Chapter Two

Julian's POV 

The champagne tasted cheap. But it wasn't exactly cheap. It was a Dom Pérignon. But tonight, everything tasted like ash.

I stood on the balcony that overlooked the Plaza Hotel's ballroom. Down below, there were hundreds of people scurrying about like ants. They were New York's elite. They were worth millions in their collection of diamonds and silk. And the majority of them were fakes.

"You look like you want to murder someone," a voice said.

I didn't turn. I knew the voice. "Hello, Seraphina."

She came walking up alongside me, wearing a red dress, with her hair down, cascading waves down her shoulder.

"Seraphina has always been one who likes to be seen."

"You should smile, Julian," she said, resting a hand on my arm. Her nails were brightly colored. "You're the one with the party. Everyone is looking at you," she explained.

"That's the point," I said, taking a sip of my glass of champagne.

"Have you heard the news?" she asked. Now her tone sank. It became conspiratorial.

"I don't listen to gossip," I said.

"It isn't gossip," she said. "It is about Marcus Vane. He is bankrupt."

"Finally.” 

"That isn't the exciting part," Seraphina went on. She outlined her finger along the material of my suit jacket. "The exciting bit is that he is repairing this. He sold his daughter."

My grip on the glass tightened. What did he do?

Dahlia. I'd not considered her name in years. I tried not to think of it.

"Sold her?" was my question. My tone was level.

"To your brother," she said. She studied my face. "Silas purchased her debt. They will marry. Or, rather, he will acquire her as a wife."

Hell no.

My jaw clenched. Silas never kept anything. He enjoyed destroying them, and I knew he was going to do that to her.

"Why are you telling me this?" I asked.

"Because I know you," Seraphina said. "I know you hate Marcus. And I know you hate Silas. This is a win for Silas. He gets the Vane’s name and the girl."

"The girl is a child," I stated.

"She is twenty-three now," Seraphina corrected. "And she is back in the city. I saw her name on the guest list tonight."

I turned to look at her. "She is here?"

"She wasn't invited," said Seraphina. "However, her name was entered on the security list. Well, she's probably trying to locate a different buyer."

I turned back down to the crowd. My eyes swept across the room. I searched for particularly blonde hair and green eyes that once looked at me with such stupid, naive adoration.

I found her.

She was right near the entrance. She was sporting a tight black dress that wasn't attempting to conceal her figure. She was frightened, but she was also beautiful.

A hot, sudden anger flared in my chest. What right did she have to come here? What right did she have to wander back into my world so casually, so effortlessly, after I'd sent her away to save her?

"Excuse me," I said to Seraphina.

I set my glass down on the railing, then buttoned up my jacket.

"I didn't go down to save her."

I stepped along the edge of the VIP barrier, behind the folds of purple curtains, hidden further in the shadows of the top mezzanine, and I watched.

I adjusted the earpiece in my left ear.

"Status," was all I managed, with barely a tremor in my throat.

"The subject is down at the stairs, Mr. Thorne," was the reply from Kael, the head of security. "She is asking for an entry. She says she is on the list."

I sipped some of the champagne that I was holding. It tasted better.

“Let her up,” I commanded.

"Copy that, boss."

I watched as the guard moved aside. I saw Dahlia take a breath, preparing herself, before she climbed the stairs.

I turned away from the balcony and proceeded down the lengthy, deserted corridor that would take me to the private entrance. I halted at the end of the corridor, turning back to face the deserted hallway.

Just a moment later, she appeared at the top of the stairs.

She was unsure, squinted her eyes as if focusing through the low lighting, until she fixed them on me.

She slowly began walking towards me. Her swinging hips drew my eyes to her.

She halted ten feet away.

My eyes roved over her, taking her apart, studying the racing pulse that fluttered in the hollow of her throat. She was afraid, and that was good for me.

"Dahlia!" I called, breaking the silence between us.

"Julian." She didn't blink. I gave her credit for that.

"You’re trespass

"I’m on the list," she countered, moving closer.

"This must be some kind of clerical mistake, as you were never extended an invitation," I lied coolly. "What do you want? If Marcus sent you as some kind of bailout beg, then tell him I'd burn the money before I'd give him any of it,"

"It isn't for Marcus," she said, her chest rising slightly with effort. "It’s for me."

"You? I thought you were living the dream in Europe. Did the credit cards finally decline?" I twisted the liquid in my glass, pretending to be bored.

"I came back.”

"So, turn around, and leave, then. New York isn't for you, little girl.”

"Leave me alone, stop calling me ‘Little’.”

"My father sold me," she suddenly blurted out.

The glass in my hand froze.

I kept my face neutral. "Sold you?" Why would he do that?" My voice was surprisingly calm.

‘’He’s bankrupt,’’ she stated, the words spilling from her lips. ‘’He owes Silas. Silas agreed to erase the debt in exchange for me. The wedding is next month, and the engagement is on Friday.’’

Tears were welling up in her green eyes, but she was determined not to shed them. "I won't survive him, Julian. I'd kill myself before I'd allow him to touch me."

I stared at her. She was serious.

"Tragic, isn't it?" I remarked dryly. "However, I do not see how this is any concern of mine."

She took a step closer. And then another. Soon she was near enough that I could detect the scent of her vanilla shampoo and peach cologne.

"Buy me," she said.

A chill seems to run through the air in the corridor. I stare at her, waiting for the punchline. But there is none. Only desperation.

A dark, grim amusement twisted within me. "Excuse me?"

"Buy my debt," she ordered, stepping into my private space. Her body was shaking, but she dared meet my eyes. "You pay Silas what my father owes. You take the debt, and you own me."

I uttered a single, humourless laugh. "You'd like to swap one cage for another. You'd like to be a slave, not a wife?"

"I'd like to propose a deal," she added hurriedly. "My father owns stocks in Vane Industries. Undisclosed stocks that Silas isn't aware of. And I know where the ledger is. I can deliver them to you. You can use your majority hold, and with that, I can purchase my own freedom. I won't impede your getting your revenge on my father.”

I was hooked. Now she had my attention. The business, the revenge.

But noticing her from this position, with her chest going up and down with every breath, from the V-neck, I realized that I was wanting more than stocks.

I reached out, my gesture sudden. I encircled her throat with my hand, not to choke her, but to hold. To possess. Her skin was burning with heat. Her pulse thudded against the center of my palm like a caged bird.

I tipped her head back, so she would look up at me.

"And then what do I do with you?" I whispered, running my thumb over the sensitive skin of her neck. "If I buy you, Dahlia…if I save you from the big bad wolf...do I keep you?"

Her breath hitched. Her pupils dilated, engulfing the green.

"Yes," she whispered.

"You would be mine," I spoke, lowering my voice into a gruff growl. "No running off to Paris. No crying to Daddy. You would be in my house. In my bed. And under my rules."

I felt her shiver run through her body, right into mine.

"Yes," she repeated.

I held her stare for a moment longer, enjoying the surrender. She didn’t realize what she was getting herself into. She thought I was the least of two evils. I was. But she was wrong. I was a different kind of monster.

I released her, taking a step back. The absence of contact caused her to sway.

"Get in the car," I said, fastening my jacket. "It’s waiting at the side exit. You have five minutes. If you aren’t inside when I get there, I leave you to Silas."

I turned and walked away without looking back.

I reached up and touched the earpiece once more

"Kael, I said. Bring the car around. And call my lawyers."

"Sir?”

"Get the paperwork ready," I said, a cold smile fin

ally breaking across my face as I stepped into the shadows. "I just made an acquisition."