Chapter 1 THE ENGAGEMENT

Chapter 1

If tonight was supposed to be the happiest night of her life, why did it feel like a funeral?

The diamond on Sienna's finger caught the light. Three carats. Flawless. Just like everything else in her life was supposed to be.

She stared at herself in Noah's bathroom mirror. The woman staring back should be happy. Designer dress. Professional makeup. Hair styled by the same person who did her mother's.

She was going to marry Noah Callahan. The man both families picked for her.

So why did she feel like she was dying inside?

"Sienna?" Noah's voice drifted through the door. "The photographer is here."

"Coming." But her feet wouldn't move.

The engagement photos. Another performance in the show their families orchestrated. She pressed her palms against the cold marble counter and took a deep breath. The faint scent of Noah's cologne lingered in the air, expensive and impersonal. This was what both families had planned for years. The merger disguised as romance.

Noah Callahan was everything they wanted. Old money meeting new money. The Callahan real estate empire joining Blake Industries. The Callahan name carried more weight than she liked to admit, and more shadows than the society pages ever printed. He opened doors. He remembered the calendar. He brought flowers his assistant picked out. He never raised his voice. He never surprised her.

The deal.

Even thinking the word made her chest tighten.

A flash of memory hit her. Cool sand beneath her feet. The smell of ocean air and bonfire smoke. A voice rough with want saying her name like a prayer.

She shook her head. Not now. Not tonight.

She splashed cold water on her wrists, careful not to disturb her makeup, and walked out.

Noah stood by the floor to ceiling windows overlooking the city. His broad shoulders filled out his navy suit. His dark hair was styled to precision.

He turned when he heard her heels clicking on the hardwood, and his face brightened with that practiced expression she'd seen since childhood.

"You're gorgeous." He kissed her cheek. His lips were warm but they registered as nothing. They always registered as nothing.

"Thank you." The words came out automatic.

The photographer, a thin woman named Margaret who shot all the society engagements, bustled around setting up. She posed them by the window, on the leather couch, by the fireplace. Each position felt rehearsed.

"Stunning," Margaret said, snapping away. "Just like your parents' engagement photos, Sienna. I shot those too."

Of course she did. Everything in their world followed the same patterns.

"Now, Sienna, tilt your head. Show off that gorgeous ring."

Sienna tilted her head. She leaned into Noah's chest like she'd been trained to do since they were announced as a suitable match at the Midsummer Charity Gala.

But as the camera clicked, a strange thought hit her. What would it feel like to laugh in a picture? Not smile on command. Just laugh because something was funny.

The thought scared her. She pushed it down deep where all her other dangerous thoughts lived.

Margaret finished an hour later. The photos captured exactly what they were. Two people from the right families doing what was expected.

After she left, Noah poured himself wine. "We should get ready. The engagement party starts in two hours."

Two hours. Two hours until the night that would lock her cage forever.

I could still run.

The thought appeared from nowhere. Loud and desperate.

"I need to go home and change," she said.

"Of course. I'll see you there." He kissed her forehead. "You'll be radiant at the party."

She nodded and left, stepping into the private elevator.

The Blake family car slid through Manhattan traffic. She stared out the tinted windows, watching the city blur past. People living their lives. Making their own choices. Free in ways she would never be.

At home, her mother was waiting. "Darling, we need to go over the seating chart one more time. Eleanor called and..."

Sienna let the words wash over her. Nodded at the right moments. Said yes when expected. Played her part.

Two hours later, she stood in front of her bedroom mirror in a green silk dress. The woman staring back was flawless. Hollow. A doll in an expensive dress.

Her phone buzzed. A text from Noah. "Can't wait to see you tonight. You're everything to me."

Everything. She was everything to him except herself.

I'm marrying a man I barely feel.

The truth hit her like a punch. But there was no time to think about it. The car was waiting.

The Blake family car pulled up to the Callahan estate just as night fell. The house blazed with light. Cars lined the driveway. Bentleys, Maseratis, Rolls Royces.

