Chapter 1 No.1

1

The air in the Holden estate smelled of lilies and expensive hypocrisy. Aurora Soto stood near the mahogany casket, her fingers gripping the velvet edge until her knuckles turned the color of bone. She was the widow. The intruder. The charity case Clark Holden had picked up from the gutter and tried to polish into a diamond before his Porsche wrapped itself around a tree. She was Mrs. Holden in the eyes of the law, though she'd stubbornly kept her own name-a small rebellion Clark had found amusing. In truth, their marriage had been a shield. Clark knew the Soto family's greed and had given her his name to protect her, tenderly promising they would make it real only after she had established herself at the ballet company. He never lived to see her first standing ovation.

"Drink this."

The voice was sweet, like syrup laced with arsenic. Aurora turned to see her sister, Chloe, holding out a crystal flute of champagne. Chloe's eyes were dry. Perfect makeup. Perfect grief.

"It will settle your nerves," Chloe whispered, pressing the glass into Aurora's hand. "Everyone is staring. You look like you're about to faint."

Aurora took the glass. She didn't want it, but she wanted Chloe to leave even less. She downed the liquid in one burning gulp. It tasted sharp, metallic, but the bubbles distracted her from the nausea churning in her stomach.

"Good girl," Chloe said, her smile not reaching her eyes.

Ten minutes later, the room began to tilt.

The heat didn't start in her head; it started in her belly. A heavy, coiling warmth that spread through her veins like liquid lead. The faces of the guests-Clark's business partners, his judgmental aunt Eleanor, the vultures from Wall Street-began to smear. Their voices stretched and warped, sounding like a record playing at the wrong speed.

Aurora blinked, trying to clear the fog. Across the room, three men she didn't know were watching her. One licked his lips. They looked like wolves circling a wounded deer.

Get out.

The instinct was primal. It screamed over the roar of blood in her ears.

She stumbled away from the casket, her heels catching on the thick Persian rug. She needed a door. Any door. She pushed through the crowd, ignoring the whispers that followed her like smoke.

"Look at her," someone hissed. "Drunk at the funeral."

Aurora hit the stairs. The mahogany banister felt slippery under her sweat-slicked palm. The second-floor corridor stretched out endlessly, the walls breathing in and out.

"Aurora?" Chloe's voice floated up from the bottom of the stairs. "Where are you going?"

Panic spiked in Aurora's chest. If Chloe found her like this-disoriented, flushed, weak-it would be the end. The headlines would write themselves. Widow disgraced.

She lunged for the nearest handle. Locked.

She tried the next. Locked.

Footsteps clicked on the stairs. Closer.

Aurora threw her weight against the heavy double doors at the end of the hall. The handle turned. She slipped inside, her breath hitching in a sob, and threw the deadbolt.

Silence.

The room was pitch black. Heavy velvet curtains blocked out the afternoon sun. The air here was different. It didn't smell of lilies. It smelled of cedar, cold rain, and expensive tobacco.

Her legs gave out. Aurora slid down the doorframe, her black mourning dress pooling around her. The heat in her body was unbearable now. It felt like her skin was too tight for her flesh. She clawed at the high collar of her dress, popping a button. She needed air. She needed ice.

Click.

The sound was sharp, violent in the quiet.

A flame erupted in the darkness. Blue at the base, orange at the tip.

It illuminated a hand. Large, scarred knuckles, holding a silver Zippo. The light traveled up, revealing a jawline sharp enough to cut glass, and eyes that were darker than the room itself.

Adrien Larsen sat in a leather armchair in the corner, a cigarette unlit between his lips. He wasn't surprised. He wasn't alarmed. He looked like a king sitting on a throne of shadows, waiting for an execution.

Aurora tried to speak, but her tongue felt swollen. A whimper escaped her throat instead.

Adrien didn't move. He just watched her. His gaze felt physical, a weight pressing against her feverish skin. He snapped the lighter shut, plunging them back into darkness, then flicked it open again.

Open. Shut. Open. Shut.

Outside, the handle jiggled.

"I know she came this way," Chloe's voice was muffled by the thick wood.

Aurora froze. She looked at the man in the chair, her eyes pleading. Please.

Adrien stood up.

He was massive. He moved with the silent, predatory grace of a large cat. In two strides, he crossed the room. He didn't go to the door. He came to her.

He placed one hand on the doorframe above her head, boxing her in. He leaned down, his face inches from hers. She could feel the cold radiating off him, a stark contrast to the fire burning her from the inside out.

The handle jiggled again.

Aurora trembled, her body betraying her. She reached out, her fingers clutching the lapels of his suit jacket. She didn't know who he was. The drugs had stripped away names and faces. She only knew he was solid, and he was cold.

"Quiet," he breathed. His voice was a low rumble that vibrated in her chest.

The footsteps outside hesitated, then faded away.

Aurora let out a shaky breath, her head falling back against the wood. The relief was short-lived. The drug surged again, a tidal wave of sensation. She pressed herself closer to him, seeking the coolness of his shirt, her cheek rubbing against his chest.

Adrien's hand moved. He gripped her chin, his fingers strong and unyielding, forcing her to look up at him.

"Look at me," he commanded.

Aurora blinked, her pupils blown wide, swallowing the irises. She couldn't focus. She saw a blur of darkness and intensity.

"Clark?" she whispered, the name falling from her lips like a prayer.

Adrien's jaw tightened. The pressure on her chin increased, almost painfully. A flash of something cold and violent sparked in his eyes, a brief glimpse of the monster beneath the suit. He didn't just look dangerous; he looked like he was one breath away from breaking something.

"Wrong answer," he said, his voice a low, threatening growl.

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