CHAPTER 9

ANNA POV

“Take the flowers, Anna,” Jack says, his voice soft, pleading, and entirely too close to my face in the crowded lobby of Voss International. “Two dozen white roses. They’re your favorite. Just give me five minutes in the courtyard to explain everything before the board meeting starts.”

I freeze beside the elevator doors, my fingers locking tight around my leather briefcase. Dozens of corporate executives in sharp suits filter past us toward the turnstiles, forcing me to keep my posture composed so I don't cause a scene on the trading floor.

“Don’t touch me, Jack,” I whisper, taking a step back until my spine hits the cold brass trim of the elevator wall.

“I had to do it,” Jack insists, his hand reaching out to touch my cheek, his fingers sliding along my skin with the familiar warmth I trusted for two whole years. “Mary backed me into a corner. I never stopped loving you, Anna. You have to believe me.”

I hesitate, my heart slamming violently against my ribs as shock and nausea fight inside my stomach. I don't pull away as fast as I should. For two seconds, I just stare at him, frozen by the sheer audacity of his touch.

Before I can shove his hand off my skin, a shadow falls over us.

“Anna, darling,” Peter’s icy voice cuts through the lobby like a blade. “You’re late for our meeting.”

Peter descends from the mezzanine stairs, moving with a fast, dangerous stride that looks less like walking and more like a predator stalking its prey. He inserts his tall frame smoothly between Jack and me, shutting down Jack’s reach instantly.

“We need to talk, Anna,” Jack says, stepping around Peter, his jaw tight as he holds out the heavy bouquet of white roses. “This doesn't involve your stepbrother.”

I look between them, my pulse hammering in my throat as confusion and hesitation paralyze my tongue.

Peter turns his head, catching my hesitation in an instant. A sudden, terrifying wave of raw dark energy ripples through his eyes. His jaw hardens into pure iron.

Before I can process the shift, Peter’s heavy arm wraps around my waist, spinning me violently against his chest.

He cups the back of my head, his long fingers tangling deep into my hair to hold my face perfectly still, and slams his mouth down onto mine.

I gasp against his lips, pure shock coursing through my veins as his heat consumes me. It isn't a gentle kiss. It’s brutal, possessive, and absolute. His mouth crushes over mine, tasting like strong black coffee and dark rage, pulling me flush against his hard torso until my ribs ache under his weight.

My hands fly up instantly, clutching his suit lapel just to keep from falling as the lobby spins out of focus.

He breaks the kiss sharply before I can even think to push him away, keeping his grip tight on my hip while his breathing stays heavy against my cheek.

“Sorry,” Peter says to Jack, his cold voice lacking even a trace of genuine apology. “We keep forgetting we’re not supposed to do that in the middle of the main office.”

Jack stands frozen, his face going completely pale as his grip on the white roses slacks.

Peter pulls me flush against his side, his arm locked over my waist like a steel band. “You understand how it is. Newlyweds... I mean, step-siblings. It gets complicated when we’re under the same roof.”

My entire body goes rigid against his frame. My heart is hammering so loud against his ribs I’m certain he can feel every single erratic beat through his jacket.

“Peter, you’re embarrassing me,” I force the words out, playing along through gritted teeth while my fingers stay tightly knotted in his fine wool lapel.

Jack looks down at the flowers in his hands, completely defeated and sickened by the display. He drops the two dozen white roses onto the granite reception desk with a dull thud and turns on his heel, walking out through the glass doors without looking back.

The moment the main doors slide shut, I shove my hands violently against Peter’s chest, pushing him back two full steps.

“What the hell was that?” I snap, my voice trembling as I wipe my swollen lips with the back of my hand. “You kissed me in front of the entire trading floor!”

“He was testing your loyalty,” Peter says, his tone instantly dropping back into a flat, clinical register as he adjusts his wrist cuffs. “He wanted to see if he could pull you back into his orbit. Now he thinks we’re sleeping together instead of investigating his offshore accounts. It muddies his narrative.”

He steps back, completely releasing my waist and restoring a formal three-foot gap between us.

“It meant nothing,” Peter adds, staring straight into my eyes without a single flicker of emotion.

I stare up at him, my breathing fast, my chest heaving as I look down at his sides.

“Then why are your hands shaking?” I whisper, pointing at his arms.

Peter looks down at his right hand. His fingers are trembling visibly, a rapid, uncontrollable micro-shiver twitching through his knuckles.

He snaps his hands into tight, white-knuckled fists at his sides, his face turning entirely to stone.

“Adrenaline,” Peter says coldly.

He turns his shoulder to me, stepping past the opening brass doors into the empty elevator cab. The heavy doors slide shut, cutting off my view of his face before I can say another word.

PETER POV

The steel elevator doors seal shut with a heavy pneumatic hissed click, cutting off the loud chatter of the lobby.

The indicator lights flash silently as the cab accelerates upward toward the penthouse boardrooms.

I stand alone in the center of the brass mirror elevator car.

I raise my right hand slowly, staring at my fingers. They are still shaking uncontrollably, a wild, volatile tremor running down my arm that I can’t shut off no matter how hard I flex my jaw.

I lift my fingers to my mouth, pressing two knuckles against my lower lip.

My lips are burning hot. The taste of her—sweet, soft, and completely shocked under my mouth—is branded into my skin, tearing through my focus like a wildfire.

I slam my fist hard against the elevator wall, my teeth grinding together until my jaw aches in the dark.