Chapter 2The Billionaire's Cruel Game

I’d been searching for Caleb Hayes for three solid months, ever since he’d disappeared from our tiny apartment in the middle of the night. I’d quit my other gigs to take this courier job because it kept me moving, always looking. Every delivery was a chance to scan a new face, a new building. I watched the local news every night, terrified I’d see his face in a police report or an obituary.

The applause inside the gallery was polite but firm. The lights all converged on the necklace, its diamonds scattering a brilliant, painful light across the room. It burned my eyes.

I didn’t go in. I couldn’t. I just risked one more glance through the archway.

He was in a casual but clearly expensive suit, his head tilted slightly as he spoke patiently to the woman beside him. He looked like he belonged there. Nothing like the man who shared my cramped, messy life.

She was gorgeous. A cascade of auburn waves, makeup so perfect it looked like it was part of her skin. She didn’t need spotlights to shine.

And the man on Caleb’s other side… I knew him. Rhys. Caleb’s best friend from his prep school days.

They were all laughing, talking easily, as if thirty-two million dollars was just a number, a stray thought.

"Damn, man. Good to have you back," Rhys said, clapping Caleb on the shoulder. "A hell of a lot better than playing house with that sad-sack artist."

Caleb pressed the palm of his hand against Rhys’s forehead, a playful shove. "Don't remind me. I almost forgot what it felt like to spend money."

The woman giggled, leaning into him. "Only thirty million, Caleb? Is that all?" Even from here, I could smell a perfume that was probably worth more than my scooter. "If you’re feeling so generous, maybe you could buy me those earrings I wanted?"

Her eyes were intoxicating, alluring. "You did complete my little assignment, after all. You know I always reward good behavior."

Rhys let out an exaggerated laugh. "Jesus, Sloane. If the poor girl knew this was all just a game for you, she'd probably have an aneurysm."

Sloane's expression was placid, almost bored. "I just wanted to see what a real-life Cinderella story looked like. It was disappointing."

Caleb squeezed her face again, a fond, indulgent smile playing on his lips. "You've been impossible since we were kids."

She pouted. "Whatever. Just make sure you wash the smell of that girl off you before tonight. Or you’ll be sorry."

I saw a flicker of something in Caleb’s eyes. Lust. Desire. He leaned in and whispered something in Sloane’s ear, a look I had seen a thousand times, a look I thought was reserved for me.

"Is that a promise?"

They shared a private smile, the possessiveness in his eyes utterly naked.

Rhys just laughed again. "Classic Sloane. You're the one who told him to go date the broke girl in the first place, and now you’re the one who’s disgusted by it. You never change."

"That was then," she said, and for a split second, her eyes flicked toward the archway. Toward me.

I flinched back, my blood running cold.

I shouldn't have looked again. I should have just run. But my feet were rooted to the spot, and I saw her mouth form the words, clear as day.

"This is now. And now, he's mine."