Chapter 2

The cold from the marble floor had seeped into Helena's bones, but she barely felt it. She sat slumped against the bathtub, her knees pulled to her chest, staring at the closed bedroom door.

Her mind drifted back, unbidden, to a day two years ago. Long Island. A sprawling estate decorated with thousands of white roses. Her wedding day.

She had stood at the altar in a dress that cost more than her childhood home, her hands shaking so hard the bouquet trembled. The church was packed with New York's elite, all there to witness the union of the Velasquez empire.

All there, except the groom.

She remembered Debora's perfectly manicured hand patting her arm, the older woman's voice smooth as venom. "He's closing a deal in Zurich, dear. A matter of billions. He'll be here."

But he wasn't in Zurich. Helena found out later-much later, from his assistant Alex-that Dante had chartered a private jet to St. Moritz. Because Kinsley Spencer had taken a fall on the slopes and twisted her ankle.

When Dante finally arrived at the church, three hours late, he smelled like crisp Alpine air and the sterile scent of a Swiss clinic. He had stood across from her, the priest droning on about holy matrimony, and when it came time to say the vows, his eyes had looked right through her. He was looking at a ghost, a memory of a girl on a ski slope.

The shrill ring of the landline jolted Helena back to the present.

She scrambled up, her legs tingling with pins and needles, and rushed to the phone on the nightstand.

"Mrs. Velasquez?" It was Martha, the housekeeper, her voice tight with panic. "It's Master Julian. The fever is back. It's over 104, and he's shaking."

Julian. The name was a physical ache in Helena's chest. Dante's seventeen-year-old half-brother. The sickly, forgotten son of the Velasquez family. The only person in this gilded cage who had ever looked at her like she was a human being and not a burden.

"I'm coming down," Helena said, already moving.

She didn't stop to think about the divorce, or the condoms, or the black card. She didn't think about the fact that she had just told her husband she was leaving. All she could think about was Julian, alone in his room on the lower floor of the penthouse, burning up.

She burst into his room a minute later. The lights were dim, and the air smelled faintly of antiseptic and sweat. Julian was curled into a tight ball under his duvet, his dark hair plastered to his forehead. His teeth were chattering violently.

"Julian?" Helena sat on the edge of the bed, pressing her hand to his cheek. His skin was like a furnace. "Hey, I'm here."

"Helena," he mumbled, his eyes fluttering open. They were glassy and unfocused. "It hurts."

"I know, sweetheart. I know." She grabbed the phone again, dialing the family physician. It rang and rang before going to voicemail. She called the emergency line. The nurse on duty told her apologetically that Dr. Evans was in surgery and couldn't be reached.

Helena hung up, her mind racing. She couldn't wait. A fever this high, with his compromised immune system, was dangerous.

"Come on," she said, pulling the duvet back. "We're going to the hospital."

"No... Dante says I have to stay..." Julian groaned, trying to curl back up.

"Dante isn't here," Helena said firmly. She slid her arms under his, heaving him upright. He was tall but painfully thin, and she managed to support most of his weight. "I'm in charge now. Let's go."

It took her ten agonizing minutes to get him down the private elevator to the underground garage and into the backseat of the Bentley. She buckled him in, his head lolling against the cool leather, and then jumped into the driver's seat.

She keyed the ignition, the engine purring to life. She didn't even bother with the GPS, relying on a frantic, two-year-old memory of the city's layout as she hit the gas.

The car shot out of the garage into the Manhattan night. The city lights blurred past the windshield, a stream of gold and neon that felt miles away from the cold reality of her life.

She glanced in the rearview mirror. Julian's breathing was shallow, his face ghostly pale in the passing streetlights.

"I'm not leaving you," she whispered, gripping the steering wheel so hard her knuckles turned white. "I'm not leaving you behind."

She had meant it when she said she wanted a divorce. She was done with Dante. But Julian was different. Julian was innocent. As long as he needed her, she couldn't just disappear into the night.

She would get him settled. She would make sure he was safe. And then, she would walk away from this family forever.

It was a promise she made to herself as the Bentley sped down the FDR Drive, the hospital looming in the distance.