didn't move much. "It worked." They think it's true.

I said, "That wasn't in the script."

He wasn't happy. It didn't bother him.

"Now it is."

Aria's phone rings again when she gets back to the car. Another word from an unknown sender flashes across the screen.

He kissed you to make you quiet down. Cassandra knew Charles. Do not wait, ask her.

While Damien sits next to her and stares out the window, she looks at him.

She takes a deep breath.

"What the hell is Lucas?"

I sat down in the back of the car just in time to look at him.

"That kiss!" I yelled. "Not in line with our agreement."

Damien turned away from me. "It made the story interesting."

"Who did you sell it to?" Who is the crowd or yourself?"

His eyes finally met mine. "Is it important?"

I hissed, "Yes." "For a second, I forgot it was fake."

He clenched his teeth. "Perhaps it wasn't after all."

I held my breath.

My phone rang again before I could answer. One more word. Same number we don't know.

He's not telling the truth. Lucas is known to Cassandra. Ask her before she goes away.

My heart beat fast. "Damien, who is Lucas?"

His eyes got smaller. "Where did you hear that name?"

I held on to the phone. "What makes you look like you saw a ghost?"

He leaned in close and spoke in a low, dangerous voice. "Don't dig where you don't want to get hurt."

The moment I opened my mouth to fight back, the car swerved.

screams. Tires that screech. The car shook to the side.

The glass broke.

And right before everything went dark, I saw the outline of a motorbike speeding off into the.

Someone didn't just want to warn me when they sent the message.

They wished I would leave.

Was it Damien or me who was being watched?