THE LIE I CALLED LOVE

BLOOD IN THE WATER

Ariella

He’s hiding something.

I can feel it.

Cassian Wolfe wears his secrets like silk—impeccably tailored, smooth to the touch, and impossible to see through. But tonight, I saw the thread come loose.

The Merivale account.

He didn’t lie. He didn’t explain. He just froze.

And I’ve learned that silence can be the loudest confession of all.

I wake up early and slip into his office while he’s still asleep. The penthouse is dark and still. Cold marble under my feet, city lights like ghosts flickering across glass walls.

His laptop is locked, of course. But the drawer on the left?

Not locked.

Inside: files. Old contracts. Press releases. Boring stuff… until I find a folder labeled “Classified – M.”

My pulse kicks up.

I open it.

And what I see makes my stomach twist.

A bank transfer. Five million dollars wired from Wolfe Innovations to Merivale Children’s Foundation.

Charity?

Except… Merivale Children’s Foundation was shut down three years ago after an embezzlement scandal that led to a man’s suicide.

And Cassian paid them—after the closure.

Why?

“Looking for something?”

I jolt.

He’s behind me, barefoot, shirtless, dangerous in the way only men with nothing to lose are.

I straighten. “What is this?”

He doesn’t even look at the file. Just at me. “Put it back.”

“You paid a defunct foundation. That man killed himself, Cassian. Why—”

“I said, put it back.”

His voice is cold steel, slicing through the shadows.

But I don’t flinch this time.

“No.”

His eyes narrow. “We had a deal.”

“We had a lie, Cassian. This—this is real. And you can’t shut me up with diamond rings and couture dresses. If I’m wearing your name, I deserve to know what I’m protecting.”

He moves closer. So close I can feel the heat of his chest.

“I didn’t kill him,” he says quietly. “But I didn’t save him either.”

A pause.

“I buried it because it wasn’t mine to grieve. And if you write one word about it, this deal ends.”

My heart thuds in my chest. “You’d ruin me?”

“I’d protect myself.”

And suddenly, I don’t know if I’m scared of him—

—or scared of the fact that a part of me still wants to trust him.