Chapter Two: Aftershocks

I couldn’t think.

Not after that.

Not after Killian Wolfe.

I stood in front of the room mirror, makeup smudged, neck kissed raw, thighs aching with the memory of him, and my own shame. My dress was crumpled on the chair. My panties torn. And in my purse sat the engagement ring Victor had slipped onto my finger just days ago.

I stared at it like it might vanish if I blinked.

It didn’t.

And I didn’t cry.

I just breathed.

In. Out.

Ivy Lancaster. Fiancée to Victor Wolfe. Future wife to a man I barely liked, let alone loved.

And I’d just let his older brother do unspeakable things to me against a leather couch in a room I shouldn’t have entered.

What kind of woman does that?

The kind who’s drowning.

The kind who mistakes lust for escape.

The kind who doesn’t realize the devil wears her fiancé’s last name.

Killian was already gone. No words. He just left. Just a memory of heat and hunger that hadn’t faded from my skin. I should’ve been relieved. I should’ve taken the shame and shoved it down deep.

But I couldn’t stop thinking about his mouth.

His hands.

The way he looked at me like I belonged to him, before he knew I already belonged to someone else.

I took the longest shower of my life.

Still didn’t feel clean.

The engagement dinner was set for eight. I had less than an hour to put on the face of the perfect fiancée. The obedient daughter. A perfect act that Victor wouldn’t suspect a thing.

And Killian… maybe he wouldn’t say a word.

Maybe we could both pretend.

I arrived at the estate a little after seven. Had to rush back to my apartment, change into the dress I picked out a week earlier.

My mother beamed like I was walking toward a future, not a trap. My father didn’t even look up from his drink. And Victor, beautiful, boring Victor, kissed my cheek with the same cold distance he always did.

But then I saw him.

Killian.

Standing across the room, tall and unreadable in a tailored black suit. The same eyes. The same lips. The same man who’d had me screaming his name just an hour ago.

And now he stood beside his brother.

My fiancé.

His jaw tightened the second our eyes met. His gaze dropped to my neck. To the faint bruises he left behind. Then rose again with fire.

He looked angry.

Like I was the one who’d done something wrong.

I tore my eyes away.

“I’ve missed you,” Victor said, sliding an arm around my waist.

I forced a smile. “I’ve missed you too.”

Lie.

Victor was safe. Predictable. Powerful in the way all Wolfe men were. But he didn’t make my blood boil. He didn’t make me ache. He didn’t make me forget my own name.

Killian did.

Dinner was a blur.

Laughter. Wine. Empty conversation.

I barely touched my food. Killian didn’t touch his drink.

But he touched me, with his eyes. Every chance he got.

Under the table, Victor’s hand was on my thigh.

Across the table, Killian’s stare was on my lips.

It was poison.

And I drank it.

“You alright?” Victor asked, brushing his thumb across my knuckles.

I nodded quickly. “Yeah. Just tired.”

Lie number two.

I excused myself to the bathroom halfway through dessert. Needed space. Air. A minute to breathe before I drowned.

But the second I stepped into the hallway, a hand grabbed my wrist.

Pulled me.

Shoved me into a side room.

The door slammed shut behind me.

It was him.

Killian.

His face was stone. His voice a blade. “What the fuck was that?”

“What do you mean?”

“You’re engaged to my fucking brother,” he growled. “And you didn’t think to mention that before I had you screaming under me an hour ago?”

“I didn’t know who you were!” I snapped. “You think I would’ve gone anywhere near you if I did?”

He stepped closer.

Too close.

“Then why didn’t you stop me?”

“I didn’t know until after,” I whispered. “Neither did you.”

Silence.

Heavy.

Charged.

“You looked me in the eye and begged me to fuck you,” he said, voice like gravel. “And I did. Hard. Deep. You let me ruin you.”

I slapped him.

He caught my wrist before I could pull away.

“You don’t get to pretend it didn’t happen.”

“I’m not pretending,” I hissed. “I’m regretting it.”

His expression darkened. “Then why do you look at me like you want me to do it again?”

My heart thundered.

My body betrayed me.

Because he was right.

Because I did.

“You’re marrying my brother,” he said lowly, voice thick with something that wasn’t anger this time.

It was hunger.

Possession.

Something dangerous.

I pulled my wrist free, breathing hard. “It was a mistake.”

“No,” he murmured, stepping even closer until my back hit the wall. “It was the beginning.”

I froze.

“What?”

He leaned in. Breath brushing my ear.

“I don’t share, Ivy. And now that I’ve had you, once isn’t fucking enough.”