1. The Hotel Room

Zara's POV

Pain was the first thing that dragged me out of sleep.

A vicious ache throbbed behind my eyes, spreading down the back of my skull until even breathing seemed to make my head pound harder. I groaned and shifted beneath the sheets, trying to escape whatever nightmare I had been having, only to feel a man's arm tighten around my waist.

My eyes flew open and for one confused second, I stared at the unfamiliar ceiling.

The next second, I felt the warm body pressed against my back.

I reacted before my brain had caught up.

I twisted violently and drove my elbow backward.

The man beside me grunted as my elbow caught him somewhere beneath the ribs, and I heard a curse as he jerked awake.

I didn't stop.

I shoved him hard enough to send him rolling toward the edge of the mattress, grabbed the sheet and scrambled upright.

"What the fuck!"

Damon Veyron stared at me from the other side of the bed.

My sworn enemy.

The man I had spent four years wanting to punch every time his arrogant face appeared in front of me.

The man who was currently naked in my bed. Except it wasn't my bed and I was naked too.

For a moment, neither of us seemed capable of making sense of what we were seeing.

My gaze dropped to the floor.

My black dress from the wedding rehearsal lay crumpled beside the bed. One of my heels was underneath the chair, while Damon's black shirt was thrown across the sofa and his trousers were lying beside mine.

My stomach lurched as I looked at him again. "What the fuck did you do to me?"

Damon's expression turned murderous. "Are you seriously asking me that?"

"You're the naked bastard in my bed!"

"This isn't your fucking bed."

"I don't care!" I snatched the nearest pillow and launched it at his head.

He caught it before it hit him. "Have you lost your fucking mind?"

"I woke up naked beside you!"

"So did I!" He threw the pillow onto the mattress, and I reached for the lamp beside the bed, fully prepared to smash it over his head if he came any closer.

Damon saw the movement. "Jesus Christ, Zara."

"Don't you dare come near me."

"I wasn't planning on it."

"Good."

His grey eyes narrowed. "You've always been fucking insane."

"And you've always been an arrogant prick."

"At least we're back to normal."

I wanted to hit him again, but instead, I looked around the room, trying to understand where the hell we were.

Recognition came slowly.

The hotel.

The same hotel where my family had held the wedding rehearsal the previous night.

My gaze swept across the luxurious suite, taking in the enormous windows, the expensive furniture, the flowers that had been delivered for the rehearsal, and the remnants of the evening scattered around the room.

My stomach tightened. I remembered arriving at the hotel, I remembered laughing with my friends, I remembered Victor, I remembered Arabella and I remembered drinking champagne.

After that, there was nothing.

I stared at Damon. He was watching me now, and some of the anger had left his face.

"Do you remember what happened?" Damon asked as he gave me a death glare like I was the one who had dragged his ass over to my bed.

"No." The answer came out sharper than I intended.

His expression changed. "I don't either."

I hated the small flicker of fear that moved through me. I didn't want to hear that.

I didn't want confirmation that whatever had happened between us was something neither of us could explain.

I reached for my dress and pulled it against myself.

Damon looked away, and for once, he didn't make some smart remark.

I was grateful for that because I wasn't sure I could stop myself from attacking him again.

Before either of us could say anything else, the hotel suite door slammed open.

My father stormed inside and my mother was right behind him and Victor and Arabella followed.

I barely had time to register their presence before Arabella's face twisted with fury. "What the hell is going on here?" She crossed the room so quickly that I barely saw her hand coming.

The slap cracked across my face. My head snapped sideways and dor one second, absolute silence filled the room.

I slowly turned my face back toward her. My cheek burned.

Arabella stood in front of me, breathing hard. "You fucking bitch."

The words had barely left her mouth before I grabbed her wrist. I twisted it hard enough to make her gasp. "You ever put your hands on me again," I said through my teeth, "and I'll break the fucking arm."

She tried to pull away but I didn't let her.

"Zara!" My father's voice thundered across the room.

I released Arabella with a shove. She stumbled backward, clutching her wrist.

My mother stared at me in horror, Victor stood frozen near the doorway and my father looked ready to explode. "What the hell have you done?"

I stared at him. "What have I done?"

His eyes moved toward Damon. "Don't insult me."

I laughed, but there was no humour in it. "I'm naked in a hotel room with the one man on this planet I hate more than anyone, Dad. Believe me, I would fucking love to know what happened."

Damon climbed out of the bed and grabbed his trousers from the floor.

My father immediately stepped forward. "You stay where you are."

Damon pulled his trousers on and gave him a cold stare. "You broke into a hotel room while I was sleeping. You don't get to give me orders."

