My breath caught. Then he released me—cleanly, smoothly.
Julian Hale walked away, champagne in hand, shoulders relaxed, expression amused.
He was the fucking devil incarnate.
And I had misunderstood everything about him.
I had ignored the power that always simmered under his surface. The danger.
Alastair stared after him, baffled.
“What the fuck was that?” he demanded, rounding on me. “Elara—what the hell just happened?”
I kept my face perfectly blank.
“I haven’t the slightest idea,” I said calmly, even though my heartbeat was twisting itself into knots.
“Something,” Alastair hissed, “is going on—”
“Nothing is going on,” I said, cool as ice. “But if Julian Hale doesn’t want to partner with us because he’s young and petty, we’ll simply have to adjust our projections.”
Alastair frowned, frustrated. “That still doesn’t explain—”
“It explains everything,” I cut him off.
My eyes drifted—involuntarily—toward Julian.
He was watching me. Watchingus.
And smiling like he was about to fuck up everything for me—and enjoy doing it.
This was bad.
Without another word, I turned and left.
Nothing in my life had prepared me for what Julian Hale had in store.
Chapter 6
Elara
I barely slept. By seven in the morning, I was fully dressed in silk blouse, pencil skirt, three-inch Roberto heels. I reached for my laptop. For the first time, I googled his name. A name I had always known but never bothered to look into. I hadn’t even wanted to know, it was easier to let go of a stranger.
A hundred images lit my screen—conference photos, charity events, Esmé Group press releases, board meetings, billionaire lists. I clicked and clicked, unable to stop. Everything about him was right there. Right under my nose for three years, and I never once reverse-searched a single picture. Never questioned why, if he was just a "struggling recent grad," he could afford the rent in the apartment we played in. I never asked why he had watches that cost more than my car or why he always had the best toys in his bedside drawer.
I winced, rubbing my forehead. “God, Elara,” I muttered. “You treated a billionaire heir like a human vibrator.”
In my head, he was just a student I'd met on campus. I thought he was cute, so I’d exchanged numbers and showed up at his apartment in a tiny dress with no panties on, acting like I didn’t know exactly what was going to happen. But now I knew—thanks to his Wikipedia page.
He had been a guest speaker at the entrepreneurship summit where I had also spoken, just on a different day. He hadbeen groomed since childhood to inherit an international conglomerate, yet he had appeased me enough to let me think I held all the power. No wonder he threw my ten grand out the window. To him, it was a lost dollar.
I kept searching. The blogs called him volatile, citing a quick temper and a "scorched-earth" policy in business. I hadn’t experienced any of that, but now I was forced to consider what he was truly capable of.
A suddenbang-bang-BANGrattled my bedroom door.
“Elara!” Alastair’s voice barked. “Open the damn door!”
I snapped my laptop shut. This was why I’d come back to the Ashworth house last night instead of going to my own place—I knew the moment Alastair opened his mouth, his parents would want immediate explanations.
