Prologue

“I’m done being your dirty little secret.” Melody Mage’s breath heaved out as she glared at the far too sexy jerk before her. All big, bold, and seductively dangerous—and the man who just kept breaking her heart. Victor Alexander.

Her father’s protégé.

Her long-term nemesis.

The lover who made her quake and shake in all the right and wrong ways.

Christmas music played softly in the background. The lights from the twelve-foot Christmas tree gleamed. They were at the company’s big holiday party. A party where he’d barely spoken to her all night long.

He wore a perfectly cut tux.

She wore a bold red dress.

Her father had just announced that Victor would be taking over the company. There had been shock from the attendees. Then, after a stunned beat of time, applause for Victor. Victor—the genius who’d snuck past everyone’s guard. The hardcore predator who knew how to attack corporate enemies.

The lover who stole my heart.

Very, very slowly, Victor put down the champagne flute that he held. They were alone, for the moment. And maybe she should have held onto her control, but…

Control had never been her strong suit. They’d been playing games for far too long, and she was done.

Her gaze darted to the Christmas tree. It was probably over the top, but then again, that was the way of things in her family. Big. Over the top. Too much. There were seven different Christmas trees in the building, and this one—this one was in the main boardroom at Mage Industries. A gorgeous angel, strumming a harp, perched on top of the boardroom tree. Dozens of ornaments—all colors, red, blue, green, gold, white—hung from the limbs even as twisting, silver ribbon trailed down the branches.

The tree was massive, and the boardroom itself was huge, too, but as her stare slid back to Victor, the space somehow felt far too small as she faced off with her lover. A lover who denied her in public even as he made her scream with pleasure in private.

Oh, we are so done. If he didn’t stand by her side in public, he didn’t get to fuck her in private.

“I wasn’t aware that you were interested in telling people about our involvement.” Victor’s voice was very, very careful. That was the thing about Victor. He was always careful. Always controlled. Her total opposite. Even when they had sex—phenomenal sex, by the way—he was still controlled. Still seeming to hold part of himself back even as she splintered into a million pieces. That was hardly fair. It wasn’t right that she was completely lost to him. In love with him. But he could still maintain perfect control without so much as a small break in his chilling veneer.

He took a step toward her. The light hit the darkness of his hair, and his hard gaze raked her. “You seemed happy enough with our arrangement. Pretty sure you were screaming for more just last night.”

He had not just gone there. Melody stomped toward him in her two-inch, red heels. The heels still left her several inches below his towering height. “Don’t be an asshole.”

“Why not?” A cool reply. “Everyone says I’m so very good at the task. Pretty sure that’s the entire reason I’m taking over Mage Industries. Your father wants a real asshole at the helm. Someone who won’t take shit from the competition.”

She swallowed. “You’re breaking my heart.” Something she had not meant to say. Because she wasn’t supposed to admit that she cared. From the beginning, it had just been sex between them.

Right?

Only…

No, no, from the beginning, it was more. Always more, to me.

“Didn’t think you could break a heart that someone didn’t have.”

She sucked in a breath and felt pain blast straight to her heart as he delivered those emotionless words. A heart she very much possessed. “No more. We’re done.” She had to get out of there. Had to escape, as fast as she could.

Blindly, blinking away tears, she rushed for the door.

Only for his hand to curl around her wrist. That warm, strong hand. His touch always sent a charge burning through her blood.

“We’re not done.” Lethal. Low.

She looked at his hand. The golden skin. The crisp, white edge of his shirt, then the black smoothness of his tux sleeve. Her gaze slowly rose to collide with his, and when it did, for just an instant⁠—

Desperation.

She could have sworn that she saw a crack in Victor’s careful armor. Melody swallowed. Had she really seen it? Or just hoped that she had? “Why not? You have everything you ever wanted.”

“The hell I do.” Grim. “But I will.” A vow. He let go of her wrist.

She should probably finish her dramatic, fleeing exit. But…

He reached into his tux pocket. And he dropped to one knee in front of her.

Melody blinked. “Why are you taking a knee? What is happening right now?”

“I was going to wait. Had this whole scene planned out. But with you, nothing ever goes according to plan.”