Victor finally moved. His eyes were fixed on me. I could see the question in them and I could also see the accusation.

That pissed me off more than anything. "Don't," I warned him.

His brow furrowed. "Zara—"

"Don't look at me like that."

"I don't know what to think."

"Then think harder." My voice carried across the room. "I didn't ask to wake up here."

Victor looked toward Damon.

Damon's expression hardened. "Neither did I."

Arabella let out a bitter laugh. "You expect us to believe that?"

I turned toward her. "Yes, I don't see how you can think otherwise."

"Because I walked in and found my sister naked with my fiancé!"

I stared at her. "Your fiancé? Now he's your fiancé? I dont ever recall you calling him that."

The room seemed to tighten around those words. Damon's head turned sharply toward Arabella.

My father's face went rigid and Arabella's expression changed.

For the first time, I noticed something strange in her eyes, not shock and not heartbreak but something else. Something that made the hairs on the back of my neck rise.

I took a step toward her. "You seem awfully certain about what happened."

She swallowed. "I saw you."

"You saw me sleeping."

"I saw enough."

"You saw a room." My voice hardened. "You saw clothes on the floor. You saw Damon and me in the same bed. You didn't see what happened before that."

Arabella opened her mouth but I didn't let her speak. "Neither did I."

My father slammed his hand against the doorframe.

"Enough!"

I turned toward him. "No. Not enough."

I was furious now, and I didn't care who knew it.

"You all stormed into this room, my sister slapped me before asking a single question, and you're standing there looking at me like I've betrayed everyone when I don't even remember getting into this room."

My mother finally spoke. "Zara, this is going to destroy everything."

I looked at her. "Then maybe ask who wanted it destroyed."

Silence.

That landed harder than I expected.

Damon looked at me and for the first time that morning, there was something other than irritation in his expression.

He was thinking the same thing. Someone had put us here. Someone had made sure we would be found and someone had wanted our lives destroyed but before I could say it, my father spoke.

"The wedding is cancelled."

My chest tightened as I looked at Victor but he didn't move.

"Excuse me?"

My father stepped into the room, his expression cold and controlled. "After what happened here, you will not marry Victor."

I stared at him. "That's not your decision."

"It is when your actions have brought disgrace upon this family."

"My actions?" I nearly laughed. "You still don't fucking understand. I don't remember doing anything."

Victor finally looked at me. "I'm sorry."

I stared at him. "Sorry for what?"

He couldn't answer and that told me everything I needed to know about him.

I turned away before I gave him the satisfaction of seeing how badly his silence affected me.

My father continued. "The wedding will still take place."

I frowned. "What? You just said it'scanceled!"

Arabella went completely still. My father looked toward Damon. "The original agreement between the Devereaux and Veyron families will be honoured."

Damon's face became dangerously blank. "No."

My father didn't acknowledge him. "Arabella will no longer marry Damon."

I looked at my sister and the colour drained from my face. "What?"

I stared at our father. "Dad, you can't be serious." He didn't even look at me. My heart began pounding. I already knew what he was about to say. "No," I warned him.

His eyes met mine. "Zara will take Arabella's place."

For a moment, I couldn't believe what I had heard. I looked at Damon. He looked as stunned as I felt then his expression hardened. "You've lost your fucking mind."

My father remained completely calm. "This is the only way to protect both families."

I laughed. It came out sharp and disbelieving. "You think forcing me to marry Damon Veyron is going to fix this?"

"It will restore the agreement."

"It will destroy my life."

Damon stepped forward. "She's not marrying me."

My father looked at him. "You have no choice."

Damon's jaw clenched. "I always have a choice."

I looked at him and for once, I didn't disagree. I had spent four years fighting with Damon Veyron.

I had sworn I would rather die than ever belong to him.

Now our families were standing around us, staring at us as though they had already decided our future and the worst part wasn't that my father had just taken my wedding away.

It was that I had a sickening feeling this entire disaster had been planned long before either Damon or I woke up.

Someone had wanted us in this room. Someone had wanted us naked in the same bed and someone had made damn sure our families would find us.

I looked across the room at Arabella. She was staring at Damon and not at me and for the first time, I wondered whether my sister's slap had been an act of outrage or the reaction of a woman whose carefully planned future had just been stolen from her.

My father looked between Damon and me. "Get dressed."

I folded my arms over the sheet. "And if I don't?"

His expression hardened. "Then I will remind you who you are."

I held his stare without blinking. "No, Dad." I reached for my dress. "I'll remind you who I am."

I had no idea who had set this trap and I had no idea why but whoever had done it had made one very serious mistake.

They had put the wrong woman in the corner because I was Zara Devereaux and I had never been good at staying there.