Chapter 3 The Devil's Bargain

Julian's hands were warm around mine, and that warmth terrified me more than Adrian's cruelty ever had.

I pulled away, standing so quickly the chair scraped against the marble floor. "You need to leave."

"Elena-"

"No." I pressed my palms against my temples, trying to think past the chaos in my head. "You deceived me. You came into my bed wearing your brother's face. You made me believe-" My voice broke. "I thought I was losing my mind."

Julian rose slowly, his expression raw with guilt. "I know what I did was wrong. But if I had introduced myself properly, Adrian would have barred me from the house. He's done it before. I haven't been inside this penthouse in three years."

"Then how did you get in?"

"A key I never returned." He pulled it from his pocket-a simple brass thing, unremarkable, yet it had unlocked my entire world to a lie. "I told myself I only wanted to see you. To make sure you were surviving him. But then you looked so broken, and I-" He stopped, swallowing hard. "I couldn't walk away."

I wrapped my arms around myself, suddenly cold despite the heated floors. "What do you want from me?"

"I want to save you."

"I don't need saving."

"Yes, you do." Julian stepped closer, and I hated how my body responded-how it leaned toward him before my mind could object. "Adrian has a rotating schedule of mistresses. Did you know that? He keeps them in apartments across the city, visits them when he's supposed to be working late. He'll never be faithful to you, Elena. He'll never love you."

The words landed like stones in still water. I had suspected, of course. The late nights, the unfamiliar perfume on his collar, the way he never looked at me after taking what he wanted. But hearing it spoken aloud made it real in a way I hadn't allowed myself to consider.

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Because I want you to understand that my brother doesn't deserve your loyalty." Julian's eyes burned with quiet intensity. "He bought you like a painting. He hangs you on his wall and ignores you. But I-" He reached for me, then stopped himself, fingers curling into a fist at his side. "I would spend every day earning the right to stand beside you."

"By lying to me?"

He flinched. "That was never the plan. I came that night to check on you, nothing more. But when you opened the door and looked at me with those eyes-" His voice dropped to a whisper. "You looked so alone. So broken. And I thought, just for one night, I could give you what he never would."

"Tenderness," I said flatly. "You gave me tenderness built on deception. How is that any different from what Adrian does?"

The accusation hit him hard. I watched the pain flash across his face, watched him struggle to find a response. When he spoke again, his voice was hoarse. "It's different because I never pretended not to want you. I never used you for heirs or appearances. I wanted you-all of you-long before my brother ever touched you."

I turned away, staring out the window at the city lights glittering below. My reflection in the glass looked hollow, a ghost of the woman who had once been the shining center of high society. What had Adrian called me? Adequate. A possession. A vessel for heirs.

And Julian? He called me brave. Deserving. Loved.

But both men had deceived me. Both had taken without asking. Both had treated me like something to possess rather than someone to respect.

"You need to go," I said quietly. "Before Adrian comes home."

"He won't be back until midnight. His meeting runs late."

"How do you know that?"

Julian's smile was thin and bitter. "I know everything about my brother's schedule. I've spent years tracking his movements, anticipating his next move. It's the only way to survive against him."

I turned to face him. "What do you mean?"

"Our rivalry isn't just business, Elena. Adrian wants to destroy me. He's tried more times than I can count-corporate sabotage, blackmail, even hiring people to dig through my past for anything he could use." Julian's jaw tightened. "The only reason I've survived is because I know him better than he knows himself. He's predictable in his cruelty."

"That's why you want me," I realized. "I'm not just a woman you love. I'm a weapon against him."

The silence that followed was deafening.

"No," Julian said finally, but the word sounded torn from him. "I won't lie and say the thought hasn't crossed my mind. He took something I loved-my father's respect, my place in the family, everything that should have been mine. But you-" He shook his head. "You were never part of that calculation. You were the one thing I couldn't make myself use."

"Until you climbed into my bed."

"That wasn't about revenge." He crossed the room in three long strides, stopping inches from me, close enough that I could feel the heat radiating from his body. "That was about wanting you. Watching you, thinking about you, dreaming about you for years. And when I finally touched you, it was the most honest moment of my life."

My breath caught. "Honest? You wore a mask."

"I wore his face," Julian corrected, "but I gave you my soul. Everything I said, everything I did-that was me. The way I kissed you. The way I held you. The way I made you come apart and put you back together." His voice roughened. "That was the realest I've ever been, even if the face wasn't mine."

I should have slapped him. I should have called security. I should have done anything but stand there, trembling, feeling every cell in my body reach toward him like a flower toward sunlight.

But I couldn't move.

"I need time," I whispered. "To think. To understand."

Julian nodded, stepping back. "I'll leave the key in the garden, beneath the fountain. Use it whenever you need me."

"I didn't say I would."

"I know." He retrieved his coat, pausing at the door. "But I'll wait anyway. For you, I'll wait forever."

Then he was gone, leaving nothing but the lingering scent of sandalwood and the ghost of his touch against my skin.

I stood alone in the vast penthouse, surrounded by luxury that felt like chains. The clock on the mantel read half past nine. Three hours until Adrian returned.

Three hours to decide who I believed-the husband who had caged me, or the stranger who had loved me while wearing his face.

The garden fountain glittered in the darkness below, and somewhere beneath it, a key waited.