Was that an insult? It felt like one.

He opened a small, red box. “I don’t want you to be a secret. I just want you.” He stared up at her, unblinking. “Marry me.”

“What?” Her hands fisted at her sides.

“I didn’t want anyone to say I was fucking you in order to get the company. The company will be mine. And I want you, too.”

Her brow furrowed.

“Not like you’re a damn bonus prize, that’s not what I meant. Fuck, I’m screwing this up.” Victor kept the box extended even as he huffed out a frustrated breath. “You’re it, Melody. You’re what I want. Not a secret. I want you with me, always.”

He hadn’t said he loved her.

Then again, she hadn’t told him those words, either.

He’s offering me a ring. She should take it. Throw her arms around him and tell him how thrilled she was. But, something felt off.

Because he hadn’t said he loved her.

“I love you,” Melody blurted.

And…something changed. In his eyes—the darkness flared ever bolder. On his face—a flash of savage satisfaction. In the next instant, he was on his feet. Towering over her again. His mouth crashed onto hers, and she shouldn’t kiss him back, Melody knew that she shouldn’t, but she did. Because she truly loved him. With every part of her being. Even though she feared that she should not. She loved him.

Her mouth opened beneath his. The kiss was frantic. Passionate. Hungry. Possessive. His hands were suddenly around her waist. What had he done with the ring? The glittering, gleaming ring? But she stopped wondering when he lifted her up. Victor put her on the edge of the big, intimidating boardroom table, and he pushed her legs apart.

Her dress hiked up. A shiver skated over her even as her hands grabbed for his shoulders, and she held on with all of her strength.

They weren’t going to fuck right there. No way. Not with all of those people right outside. Her family. Her friends. Strangers. Enemies. Surely, they weren’t—not there?

But one of his hands slid between her legs. Went right under the skirt of her dress. He caught the edge of her panties even as his mouth continued to claim hers in a primal possession and then he was brushing his callused fingertips right over her clit⁠—

The squeak of the door. Laughter. “Come on, we can go inside and—” The male voice broke off, shocked.

Victor had gone statue-still. For just an instant. But in the next moment, he wrenched away from her. Spun for the intruder. “Out, now!” Nearly a roar.

The person—people? Because she thought she’d heard the sound of feminine laughter—so maybe a man and a woman—got out. Immediately. The door clicked closed.

Melody’s heart raced too quickly. Her breath came too fast. Had she been spotted? And what would happen if she had been? No, no, Victor shielded me. She didn’t think anyone had seen her face…

Victor spun back toward her.

She should get off the table. Maybe close her legs. Both acts seemed like excellent ideas.

“Marry. Me.”

She smoothed down her dress even as she slid off the table. “Is that an order? Or a request?” Her stomach was in knots, and her knees felt far too weak. “Because it sounded like an order.”

“You love me.”

With her entire heart. The heart he’d accused her of not having. But he hadn’t said how he felt. That was Victor. Always keeping things close to the vest. Always spinning and plotting. She could never quite figure him out. Truth be told, maybe that was part of his appeal. She liked a man with some mystery about him.

“They’re going to rush back to the party,” Victor warned her as he watched her with his intense gaze. “That was Trey and Eleanor.”

Eleanor was her stepbrother’s secretary. She was also one of the biggest gossips to ever grace the planet. Trey was a VP of accounting and Eleanor’s current flame.

“If they saw your face, they’ll say I’m fucking you. I don’t want that gossip spreading. I’d rather tell the world I’m marrying you.”

He had the ring again. He’d plucked it from his pocket.

“You are not my secret.”

She stared at the ring. “They didn’t see my face.” He’d been in front of her. Blocking her. Protecting her? The ring gleamed. She reached out for it.

And realized that Victor was holding his breath.

Her fingers paused in the air. “Why do you want to marry me?”

“Because you’re everything I’ve ever wanted.”

He was the only thing she did want. Melody took the ring. Slid it onto her finger. “How about that? A perfect fit.”

“Melody.”

She eased out a breath. “I’m going home. I want you to follow. I want you to make love to me all night long. And I want you to tell me, over and over…how much you love me.” There. Done. She’d said the words. Put it all out there. The ring was a light weight on her finger.

