Chapter 5: The Bet

Travis’s POV

Some women are a challenge.

Some women are a game.

And then there’s Sophia Moreau.

She wasn’t just untouchable—she was a fortress. Every glance, every word, every shift of her body language screamed one thing loud and clear: Don’t bother. You won’t get in.

But here’s the thing.

I’ve never been the type to walk away from a locked door.

I left Moreau Dynamics with a slow smirk still tugging at my lips, her last words playing in my head on a loop.

"Stay out of my way, Cole."

Right. Like that was ever going to happen.

The drive to my next destination was smooth, the city unfolding around me in a blur of high-rises and flashing lights.

By the time I pulled up to the private lounge where Lucas and Adam were waiting, I had already made my decision.

The place was dimly lit, expensive as hell, and filled with the kind of people who had more money than sense. The usual.

Lucas was the first to spot me, raising a whiskey glass in greeting from the corner booth. Adam leaned back in his seat, watching me with amusement as I slid in beside them.

“Took your time,” Lucas drawled, swirling the amber liquid in his glass. “Let me guess—you had some urgent business to take care of?”

Adam snorted. “Yeah, business with a certain CEO?”

I ignored them, signaling for a drink. “You two sound like a couple of gossip columnists.”

Lucas smirked. “So, that’s a yes.”

Adam leaned forward, his grin widening. “What was she like?”

I thought about it. The sharpness in her eyes. The way she’d held her ground. The way she had hesitated—just for a split second—when I asked if I made her nervous.

“She’s exactly what I expected,” I said. “And more.”

Lucas let out a low whistle. “Damn. So you’re actually considering it?”

I exhaled slowly, glancing between them. Lucas and Adam had been my best friends since college—brothers in every way that mattered. We had built our lives side by side, pushed each other into success, into trouble, into everything.

And now, here they were, watching me with that same familiar spark of mischief that had led us into countless bad decisions over the years.

Adam grinned. “You know, I thought you were going to walk away from this one. I really did.”

Lucas chuckled. “So, what changed?”

I took a slow sip of my drink before answering. “She looked me in the eye and told me to stay out of her way.”

Silence. Then—

Adam barked out a laugh. “Oh, shit.”

Lucas grinned. “She challenged you.”

I smirked. “Not directly.”

Adam shook his head. “Doesn’t matter. You’re hooked now.”

Maybe.

Definitely.

Lucas leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table. “Alright, then. Let’s make it official. You accept the bet?”

I ran my tongue over my teeth, letting the weight of the decision settle.

Sophia Moreau wasn’t just another name on my list.

She was the one that wasn’t supposed to be there.

The woman no one touched. No one could touch.

And now?

Now, I wanted to see just how wrong they all were.

I set my glass down with a quiet clink.

“I’m in.”

Adam let out a victorious cheer, and Lucas smirked, raising his drink in a toast.

“To Travis Cole,” he said. “The only idiot crazy enough to chase down the impossible.”

I clinked my glass against his, my smirk widening.

They thought this was a game.

They thought I’d go in, charm her, win, and move on like I always did.

But what they didn’t realize—what I hadn’t even fully admitted to myself yet—

Was that this time, I wasn’t just playing to win.

I was playing for something more.

And that?

That made this the most dangerous bet I’d ever made.

Sophia’s POV

The night was thick with rain, the sound of it hammering against the windshield in deafening waves. My father’s hands gripped the wheel tightly, his knuckles white under the dim glow of the dashboard lights. My mother sat in the passenger seat, turned toward me, her expression tense, sharp.

“Enough, Sophia.” Her voice was strained, that kind of controlled fury only a mother can master.

But I wasn’t done.

“I don’t understand why you won’t just listen to me!” I shouted, my sixteen-year-old self burning with anger, resentment, something ugly and twisting in my chest. “You don’t get to decide my entire life for me!”

“We’re protecting you!” my father snapped, his deep voice vibrating through the car. “One day, you’ll understand—”

“I don’t want to understand! I just want you to trust me!”

The words were still in my throat when the world exploded in white-hot light.

A deafening crash.

The gut-wrenching sound of metal twisting, glass shattering, screams—

And then—

Darkness.

I woke up with a gasp, my chest heaving, my hands tangled in the sheets.

It took me a full minute to remember where I was. To pull myself out of the past and back into the present. My room was dark, the faint hum of the city filtering through the massive windows, headlights flashing across the walls.

I was safe.

I was here.

But they weren’t.

My fingers pressed into my thigh, right over the scar that had never faded. The ugly reminder of what I had lost. The price I had paid for my last words to them being spoken in anger.

I exhaled slowly, unclenching my fists.

It had been years. And yet, every so often, my subconscious liked to drag me back. As if it didn’t want me to forget.

Not that I ever could.

The accident had left me in a coma for six months. Six months of silence, of nothingness. And when I had finally opened my eyes, the first thing I had seen was Charles Lemaire, my father’s best friend, sitting at my bedside with weary eyes and a broken heart.

And Leah.

The girl who had always been my best friend. Who, from that moment on, became something more.

The only family I had left.

The office was already buzzing with activity when I walked in the next morning, coffee in one hand, the weight of my dream still lingering like a ghost in the back of my mind.

Leah was waiting in my office, perched on my desk like she belonged there.

“Rough night?” she asked, eyes scanning my face.

I sighed, setting my coffee down. “The usual.”

Her expression softened. She didn’t have to ask what that meant. She already knew.

“You haven’t had the nightmares in a while,” she said carefully.

I shrugged, trying to push the weight of it off. “Guess my subconscious wanted a throwback.”

She studied me for a second, then nodded. “Want me to schedule a meeting with your therapist?”

“No,” I said immediately. “I’m fine.”

Leah sighed but didn’t push. She never did. She just knew when to let me be.

Instead, she switched gears. “Alright. Business update. The investors from London confirmed their interest, but they’re playing hard to get, so I think we should—”

A sharp knock at the door interrupted her.

I glanced up, my brow furrowing. “Come in.”

The door opened, and my assistant stepped in, her expression tight. “Miss Moreau, I’m sorry to interrupt, but… Mr. Cole is here.”

My stomach clenched.

Leah let out a low whistle. “Well, shit.”

I took a slow sip of my coffee before answering. “Tell him I’m busy.”

My assistant hesitated. “He, uh… said you might say that. And he also said that you love a challenge, so he’d be disappointed if you backed down.”

Leah choked on laughter.

I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose. “Send him in.”

As soon as my assistant left, Leah turned to me, grinning. “I love this for you.”

I shot her a glare. “I hate you.”

“No, you don’t.”

Before I could argue, the door swung open again, and there he was.

Travis Cole, in all his cocky, infuriating, insufferably good-looking glory.

His dark hair was slightly tousled, his tailored suit crisp, and his smirk?

Smug as hell.

“Good morning, sweetheart.”

I clenched my jaw. “Cole.”

Leah let out a barely concealed laugh and muttered, “Oh, this is gonna be fun.” Then she stood, gave me a knowing wink, and strolled out of the office, leaving me alone with the one man I really didn’t want to deal with today.

Travis took his time shutting the door behind her before turning his attention back to me.

He leaned against the wall, completely at ease. “Miss me already?”