Chapter 2

present day

The crystal chandeliers glittered in the lights causing the ballroom to shine like ice. People dressed in the most expensive outfits gathered around the room. The gala was nothing more than an exhibition of wealth and status. A playground where billionaires traded favors for multi million dollar deals that were sealed with a single toast.

Everything looked glamorous and anyone would want all this and the attention. They would feel special. But to Cassandra King, all this felt like a cage. For twenty three years, her father, Arthur King had kept her shielded from the public eye. She was the pristine untouchable daughter of the biggest, well known shipping tycoon in the country and abroad. She had been kept away from the eyes of the business world and the underworld while being trained to one day control everything her father owned but for now she was restricted and kept at arms length.

Tonight was the first time she would be appearing in society. Dressed in an ethereal emerald green silk gown that hugged her curves softly, she moved through the crowd like a vision from another century. As she stepped deeper into the ball room, an unexplainable heaviness settled over her chest. It was an ache so sharp and sudden, it made her face twist.

She ignored the feeling and reached out for a glass of wine from one of the waiters. ' It's just nerves' she told herself, maybe the pressure of the room. She walked over to her father and stood beside him. He smiled softly at her.

Arthur has always loved his daughter, he just worried so much about her safety, especially in this dangerous city.

As her father discussed business, her eyes scanned the room, the heavy double doors of the ballroom swung open, and the temperature in the room plummeted.

A collective hush rippled through the crowd of businessmen. The music didn't stop, but all laughter and conversations died instantly. Men straightened their ties and women held their breath. Xavier Vance had arrived.

He was the city’s undisputed king. A cold, aloof billionaire whose legitimate corporate empire masked his true identity as the most ruthless mafia don on the continent. Strikingly handsome, with razor-sharp cheekbones and dark eyes that held the coldness of Ice.

Xavier moved through the room with a terrifying, predatory grace. People parted for him like they were afraid he would shock them.

Xavier did not look at them. He never did. To him, they were simply unimportant people who begged for his approval and he would never give it to them.

His mind blanked when he looked toward the center of the ballroom. Xavier’s breath caught in his throat. His chest heaved as if he had been struck by a physical blow, his fingers freezing to the touch.

There she stood, His mind was flooded with a thousand lifetimes. He saw her in the heavy velvets of a medieval court, laughing under a canopy of oaks. He saw her in the dirt-stained rags of a French rebellion, her hand tucked firmly into his. He saw her five hundred years ago, wearing that exact shade of emerald green, a princess of a fallen kingdom.

Cassandra, the love of all his lives.

His eyes locked onto her, consuming every detail of her face, her hair, her posture. For five hundred years, the curse had bound him. For five hundred years, he was condemned to remember every single detail of their love, while she was reborn completely blank, a clean slate.

Just then, the darker, blood-soaked memories rushed in, hitting him like a physical burn. He remembered the agony. He remembered holding her fragile body in a dirty London alleyway, her dress soaked in crimson after an assassin's blade meant for him hit her instead. He remembered her choking on poison in a gilded 1920s parlor, coughing up blood while he screamed for a doctor who would never arrive in time.

Every single time they found each other, they fell in love. And every single time they fell in love, she died in his arms.

Xavier tore his gaze away, his heart hammering against his ribs like a trapped animal. He felt physically scorched by the memories. Sweat broke out along his collar. He closed his eyes for a fraction of a second, forcing the roaring ocean of his emotions back down into the darkness in his soul.

'Never again'. He had vowed that he would not let her die in this lifetime. That he would love her from the shadows, but he would never let her near him.

"Ah, Mr. Vance! What an absolute honor," a voice boomed, shattering Xavier’s agonizing thoughts.

Arthur King stood before him, holding a fresh glass of scotch, a desperate, eager smile plastered across his aging face. Arthur had been trying to secure a supply-chain partnership with Vance Industries for months. Seeing his chance, the older man had marched forward, dragging Cassandra gently along by her wrist.

"King," Xavier replied, his voice slipping instantly into its default tone, smooth, dangerously quiet, and devoid of any human warmth.

Cassandra stood beside her father, her eyes fixed on the towering figure of Xavier Vance. The moment he walked closer, her breath hitched. An overwhelming sensation of warmth, longing, and an inexplicable sadness flared deep within her soul.

She looked at him, her large eyes searching his face, looking for any form of recognition or an explanation for the weight in her chest.

Xavier felt her gaze. It took every ounce of his willpower not to look into those beautiful eyes. He knew that if he looked, if he allowed her to see the desperation in his expression, the cycle would begin again. The universe would find a way to take her from him. His enemies, the rival syndicates, the cartel bosses waiting for a single weakness, they would see her as a target.

So, he looked right past her. He treated her as if she were a piece of the ballroom furniture.

"I received your proposal regarding the eastern docks, Arthur," Xavier said smoothly, his eyes strictly on her father's face. "The margins are acceptable. My secretary will send over the contract templates tomorrow morning."

Arthur’s eyes lit up with joy. "That is spectacular news, Mr. Vance! Truly. Oh, forgive my manners—this is my daughter, Cassandra. It is her first evening out in—"

"I am not here to meet your daughter, King," Xavier interrupted coldly, cutting the older man off without a shred of remorse.

Cassandra flinched, his words stung. The strange warmth inside her chest instantly soured into a bitter, cold ache. How could someone who felt so familiar treat her with such.... indifference.

Xavier didn't wait any longer or he couldn't. He turned on his heel, his black suit clean and straight and walked out of the hall.

Safe in the dark, tinted windows of his departing car, Xavier leaned his head back against the leather seat and closed his eyes. His hands were shaking. He survived the first meeting, but the true battle had only just begun. He had to stay away, but as he watched the lights of the gala fade in the distance, he knew that keeping his distance from the only woman who owned his soul would be the hardest war he had ever fought.

In that moment, his phone buzzed with a message from one of his men, the ones he set up to keep an eye on Cassandra. As he read, his face changed,

'A suspicious vehicle was seen circling the King estate for three nights straight '

The message made his heart drop.

There were already people after her, he would have to protect her at all cost.

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