Chapter 6: Monday Morning Monday morning arrived with cruel sunshine. The kind that made everything look sharp and unforgiving. Jordan stood at the floor-to-ceiling windows of his…

Chapter 7: The Professional Mask A perfectly professional sheath dress that hit just below her knees. Paired with modest heels and a pearl necklace that looked like…

Chapter 8: The Truth Between Them Something flickered across her face. Disappointment, maybe. Or relief. It was gone before he could identify it. “Americano, double shot, extra…

Chapter 9: The Crumbling Walls “I’m sure he did,” Jordan said, his voice dropping into the dangerous register he used in hostile negotiations. “Marcus Ashford has always…

Chapter 10: The Roses David Chen, Jordan’s COO, stepped out. His expression already apologetic. “Sorry to interrupt, but the Goldman team is here early. They’re in conference…

Chapter 11: The Snap He was dimly aware of David saying something. Of Martina returning from wherever she’d been. Of her soft intake of breath when she…

Chapter 12: The Drive Ten minutes later, they were in his private car. A black Mercedes that smelled like leather and expensive cologne. Pulling away from Blackwell…

Chapter 13: The Failure The Cartier salesman showed them seventeen different pieces before Jordan finally understood what he was doing wrong. He’d been trying to buy her….

Chapter 14: The Ritz Now, standing in the lobby of the Ritz Paris, Jordan watched Martina’s face as she took in the opulence around them. Marble columns…