No more secrets.

She smoothed her hair. Nodded. “Don’t keep me waiting.” She brushed past him. Headed for the door. She couldn’t face the big crowd again. Not that night. She wanted Victor. Away from everyone. No interruptions. No whispers.

She didn’t look back as she left the boardroom. She retrieved her coat and her bag, and a fast elevator ride had her in the parking garage. Her fingers pressed the remote for her vehicle, and the lights flashed on her blue Benz. She slid inside. Pulled the door shut.

And then her shaking fingers curled around the steering wheel. Her gaze caught the ring. The beautiful, wonderful ring. Three diamonds. So gorgeous. I am going to marry Victor. He is going to say that he loves me. We will be happy. No matter what rumors she’d caught. No matter what the detective who’d come to see her a few weeks before had said, how he’d tried to make her fear Victor, no matter⁠—

“Start the car.”

Melody jumped because that rasping voice had just come from the back seat of her vehicle. She started to spin around.

But something pressed to her temple.

“This is a gun, Melody. I can blow your brains out here and now, or you can start the damn car.”

Trembling, heart nearly bursting from her chest, she started the car. But her wild gaze swung toward the bank of elevators. She’d told Victor to follow her. He should be appearing. He would help her. He would⁠—

“Victor sends his regards,” the rasping voice told her. “Drive the fucking car.”

The elevator dinged. Cursing, Victor hurried out. He’d been delayed. He should have been in that parking garage much, much sooner, but Melody’s dick of a stepbrother had held him up. Dario had jumped into his path. Demanded to know Victor’s plans.

My plan is to go fuck your stepsister. Then to marry her. But he hadn’t said those words. Too many eyes had been on them. Too many ears listening. So he’d bullshitted about the company. Developments. Expansions. Then he’d rushed the hell out of there.

Now he was in the garage, and automatically, he searched for the blue Benz. Melody’s car.

Already gone.

His jaw locked. He marched forward, pulling out his own keys and hitting the button to unlock the sleek black car that waited.

He’d meet Melody at her place. He’d fuck her all night long. While she wore his ring. And tomorrow, they’d tell the world that they were getting married.

My dirty secret?

Hell, no, she was not. Far from it. She was the end game. Screw the business. Melody was his goal. She always had been, from the moment he’d met her. The woman had no idea that she was his obsession.

He drove to her place. Let himself in with the key she’d given him. He expected to find Melody waiting. Maybe naked. Oh, but a man could dream. Only…

She wasn’t there.

An hour passed.

She didn’t arrive.

He called her. She didn’t pick up. He just got her voicemail. Over and over.

Over.

And…

Over.

The text came to him at six a.m. After a frantic night of looking for her, Melody finally contacted him.

Don’t look for me. Her text message.

Not look? In what universe? He texted back, Where the hell are you?

But there was no response. No matter how many times he tried… No. Response.

Victor did not give up. He kept texting. Melody. Where are you? Fear and rage twisted inside of him. This couldn’t be happening. Not now. Not when he was so very close to having her. To having everything he needed. He’d worked so hard. Things could not explode on him now. He’d been so careful. Always keeping his control. Hiding his darkest parts. Keeping his past secret. He’d tried to be perfect so that she would fall for him. So he could claim her.

When he stormed into her father’s house, when he demanded to know where the fuck Melody had gone…

Victor learned that her father had also received a text.

I want to try something new. See you soon. Don’t worry.

Seven days before Christmas. Melody Mage disappeared seven days before Christmas.

Victor called the cops. They came. Dutifully listened to him. But…there was no sign of foul play. A grown woman had decided to leave town for a bit. No big deal. Camera footage from the parking garage showed her entering her vehicle. Leaving alone. A street cam even picked her up, driving out of town.

The days passed. Christmas came. Went. Melody didn’t return. It was as if she’d vanished from the face of the earth.

Victor hired PIs to find her. They turned up BS leads that led nowhere.

Victor lost his fucking mind.

And by the time everyone else realized the truth…that something very, very bad had happened to Melody Mage, it was far too late.

She was gone.