CHAPTER ONE
The Night We Shouldn't Remember
Eliana Blake never planned to be that girl.
But the man at the end of the bar wasn't just attractive—he was magnetic. Tall, sharply dressed in a navy suit that looked custom-made, with a jawline sculpted like pride itself. His eyes—icy and calculating—locked with hers from across the room, and she felt the air change.
She didn't ask his name. He didn't ask hers.
Maybe it was the way he listened when she spoke—intently, like she was the only woman who existed. Maybe it was the smooth whiskey burning in her throat. Or maybe, just maybe, it was the loneliness she didn't want to admit she carried.
The conversation was electric. The chemistry was reckless. By midnight, they were tangled in silk sheets at the Ritz. By morning, she was gone—before he could ask her name again.
***
Adrian Cole didn't usually make mistakes. Especially not the kind that involved women.
He had a rule: Never bring emotions into the office. Never bring strangers into his bed. He broke both last weekend.
He spent the next two days trying to forget her. And then Monday came.
***
The boardroom was quiet. His executive team sat at attention. The latest hire from the New York office had just flown in—an internal transfer he hadn't personally reviewed.
He walked in with his usual authority, nodded to his assistant, and turned to the head of the table.
And froze.
There she was. Black pencil skirt, confident smile, eyes full of recognition she tried to hide.
Adrian Cole, CEO of Cole & West International, had just walked into his own boardroom... and found the woman he should never have touched.
And for the first time in years, he felt something dangerous: uncertainty.