Chapter 1

What?

His answer caught me completely off guard.

I instinctively stepped back.

"I was just messing with you."

But Elias didn't crack a smile. His eyes narrowed as he looked at me.

"My brother is older than me, but he's shorter. His waist isn't as lean, and his muscles aren't as hard. I beat him in every department. Trust me, Seraphina. You'll have a much better time with me."

I gave him a wary look.

"Why? Are you trying to get back at me?"

Before the Voss family officially recognized Elias as one of their own, he was a poor kid who made money running errands for rich students.

Back then, I was a spoiled, arrogant heiress.

I'd bossed him around for years. Revenge seemed like the obvious reason.

"No. I'm doing this because I like you."

He leaned in until our faces were inches apart.

"You grew up having everything you wanted. You'd hate being poor, wouldn't you? Date me, and you can have anything you want. Besides, my brother has always wanted what he can't have. He thinks no woman can resist him. If you really walk away from him, it'll drive him crazy. Don't you want a little revenge? Use me. I can be your boy toy. It wouldn't be the first time you've done that, would it?"

His eyes held mine. Then he lowered his voice, each word drawing me in.

For a second, the room tilted.

Elias was nothing like the boy I remembered. Over the years, he had grown broader, calmer, and far more dangerous.

He'd always been handsome, but the softness in his face was gone. Now he was unfairly good-looking.

I swallowed and let my gaze drop to the solid chest beneath his dark shirt.

Common sense told me to back off. The rest of me had other ideas.

Silas and I had grown up together. He had been my best friend for as long as I could remember.

My family went bankrupt after I graduated from high school. Even then, my father tearfully insisted on throwing me a graduation dinner.

I was touched—until I sat down and realized it wasn't a graduation dinner at all. It was an engagement dinner.

To save his failing company, my father planned to marry me off to a man old enough to be my father.

I was seconds away from flipping the table when Silas burst in and dragged me out.

Afterward, he dug up evidence of my father's embezzlement and bribery and made sure that bastard ended up behind bars.

I had always known profit mattered more to my father than family. I just never thought he'd actually sell his own daughter.

My whole life fell apart in a matter of days. I felt angry, betrayed, and lost. I didn't feel victorious at all.

Silas held me from behind and promised he'd always take care of me.

He paid my college tuition and supported me until I graduated.

We started dating during my freshman year.

Two years after graduation, I finally repaid every cent I owed him.

I thought my life was finally back on track, only to learn the truth.

He had been pining for another woman the entire time.

The relationship I'd thought we'd built together through all those hard years had been a lie from the start.

My stomach churned, and bile rose in my throat.

Fine. Silas could go to hell.

Once I'd made up my mind, I reached over and gave Elias's abs a playful pinch through his shirt.

"Why not? This could actually be pretty exciting."