Chapter 1

My father called almost immediately.

He sounded genuinely relieved. For years, he had known there was a man in Chicago I could not let go of, though I had never told him who it was.

He had no idea that the man who had kept me hidden for four years was the ally he trusted most.

“Livia, the Mercers received your answer,” Gideon said. “Bennett has been waiting. Once you return, the two families can announce the match.”

“I know.” I stood before the hotel window, watching Chicago wake beneath me. “I’ll come back to New York as soon as I finish things here.”

My father believed I had finally walked away from a hopeless attachment.

He never would have guessed that the man responsible was Ronan Whitlock—the very man he had sent to Chicago to protect me.

After the call, I took my resignation letter to Whitlock Holdings. As Ronan’s private assistant, I had access to sensitive family affairs. Leaving normally required a month-long security review and handover.

I had seven days.

The HR director read my request and shook her head.

“An expedited departure requires Mr. Whitlock’s signature.”

Ronan again.

Even leaving him required his permission.

I walked to the far end of the empty hallway and dialed the number I knew by heart. After a long wait, a languid female voice answered.

“Hello? Are you looking for Ronan? He’s in the shower.”

An hour earlier, my teeth had left marks on his hand.

Now he was showering in another woman’s room.

“Never mind. Thank you.”

I hung up. Less than two minutes later, Ronan called back.

“What do you need?”

His voice was cold and professional, as though he had not been whispering my name in bed the night before.

“Mr. Whitlock, I have a document that requires your signature.”

“Send it to my office.” He paused. “Go to the lake house tonight and clear out your belongings. Zoya is moving in. She doesn’t want another woman’s things there.”

The lake house had been the only place where we did not have to pretend. By day, I was Gideon Calloway’s daughter and Ronan’s private assistant. At night, I was the woman he allowed into his bed.

Now I was not even permitted to leave a trace behind.

“There’s an empty apartment in Lakeview,” he continued. “Whitlock security will still cover you. I promised Gideon I would take care of you.”

“That won’t be necessary, Mr. Whitlock.”

He was quiet for a moment. “You don’t sleep well in unfamiliar places. At least keep the guards for the first week.”

“I’ll manage.”

Zoya called his name in the background. Ronan said he had to go, but neither of us ended the call. After several seconds of silence, I hung up.

Once he signed the letter, these four years would be over.

I would return to New York and marry Bennett Mercer.

That evening, I went back to the lake house.

The austere black-and-white interior had disappeared beneath warm colors, fresh flowers, plush toys, and Russian nesting dolls.

Once, I had tried to leave a stuffed bear in the entryway.

Ronan had removed it that same day.

“This is a safe house, not a girl’s bedroom,” he’d said.

Zoya had been back for one night, and the entire house had already been remade for her.

“She thought the place was too cold,” Ronan came up behind me, a lazy smile in his voice.

“She needs something familiar after returning to Chicago.”

I said nothing.

He hooked an arm loosely around my waist and gave me a small squeeze, as if he could smooth everything over without even trying.

“She saw your things last night and got upset, so I had them packed away. Come on, don’t make a thing out of it.”

He led me downstairs, certain I would follow.

When he opened the storage-room door, I saw everything I owned piled in a dark corner like trash waiting to be thrown away.