THE BILLIONAIRE’S BARGAIN

CHAPTER 10:THE KISS

Maya found him on the balcony.

It was raining. Of course it was raining. Julian stood at the edge, no coat, his shirt soaked through. He didn’t flinch. He didn’t move. He let the storm hit him like he deserved it.

“It’s November,” Maya said from the doorway. “You’ll catch pneumonia.”

“I don’t care.”

“Well, I do.”

Julian turned. His hair was plastered to his forehead. His eyes were red. He’d been crying. Or maybe that was just the rain.

“You should go,” he said. “Take the car. Take the money. I’ll have Claire wire it tonight. Just... leave before Victoria destroys you too.”

Maya walked onto the balcony. The rain soaked her sweater in seconds. She didn’t care.

“I’m not leaving,” she said.

“Why not? You know the truth now. I’m a killer, Maya. I took pills and I got behind the wheel and I killed the only person who ever loved me.”

“Your mother loved you,” Maya said. “And she wouldn’t want you standing in the rain punishing yourself for the rest of your life.”

“You don’t know that.”

“I know that mothers forgive.” Maya stepped closer. Rain ran down her face. “My mother sold flowers in a market until her hands bled. She worked sixteen-hour days so I could go to school. And when she got sick,when the cancer came,she looked at me and said ‘Don’t you dare waste one minute feeling sorry for me. Live. That’s all I want.’”

Julian’s face crumpled. “Maya”

“She wouldn’t want you to die in pieces, Julian. She wouldn’t want you to be alone. She’d want you to play her song and cry and then live.”

Julian shook his head. “I don’t know how.”

“Then I’ll teach you.” Maya reached up. Cupped his face. His skin was ice. “Just like you taught me that I’m not ordinary. Just like you taught me that I deserve more than a flower shop and a pink eviction notice. Let me teach you that you deserve to be loved. Not for your money. Not for your empire. Just for you. The broken, guilty, piano-playing you.”

Julian closed his eyes. A tear escaped. Mixed with rain.

“I don’t deserve you,” he whispered.

“Probably not,” Maya said. “But you have me anyway.”

Julian opened his eyes. The storm was still there. But something else too. Hope. Fragile. Terrified.

“Maya,” he said. “If I kiss you now, I won’t stop. Not for cameras. Not for contracts. I’ll kiss you until there’s nothing left of either of us.”

“Then kiss me,” Maya said.

Julian did.

His mouth crashed into hers. Desperate. Hungry. Like a man drowning and she’d thrown him a line. His hands tangled in her wet hair. His body pressed her against the balcony railing. The city roared below them. The rain soaked them through.

It wasn’t gentle. It wasn’t careful. It was everything they’d been holding back since the flower shop. Since the contract. Since the first moment he’d walked through her door.

When they broke apart, both were breathless. Julian rested his forehead against hers. His heart hammered against her chest.

“I love you,” he said. The words fell out. Raw. Unplanned. True. “I know it’s not in the contract. But I love you, Maya Chen. I love you and I’m terrified and I don’t know how to do this but I—”

Maya kissed him again. Softer this time. A promise.

“Then learn,” she whispered. “I’m not going anywhere.”

His phone rang inside the penthouse. Loud. Insistent. Tanaka Holdings flashed on the screen.

Julian didn’t move. Didn’t look away from her.

“Let it ring,” he said.

And kissed her again.

The elevator chimed in the distance. Somewhere far below, Victoria was probably already calling reporters. The merger was probably already falling apart.

None of it mattered.

For the first time in ten years, Julian Voss wasn’t thinking about guilt, or money, or deals. He was thinking about rain. About her mouth. About the way she said his name like it wasn’t a curse.

Maya’s hands slid to his chest. She could feel his heart through the wet fabric. Fast. Real. Human.

“Julian,” she whispered against his lips.

“Hm?”

“This is real, right? Not part of the contract?”

Julian pulled back just enough to see her. Water dripped from his lashes. His jaw was tight, but his eyes — god, his eyes were clear.

“The contract ended the second you chose to stay,” he said. “This? This is me. Just me.”

Maya smiled. Small. Shaky. “Good. Because I’m terrible at pretending.”

He laughed. It was rusty, like he hadn’t used it in years. But it was real.

His phone kept ringing. Then a text buzzed. Then another. Victoria. Derek. The board. The world was about to explode.

Julian ignored all of it. He lifted Maya off her feet and carried her back inside, dripping across the marble floor, not stopping until they were in the living room and the balcony doors slid shut behind them.

He set her down gently. Like she might break.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “For everything. For lying. For pushing you away. For”

“Stop apologizing,” Maya cut in. “Start choosing.”

Julian nodded. He took her face in both hands. “I choose you. Even if it costs me everything.”

The phone rang one more time and went to voicemail.

Outside, thunder rolled over New York.

Inside, Julian kissed her again. Slower this time. Like he had time. Like the world wasn’t watching.

Maya kissed him back. And for the first time since she’d signed that contract, she wasn’t acting.

She was home