Audrey Hale kissed the stranger because she was desperate.
Her fiancé, Preston Vale, had cornered her at their engagement party, fingers digging painfully into her wrist while two hundred guests pretended not to notice.
“Smile,” he whispered. “You’re embarrassing me.”
Audrey looked across the ballroom.
Her father was watching.
And doing nothing.
That was the moment something inside her broke.
She yanked her hand free, crossed the room, grabbed the first man standing alone near the bar, and kissed him.
Hard.
The entire ballroom went silent.
The stranger did not move at first.
Then one hand settled lightly at her waist.
When Audrey pulled back, breathless and shaking, Preston was staring at them with murder in his eyes.
The stranger looked at Audrey.
“Was that meant to save you?”
She swallowed.
“Yes.”
His gaze shifted toward Preston.
“Then stay beside me.”
Audrey should have asked who he was.
Instead, she took his hand.
That was her first mistake.
The second came when Preston stormed toward them and stopped dead halfway across the floor.
His face lost all color.
“Roman.”
The stranger’s expression changed almost imperceptibly.
“Preston.”
Audrey looked between them.
“You know each other?”
Preston laughed once, but there was no humor in it.
“You kissed Roman DeLuca?”
Whispers spread instantly.
Roman DeLuca.
The name Audrey had heard in restaurants when conversations suddenly became quieter. The man whose legitimate companies controlled shipping, construction, and half the nightclubs in Manhattan.
And whose other business nobody discussed above a whisper.
Audrey tried to pull her hand away.
Roman let her.
That surprised her.
“You can leave,” he said quietly.
Then he looked toward the ballroom doors.
Two of Preston’s security men were already blocking them.
Roman’s jaw tightened.
“But I wouldn’t recommend doing it alone.”
Twenty minutes later, Audrey was inside Roman’s black SUV.
“You kidnapped me.”
“No.”
“You carried me out.”
“You were bleeding.”
She touched the bruise forming near her wrist.
“That doesn’t mean I belong to you.”
Roman turned toward her.
“You don’t.”
The answer came too quickly to be rehearsed.
“Then why are you helping me?”
He studied her for a long moment.
“Because Preston doesn’t forgive humiliation.”
“And you do?”
“Usually.”
“Usually?”
One corner of his mouth lifted.
Then his phone buzzed.
Whatever he read erased the amusement instantly.
“What?”
Roman locked the screen.
“Your father just signed something.”
Audrey’s stomach tightened.
“What?”
“A transfer agreement involving the shares your mother left you.”
She stared.
“My mother didn’t leave me shares.”
Roman’s eyes hardened.
“Yes, she did.”
Silence filled the SUV.
“And Preston?” Audrey whispered.
“He wasn’t marrying you for your father’s debts.”
Roman leaned closer.
“He was marrying you because in three months, you inherit enough of Hale Atlantic to control the company.”
Audrey felt the world tilt.
Then Roman added the sentence that changed everything.
“And now that you kissed me in front of him, Preston thinks you chose my side.”
“I didn’t choose anyone.”
Roman’s gaze held hers.
“I know.”
Outside, another black sedan appeared behind them.
Then another.
Roman looked through the rear window.
“They don’t.”
Audrey’s pulse spiked.
“What happens now?”
Roman reached beneath his jacket.
Not for her.
For the gun hidden there.
“Now,” he said calmly, “Preston learns the difference between losing a bride…”
His eyes returned to hers.
“…and starting a war.”