Finest M.
Five years ago, Emily Carter made the biggest mistake of her life.
She met him in a dimly lit bar. Wild, arrogant, dangerously charming. One reckless touch became a forbidden attraction, and two strangers fell hopelessly in love.
Then Emily ended it. No explanation. Just one devastating goodbye.
Five years later, she has buried the memories. Or so she thought.
At the airport picking up her brother James, the last person beside him is Ryan Bennett. The man she loved. The man she left.
James smiles innocently. "Emily, this is my best friend, Ryan."
Her heart stops. Ryan does not look surprised. His eyes settle on her with the same dangerous intensity, as if five years erased nothing.
To James, Ryan is his best friend. To Emily, he is her past. To Ryan, she is the woman who broke his heart. This time, he will not let her walk away.
As Ryan finds his way back into her life, old feelings resurface. Stolen glances become secret moments. The closer they get, the harder it is to pretend they are nothing.
But Emily is no longer the innocent girl who left him. And Ryan will not accept another goodbye.
When their secret becomes impossible to hide, Ryan shocks New York's elite by announcing his engagement to the fallen Carter heiress. Everyone thinks he is playing with her. They have no idea she is the one woman the untamed heir never forgot.
Some loves do not disappear with time. They only wait.
Ryan Bennett has waited long enough.
This time, he is not asking Emily to stay.
He is making sure she never has a reason to leave.
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