The rain started the exact moment Aria Vale signed her name.
Not a drizzle. Not a polite mist.
A storm.
The kind that blurred city lights and swallowed sirens whole.
Across the long mahogany table sat the most dangerous man in New York, Luca Devereaux.
Billionaire. Investor. Ruthless negotiator.
The man who had just bought her father's company.
And now… her future.
"You have ten seconds," Luca said calmly, adjusting the silver cufflink at his wrist. His voice wasn't loud. It didn't need to be. "Either you sign, Miss Vale… or your father is indicted by morning."
The room smelled like leather and power.
Aria's fingers trembled slightly, but her eyes didn't.
"You're blackmailing me."
Luca leaned back in his chair, studying her the way predators studied wounded prey. Not cruelly. Not angrily.
Clinically.
"I prefer the word leverage."
Outside the glass walls of the penthouse office, lightning split the sky. The city beneath them glittered, unaware that lives were being dismantled thirty floors above.
"You're asking me to marry you." Aria's voice remained steady. "For one year."
"Yes."
"In exchange, you drop the investigation."
"Yes."
"And after a year?"
"You walk away wealthy," Luca replied smoothly. "And your father walks free."
Silence stretched between them, thick and suffocating.
She hated him.
Not because he was powerful.
But because he was right.
Her father had made reckless investments. The board had turned against him. The SEC investigation wasn't entirely fabricated. Luca had simply… accelerated it.
"You don't even know me," she said.
"I know enough."
His dark eyes flickered briefly to the folder in front of him.
"You graduated top of your class in economics. You declined three Wall Street offers to help your father rebuild Vale Industries. You haven't dated anyone seriously in two years. And you are fiercely loyal."
He paused.
"I need loyalty."
Aria's stomach tightened.
"You need an image," she corrected.
A muscle ticked in his jaw.
His recent breakup with socialite influencer Cassandra Leigh had been public. Ugly. Viral. Investors had panicked when rumors surfaced that Luca Devereaux was "unstable" and "distracted."
A stable marriage would silence speculation.
A wife would calm the markets.
"You're very intelligent," Luca said quietly. "That's why you're here."
She looked at the contract again.
Marriage Agreement.
Term: 12 months.
Compensation: $10 million.
Non-disclosure clause.
Public appearances mandatory.
Cohabitation required.
And then the final line:
Failure to comply results in reinstatement of all pending charges against Richard Vale.
Her father.
The man who had raised her alone.
The man currently sitting in a hospital bed after a stress-induced cardiac episode.
Luca knew exactly where to strike.
"You're cruel," she whispered.
"No," he replied evenly. "I'm strategic."
Her pulse pounded in her ears.
If she refused, her father would lose everything. Possibly prison.
If she agreed… she would tie herself to a man who didn't believe in love. Who treated marriage like a corporate merger.
She picked up the pen.
Luca watched her like a hawk.
"Understand something," she said softly before signing. "I will never love you."
Something unreadable flickered across his face.
"I'm not asking you to."
The pen touched paper.
Aria Vale signed her freedom away.
Three Hours Later
The media explosion was immediate.
Breaking News: Billionaire Luca Devereaux Engaged to Heir of Vale Industries.
Photos flooded social media. The PR team moved at lightning speed. Statements were issued. A carefully staged picture of Luca placing a diamond ring on Aria's finger went live within the hour.
The ring was obscene.
Five carats. Emerald cut. Flawless.
"It's temporary," she told herself.
Temporary.
But when Luca slid the ring onto her finger in front of flashing cameras, something dangerous sparked in his eyes.
Possession.
And something else.
Recognition.
As if he'd just claimed something he hadn't known he wanted.
That Night – The Penthouse
"You'll move in tomorrow," Luca said as he poured two glasses of wine.
"I have my own apartment."
"You had your own apartment."
She turned sharply.
"You don't waste time, do you?"
"I don't waste opportunities."
The penthouse was cold. Minimalist. Masculine. Every surface polished and precise.
No photos.
No warmth.
No history.
"Where will I sleep?" she asked.
"In the master suite."
Her heart skipped.
"And you?"
A slow smile curved his mouth.
"Also in the master suite."
