eat with her fingers clenched around the envelope that had changed everything, her eyes were a stormy green and she stared blankly at the wr
the very man she'd sworn to hate for the rest of her life. Lucien Devereux, the name tasted like rust in her mouth." Madame?" The driver turned to her, eyes concerned. "We're here." She nodded s
g you on eleventh floor." Of course he was. The elevator opened to a floor bathed in glass and gold and a floor-to-ceiling windows showcased a gray with rain-slicked Paris. A long hallway stretched ahead, guarded by a set of sleek black double doors and her heels echoed as she walked. She stopped before the door with her heart thudding so loud she thought it might betray her, then a soft click and the door opened and there he was, Lucien Devereux, standing by the window. He was tall and terrifying in a tailored black suit and his dark hair was swept back with his
"Still fire," he murmured. "That will make things...interesting." she replied and she dropped her portfolio
that his presence stirred something traitorous inside her. But most of all she hated how calm he looked like none of this mattered, like her father hadn't died with Lucien's company name in his suicide note. He s
er mouth. "Your father did,and now... the deb
at do you want?" then Lucien smiled slow and cruel." Three months with me under contrac
stunned. "You want
r my roof and u
ed, and not j
an't j
name disappear from every runway in Paris and your dreams drown
e whispered with
of a smile on his lips. "You alw
teeth. "Why me? Yo
rned fully with his eyes bor
htened. "This
nder," he s
something else, something terr
toward t
said without looking back. "Decid
he storm he'd just unleashed, and then, slowly, she looked down at the contract already laid out on the table with her name al
kling through the rain-streaked window and her mind raced in relentless loops, each th
, then her phone buzzed and a message from an unknown number. "Decision time,the clock is ticking."