Sienna stepped out, her green dress sweeping the ground. Her stomach twisted. Something felt wrong tonight, though she couldn't name it. Like standing at the edge of a cliff in the dark.

"You look incredible, darling." Her mother stepped beside her, diamonds catching the light. "The Callahans have outdone themselves."

They had. The entire front of the house was covered in white roses. A string quartet played near the entrance. Waiters moved between guests carrying champagne.

"Remember to smile," her mother whispered. "Everyone is watching."

Everyone was always watching. That was the price of being a Blake.

Eleanor Callahan met them at the door, cream silk and pearls, her silver hair styled the same way it had been for twenty years.

"Sienna, you look radiant." She kissed both cheeks, her perfume heavy and expensive. "Everyone is dying to congratulate you."

She led them through the marble entry into the main ballroom. Crystal chandeliers hung from the ceiling. White and gold fabric covered the walls. It was expensive and hollow.

"Noah is over by the bar," Eleanor said. "He's been asking for you."

Sienna moved through the sea of faces. Business partners of her father. Society wives. Politicians. They all congratulated her as she passed, their voices blending together into meaningless noise.

"There she is." Noah appeared at her side, handsome in his black tuxedo. He took her hand and lifted it to his lips. The move was smooth, practiced, ready for photos. "You're breathtaking."

The crowd around them sighed. Someone took a picture. She tilted her head just right.

"The party is amazing," she told him.

"Mother insisted on having the best of everything for you," Noah said, his arm sliding around her waist. "Nothing is too good for my bride."

My bride. The words should have made her happy. Instead, they wrapped around her chest like chains.

Because somewhere in the dark corners of her memory, she remembered what it meant to be wanted for real. Not claimed. Not arranged. Just... desired.

The thought hit her so hard she almost stumbled.

Where did that come from?

"I want to introduce you to some people," Noah said. "Business friends of Father's."

He led her through the crowd, stopping every few steps to shake hands and talk business. She nodded and said all the right things.

The evening dragged on forever. Dinner was served. Seven courses that tasted like sawdust.

Speeches were made. Her father talked about joining two great families. Noah's father talked about legacy and tradition. Everyone raised their glasses and toasted their future.

But as the evening went on, something inside her started to crack.

Maybe it was the way Noah kept calling her "his bride" instead of her name. Maybe it was the way everyone gazed at her like she was a prize instead of a person.

Or maybe it was the growing sense that she was watching someone else's life from the outside. That the real her was buried so deep she might never claw her way back to the surface.

The party continued. Dancing started. Laughter filled the air. Business deals were whispered over cocktails.

She moved through it all like a ghost.

"You're quiet tonight," Noah said when they had a moment alone. "Everything alright?"

"Just taking it all in. It's incredible."

"It is, isn't it?" He looked around with satisfaction. "Mother worked for months on every detail."

So why did it all seem so hollow?

"Noah." Eleanor Callahan appeared at their table, her face glowing with excitement. "I have wonderful news."

Noah straightened in his chair. Sienna felt his body tense.

"What is it, Mother?"

"Your brother called this afternoon. He's coming tonight."

The words hit Noah like a punch. His face went pale, then red, then pale again. His hand tightened on his champagne glass.

"Landon is coming here? Tonight?"

Landon. The name hit something buried deep inside her. A spark she didn't understand. A sound that felt familiar and wrong and dangerous all at once. For a moment, she swore she could taste whiskey and sin on her tongue, feel hands that knew exactly how to touch her.

She shook her head. Where did that come from?

"He's here, darling. Arrived about an hour ago. He's been getting ready upstairs." Her face glowed with joy. "Isn't it wonderful? The whole family together."

Noah didn't look like he thought it was wonderful. He looked like he'd seen a ghost. And something inside Sienna was screaming danger.

The air in the ballroom seemed to shift. Conversations grew quieter. People kept glancing toward the entrance like they were waiting for something to happen.

"Does Father know?" Noah asked.

"Of course. He's the one who convinced Landon to come. Said it was time to put the past behind us." She squeezed Noah's shoulder. "This is a new beginning."

