CHAPTER 4

​The memory hurt. A sharp sting of guilt hit Vivian in the chest. 

In her past life, she had said those horrible things because Marcus had convinced her that Julian was an enemy. Julian had left the country three days later, his pride completely broken, only to come back years later and die trying to save her life.

She didn't apologize. An apology now would just sound fake to him. Instead, she gave him the most direct truth possible.

​"I was an idiot," she said, looking him dead in the eye. "I trusted a guy who wanted to use me, and I pushed away the only person who actually told me the truth. Climate patterns are becoming increasingly erratic, and disaster is imminent. I don't have time to beg for your forgiveness, and you don't have the luxury of staying mad. We need each other."

​Julian’s jaw tightened. He stepped closer, his big frame blocking out the light from the city. "I don't need anyone, Vance. Especially not a girl who looks like she can barely carry a tool."

​"You need my DNA," Vivian said, her voice getting sharper. "Your father's papers tell you to look for the anchor, but the system won't turn on without my fingerprints and blood. You have the key, but I am the lock. We are equal partners in this, Julian. You can either stand out here in the rain until Marcus finds you, or you can come inside and help me prepare."

​She didn't look away, refusing to show any weakness. She was offering him a bet, and she knew he never walked away from a challenge.

​Julian reached out. He didn't take her hand. Instead, his rough fingers caught her chin, forcing her face up so he could look into her eyes. His hand felt incredibly warm against the cold rain.

​"Two years ago, you ruined my family’s shipping firm to secure Marcus's corporate merger," Julian murmured, his voice dropping into a dangerous, intimate register as he took a step into her personal space.

"You threw me to the wolves, Vivian. Now you expect me to believe you’re playing the prophet?"

​"I threw you away because I was a fool who believed a snake's promises," Vivian said, her voice dropping into a raw, breathless honesty that caught him completely off guard. She took another step forward, her body practically touching his, the tips of her boots brushing his leather shoes. 

"But I learned my lesson. Marcus killed my father, Julian. And in thirty days, he’s going to try to kill the rest of this city. I’m building a fortress in the northern transit yard. I have the resources, I have the logistics, and I have the structural data. But I need your family's hardware key to initialize the server."

She reached out, her fingers bold as they slid beneath the collar of his shirt. 

Julian caught her wrist in a grip of pure iron. It didn't hurt, but it was unyielding. His thumb pressed deliberately against the rapid pulse point in her wrist, feeling her heart hammer against his skin.

​"Careful, Vance," he whispered, his eyes blazing with a dangerous heat as he pulled her wrist up between them, bringing her hand flat against his jaw. "You're playing with fire, and you’re entirely out of your depth."

​"Then burn me, Julian," Vivian countered, her voice a sultry, defiant challenge. "But do it after we lock the bunker.”

​"You're hiding something," he muttered, his thumb pressing against her jaw just hard enough to make a point. "This isn't just about data, Vivian. You look at me like you’ve already seen me die."

​Vivian’s breath caught, but she kept her face completely blank. "I know what's coming, Julian. It doesn't include Marcus, and it doesn't include us fighting. Do we have a deal?"

​Julian let go of her chin and shoved his hand back into his pocket. The silver key disappeared back into his coat. He looked past her down into the open, lighted entrance of the warehouse.

​"The hinges on this main door are rusted," he said, his voice going back to that dry, mocking tone. "A real storm would rip this thing off in five minutes. Move, Vance. Let’s go see what kind of junk your dad left down there."

​Vivian let out a huge breath. She stepped aside, watching him walk down into the dark bunker. He was in. The first major part of her plan was working.

​But as she started to follow him down the steps, her phone vibrated hard in her pocket. She pulled it out, the screen lighting up her face in the dark stairwell.

​It was a text from Marcus.

​Marcus: Hey babe, my security guys are all set up at the villa. But the automated locks are asking for a backup scan from your penthouse computer. I’m driving back to your apartment right now to grab the hard drives. See you in twenty minutes.

​Vivian stopped dead on the stairs, the blood in her body turning to ice. Her apartment computer had all her dad's unencrypted files—including the exact location of the bunker she was standing in right now.

​If Marcus got to that computer before she could delete everything, her whole plan would collapse, and he would kill her all over again.

​She looked down into the bunker at Julian, who was already checking a box of food. "Julian," she called out, her voice tight and sharp in the damp air. "We have a massive problem.”

​The concrete stairs felt like they were shrinking.

​Vivian stared at the glowing text message on her screen, the light casting sharp, blue shadows across her face. Twenty minutes. Marcus lived fifteen minutes away from the penthouse, which meant his timeline was aggressive, precise, and left absolutely zero room for error.

​"Julian," she said, her voice dropping into a tight, quiet register. "We have to go. Right now."