The ballroom sparkled with golden lights and cut crystal. Everything had been perfectly orchestrated to celebrate the engagement of Helena Blake and Nathaniel Carter. Smiles, raised glasses, endless toasts… and yet, she couldn't breathe.
Not even he—Nathaniel, her fiancé—with his charming smile and protective arm around her waist, could dispel the tension clinging to her back.
Because across the room, next to the bar, Julian Carter was watching her.
He did it the way he always had: in silence, with half-lidded eyes and that crooked smile that seemed to know more than it ever said. He wore a flawless black tuxedo, but his tie was loose and the top button of his shirt undone. Julian never cared about rules. Least of all the ones that demanded he behave like the obedient youngest son of the Carter magnate.
"Are you okay?" Nathaniel asked, gently brushing the back of her hand with his fingers.
Helena nodded, forcing a smile that didn't reach her eyes.
"Just a little dizzy. I haven't eaten."
A lie. It wasn't hunger. It was him.
It was the memory of that night, years ago, in the library of the old house on the coast. A summer. A fire. A glass of wine spilled over her white dress. And the kiss. That kiss that never should have happened, but had haunted her ever since.
Julian looked away first, but not before sending her a clear message with his eyes:
I haven't forgotten. And neither have you.
Helena swallowed hard. If anyone noticed what was going through her mind, everything would be over before it began.
And yet… what if everything was already destined to burn?