Sienna watched with growing confusion. Who was Landon? And why did his name make her heart race for reasons she couldn't name?

"I should go find him," Noah said, starting to stand.

"No need." Her eyes shone with tears. "Here he comes now."

She pointed toward the ballroom doors, and every head in the room turned to look.

The doors opened.

A man walked in, and everything changed.

He was tall, broader than Noah, with dark hair that was too long for a family gathering like this.

Even from across the room, she could see the ink that covered his arms beneath his tuxedo sleeves, dark lines that snaked up from his wrists and disappeared under the expensive fabric.

A silver earring caught the light when he turned his head. His tuxedo fit well, but he wore it like a costume.

There was something dangerous about him. Something that made every eye turn and every conversation stop.

He moved through the crowd with confidence, but not the practiced confidence of old money. This was something rawer. Wilder.

Like a wolf that had learned to walk among sheep but never forgot what it really was.

Sienna's chest tightened. Her hands started to shake. Because there was something about the way he moved that felt like remembering something terrible and wonderful at the same time.

Whispers started around the room. "Is that really him?" "He looks so different." "Five years..." "The black sheep is back."

The crowd parted as he walked toward their table. Noah stood slowly, his face a mask that didn't hide his tension.

"Landon."

"Noah."

The two men hugged briefly. It was awkward. Forced. Like strangers pretending to be family.

"I wasn't sure you'd come," Noah said.

"Neither was I." The voice hit her like lightning. Low. Rough around the edges. A voice that whispered through her dreams and made her wake up gasping.

No.

No, no, no.

This couldn't be happening.

There was history between them. Something complicated and painful that hung in the air like smoke. Eleanor watched them both with desperate hope.

"How long has it been?" Noah asked.

"Five years. Give or take."

Five years. Landon had been gone for five years. But that wasn't what made her blood turn to ice. It was the realization creeping up her spine like cold fingers.

"Well," Noah said, clearing his throat. "I'm glad you're here. There's someone I want you to meet."

He turned to her, his hand reaching out. She took it automatically, rising from her chair with the grace drilled into her since childhood. But inside, she was falling apart.

Because she knew who this was.

She knew before he turned. Before their eyes met. And she knew it would destroy everything.

"Landon, I'd like you to meet my fiancée."

The stranger turned to face her.

Dark brown eyes. The color of whiskey. The color of sin. The color that haunted her dreams and made her remember things she'd tried so hard to forget.

It was him.

The man from that night. The stranger who had touched her like she was something precious and dangerous. Who had made her feel alive for the first time in her life. Who had disappeared before dawn and left her with nothing but the memory of his hands and his mouth and the way he said her name like a prayer.

He wasn't a stranger.

He was Noah's brother.

"Sienna Blake," Noah continued, his voice sounding like it was coming from underwater. "Sienna, this is my brother Landon."

Landon's eyes locked onto hers. She saw the exact moment he recognized her. Saw the shock hit him like lightning. His face went blank, carefully controlled, but his eyes... his eyes burned with the same fire that had consumed them both that night.

Neither of them spoke.

Neither of them moved.

The silence stretched between them, heavy and dangerous and full of secrets that could destroy everything.

"Sienna?" Noah's voice sounded far away. "Are you alright?"

She couldn't speak. Couldn't breathe. Couldn't think past the rushing sound in her ears and the way her heart was trying to beat its way out of her chest.

Landon extended his hand. "It's nice to meet you."

His voice was steady. Polite. Like they had never met before in their lives.

Like that night never happened.

She stared at his outstretched hand. At the fingers that had traced patterns on her skin. At the palm that had curved around her face when he kissed her like the world was ending.

If he says my name, I'll shatter.

"Sienna?" Noah's voice was concerned now. His hand tightened on her arm. "Sweetheart? You look pale."

She had to move. Had to speak. Had to do something other than stand there while her carefully built life crumbled around her.

But she couldn't.

Because one look at him, and she knew. The secret she had buried was about to ruin them all.