Her breath caught.
"You said this was an arrangement."
"It is."
"So why share a bedroom?"
"Because the media will eventually dig. Staff talk. Consistency matters."
He stepped closer.
Too close.
"And because," he added softly, "you don't strike me as the type who scares easily."
Her pulse betrayed her.
"I'm not scared of you."
"Good."
He reached up and gently tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.
The touch was brief.
But it burned.
"If you were," he murmured, "this wouldn't work."
Aria's body reacted before her brain could.
Heat.
Awareness.
The scent of him, clean, expensive, intoxicating.
She stepped back.
"This is a business deal."
"Yes."
"Then don't blur lines."
His eyes darkened.
"I don't blur lines, Aria."
He leaned down slightly, his voice dropping.
"I redraw them.".
Day Three - The Gala
The Devereaux Winter Foundation Gala was legendary.
Politicians. CEOs. Celebrities.
And now… Aria Vale.
She wore a midnight blue gown that clung like liquid silk. Luca had personally selected it.
"You'll wear this," he had said.
She almost refused.
But when she saw herself in the mirror, even she couldn't deny the transformation.
She looked like power.
Luca offered his arm as they entered the ballroom.
Cameras flashed.
Whispers followed.
"That's her?"
"She's stunning."
"She looks calm…"
Aria lifted her chin.
She would not crumble.
Not in front of them.
Halfway through the evening, Cassandra Leigh appeared.
Blonde. Perfect. Smiling poison.
"Well," Cassandra purred, approaching them. "That was fast."
Luca's grip on Aria's waist tightened slightly.
"Good evening, Cassandra."
Cassandra's gaze slid to Aria.
"Careful," she said sweetly. "He gets bored easily."
The room held its breath.
Aria felt the challenge.
Felt the trap.
She could shrink.
Or she could strike.
She smiled, soft, serene, lethal.
"I'm not here to entertain him," Aria replied calmly. "I'm here to build something."
Cassandra's smile faltered.
"And what's that?"
Aria turned slightly toward Luca, meeting his eyes.
"An empire."
Something changed in Luca's expression.
Pride.
Fire.
Possession.
Cassandra left minutes later.
And for the first time that evening, Luca looked at Aria not as a solution…
But as a woman.
Midnight – Balcony
The city glittered beneath them.
"You surprised me tonight," Luca said quietly.
"You expected me to cry?"
"I expected you to endure."
"And instead?"
"You dominated."
The word hung between them.
Aria's heart raced.
"This is temporary," she reminded him.
"Yes."
"Then don't look at me like that."
"Like what?"
"Like I'm not."
He stepped closer.
"Not what?"
"Temporary."
The silence thickened.
The air shifted.
His hand brushed her waist.
This wasn't staged.
This wasn't PR.
This was heat.
"You said you'd never love me," he murmured.
"I won't."
"And if I changed my mind?"
Her breath hitched.
"You won't."
His lips hovered near hers.
"You're very certain about me."
"I'm certain about men like you."
"And what kind is that?"
"The kind who don't lose."
A dangerous smile curved his mouth.
"What if I want to lose?"
Her heart stopped.
Lightning flashed again in the distance.
The storm hadn't ended.
It had only begun.
Suddenly, Luca's phone buzzed.
He ignored it.
It buzzed again.
Annoyed, he pulled it from his pocket.
His expression shifted instantly.
Cold.
Deadly.
"What is it?" Aria asked.
He didn't answer immediately.
Instead, he turned the screen toward her.
A headline.
SEC Reopens Investigation into Vale Industries, New Evidence Emerges.
Her blood ran cold.
"That wasn't part of the deal," she whispered.
"No," Luca agreed quietly.
"It wasn't."
And then he said something that shattered her composure completely:
"I didn't do this."
For the first time since she'd met him…
Luca Devereaux looked furious.
Not calculating.
Not strategic.
Furious.
Which meant one thing.
Someone else was playing the game.
And they were targeting both of them.
Aria made a deal with a billionaire to save her father.
But now the investigation has reopened.
Luca swears he didn't order it.
And someone powerful wants them both destroyed.
Is their marriage just a contract…
Or the beginning of a war?