Chapter 3

Aurora pushed open the peeling wooden door of her Brooklyn apartment, tossed her clutch onto the narrow entryway cabinet, and walked straight to the worn fabric sofa without turning on the lights. Dropping heavily onto the cushions, she stared into the dark room, lit only by the yellow glow of the streetlamps filtering through the blinds.

A familiar cramp twisted in her stomach. Aurora curled up on her side, pressing both hands tightly against her abdomen as she tried to ride out the chronic stomach pain triggered by tonight's terror.

Just as she was drifting into an exhausted stupor, her phone on the entryway cabinet buzzed violently, its cold screen slicing through the dark. Aurora's eyes snapped open. Her heart pounding against her ribs, she stumbled off the sofa and saw an unknown number flashing on the display. Hesitating for three seconds, she swiped to answer and pressed the phone to her ear, saying nothing as her shallow breathing gave away her fear.

The harsh scrape of a lighter wheel echoed from the other end of the line, followed by Kaden's icy voice.

"Brooklyn, 14th Avenue, a rundown building without even a doorman. Aurora, you really hit rock bottom."

Aurora stiffened, her head whipping toward the window. Even with the blinds shut tight, she felt as if a pair of eyes were staring right at her from the dark street below. She lowered her voice, trembling with suppressed anger.

"You looked up my address? Kaden, that's an illegal invasion of privacy."

Kaden let out a low, chilling laugh through the speaker.

"Privacy? A whore who signed a contract to sell her body is talking to me about privacy? Do you want me to wake up this whole building right now and tell them what you do for a living?"

Aurora closed her eyes and took a deep breath, fighting to hold onto her sanity.

"What do you want? What happened three years ago is over."

The breathing on the other end turned heavy, and Kaden's voice rose into a furious roar.

"Over? You went behind my back to climb into Blake's bed, and now you're climbing into my uncle's bed, and you tell me it's over?"

Aurora bit down on her lower lip until the metallic taste of blood spread across her tongue, forcing out every word.

"I didn't cheat on you! Three years ago in the Hamptons, I was drugged!"

"Save it!" Kaden snapped viciously. "I watched that hotel hallway surveillance video a hundred times! Your innocent victim act just makes me sick!"

Aurora leaned weakly against the wall. Knowing she could never wake a man who was pretending to be asleep, she spoke in a flat, exhausted voice.

"Whether you believe me or not, I approached Mr. Hopkins for the money. I didn't know he was your uncle."

Kaden scoffed, full of upper-class contempt.

"For the money? Fine. I'm giving you twenty-four hours to terminate your NDA with my uncle and get the hell out of Manhattan."

Aurora's eyes flew open, her voice shaking with panic.

"I can't! My adoptive father is in a private medical center waiting for his dialysis money to stay alive. I can't afford the penalty fee!"

"That's your problem, not mine," Kaden hissed. "If you're not gone before sunset tomorrow, I'll personally put your little Ivy League 'achievements' right on my uncle's desk."

An invisible hand squeezed Aurora's heart so tightly she couldn't breathe. Knowing how controlling and fastidious Dante was, she knew he would destroy her if he found out she was his nephew's ex-girlfriend.

"Kaden, please, at least let me get enough for Howie's medical bills this month..."

All she got in return was a cold laugh, followed by the dead tone of a disconnected call. The beeping echoed through the quiet apartment. Aurora slid down the wall onto the floorboards, the phone slipping from her palm and hitting the wood with a dull thud. Wrapping her arms around her knees, she buried her face in her elbows as three years of terror and grievance poured out in silent tears that soaked her sleeves.

Images of their Ivy League days flashed through her mind, when Kaden had sworn in the sunlit library that he would marry her, followed instantly by that stormy night in the Hamptons when he threw the fake surveillance tape in her face and kicked her out into the pouring rain. The cold floor beneath her pulled Aurora back to reality. She wiped her tears, got up, and walked to the small sink, splashing freezing tap water onto her pale cheeks. Looking into the mirror at her red-rimmed eyes, she forced her face into the polite, empty smile of a contract companion.

On the counter, her phone screen lit up with a text from Dante's personal assistant: "Tomorrow night at eight. Manhattan private club. Mr. Hopkins requires a companion."

Aurora stared at the words as her stomach cramped again. Taking a deep breath, she typed back "Received" with trembling fingers, placed the phone face down, and walked into the dark bedroom.