INICIAR SESIÓNNoah Bennett“Nobody leaves the mansion without my permission.”I stared at Damien Ashford.“Excuse me?”My billionaire husband stood in the hallway, speaking to his assistant, Marcus.He looked as handsome and annoying as ever.“Damien, are you seriously telling your guards to stop me from leaving?”He turned toward me.“Noah. You’re awake.”“Don’t change the subject.”Marcus cleared his throat.“Perhaps I should leave.”“Yes,” Damien replied.“No,” I said at the same time.Both men looked at me.I folded my arms.“Someone needs to explain why there are suddenly more security guards around this house.”Damien sighed.“It’s a security precaution.”“Against what?”“Nothing you need to worry about.”I laughed.“Wow. Another secret. How surprising.”His jaw tightened.“Noah—”“I’m your husband, Damien. Not your prisoner.”His expression softened.“I know.”“Then stop treating me like one.”For several seconds, he remained silent.Finally, he nodded.“You’re right. I should have explained
There were only eight tables, a glass display filled with pastries, and a counter where customers placed their orders.I entered quietly.Nobody recognized me at first.Good.I wasn’t interested in attracting attention.I wanted to see Noah.And then I heard him laugh.I turned.He was standing behind the counter with another young man.The man was tall, blond, and annoyingly handsome.He looked around Noah’s age.They were laughing about something.Then the stranger leaned closer and brushed a strand of hair away from Noah’s forehead.My entire body went still.What the hell?Noah laughed again.“Stop it, Ethan!”Ethan.So that was his name.I watched as Ethan placed his hand on Noah’s shoulder.A sharp, unfamiliar emotion twisted inside my chest.Jealousy.I recognized it immediately.And I hated it.Because I had no right to feel jealous.Our marriage was contractual.I had personally established the rules.No love.No emotional attachment.No expectations.Yet here I was, standing
Damien AshfordI had spent eight years searching for Noah Bennett.Eight years wondering whether he was alive, whether he was safe, and whether I would ever see him again.Now he was sleeping under my roof.He wore my wedding ring.He carried my surname.And somehow, that stubborn twenty-two-year-old was already driving me insane.“Sir, are you listening?”I lifted my eyes from my laptop.My assistant, Marcus, stood across my desk, holding a folder.“What?”He sighed.“I’ve been explaining the financial report for the past ten minutes.”“Then explain it again.”Marcus stared at me.“Sir, with all due respect, you’ve been acting strangely since your wedding.”I narrowed my eyes.“Careful.”He immediately straightened.“Of course, sir.”I returned my attention to the screen.But the numbers meant nothing.My thoughts kept returning to last night.Noah standing outside his bedroom.His messy hair.His frightened expression when thunder shook the mansion.And the way he had grabbed my wri
Noah Bennett“Why do you have a photograph of me when I was fourteen?”Damien Ashford stared at me without answering.I held the photograph tighter.Eight years ago, I had been a skinny teenager with messy brown hair and terrible fashion sense.I remembered that picture.It had been taken shortly before my family moved out of our old neighborhood.So why was it sitting inside a billionaire’s private office?“Noah,” Damien said calmly. “Put the photograph down.”I laughed bitterly.“Seriously? That’s all you have to say?”His jaw tightened.“It’s complicated.”“Then explain it.”“I can’t.”I stared at him.“You can’t? Or you won’t?”He said nothing.My heart began pounding.I looked at the contract on his desk.Three months.He had prepared our marriage agreement three months ago.Before I even knew he existed.“Have you been stalking me?” I demanded.Damien’s expression changed.“No.”“Then why do you know where I went to school? Why do you have my childhood address?”“Because I neede
Noah Bennett “Your father has forty-eight hours, Mr. Bennett. If you cannot make the payment, we will have to stop his treatment.” I stared at the doctor, waiting for him to laugh. He didn’t. “You’re joking, right?” I asked. Dr. Wilson sighed and adjusted the glasses on his nose. “I wish I were, Noah.” My hands tightened around the hospital bill. $87,500. Eighty-seven thousand five hundred dollars. Where the hell was I supposed to find that kind of money? I was twenty-two years old. I worked two jobs, slept four hours a night, and barely had enough money to buy groceries. And now this man was telling me I needed almost ninety thousand dollars to keep my father alive. “Please,” I whispered. “Just give me more time.” “We’ve already extended your payment deadline twice.” “I know, but—” “I’m sorry, Noah.” Those three words made my stomach sink. Sorry. Everyone was always sorry. The bank was sorry when it rejected my loan application. My landlord wa
ETHAN’S POVThree months ago, my biggest problem was having a ridiculously attractive straight roommate.Now?My biggest problem was having a ridiculously attractive boyfriend who refused to leave me alone.“Ethan.”“No.”“Baby.”“Still no.”“Sweetheart.”I slowly turned away from my laptop.“Ryan Carter, if you call me one more ridiculous pet name while I’m trying to finish this assignment, I swear I’ll throw you out of this room.”Ryan grinned.He was lying across my bed, wearing gray sweatpants and absolutely no shirt.Some things never changed.“You’re so mean to me.”“I’m literally trying to graduate.”“And I’m literally trying to kiss my boyfriend.”“You kissed me ten minutes ago.”“That was ten minutes ago.”I stared at him.He stared back.Then he pouted.Actually pouted.A six-foot-three basketball player with muscles the size of my future was pouting because I wouldn’t kiss him.God help me.“One kiss,” I warned.Ryan immediately sat up.“Promise?”“One.”He leaned forward.







