Maya Sterling walked into the Sterling & Rowe boardroom expecting to save her company.
Instead, she found the man who had once destroyed her heart.
She stopped just inside the glass doors.
Twelve people sat around the polished walnut table. Her aunt, Vespera, looked unusually composed. Riven Ashcroft, the company's CFO, wouldn't meet her eyes. Three unfamiliar lawyers sat beside stacks of documents.
Maya's stomach tightened.
“What's going on?”
Nobody answered.
She dropped her leather portfolio onto the table.
“I was told the emergency financing was approved.”
Riven swallowed.
“It was withdrawn Friday.”
“What?”
Before he could explain, the boardroom doors opened.
Maya turned.
Her breath caught.
Damien Cross.
Ten years disappeared in an instant.
He was no longer the reckless university student she'd loved. He was thirty-three now, impossibly wealthy, devastatingly controlled, and infamous for acquiring struggling companies.
His dark suit fit him perfectly. His expression was cold.
But Maya noticed the scar above his eyebrow.
She remembered exactly how he'd gotten it.
She remembered pressing a cloth against that wound while he smiled at her.
She remembered loving him.
Then he disappeared.
No explanation.
No goodbye.
Nothing.
Now he stood before her as the new owner of her company.
“Damien.”
“Maya.”
“You bought Sterling & Rowe.”
“Yes.”
“How much?”
“Two hundred and ten million pounds.”
Her anger burned through her shock.
“You don't get to walk back into my life and buy your way into my company.”
His gaze remained steady.
“I didn't buy my way into your life.”
“You bought seventy-two percent of my company.”
“I did.”
“You're my boss.”
“Yes.”
“I resign.”
Damien didn't blink.
“You can.”
Her eyes narrowed.
“And?”
“Sterling & Rowe will still belong to me.”
She hated his calmness.
“You haven't changed.”
Something flickered in his eyes.
“No.”
He turned toward the board.
“The company is losing money. Someone has been moving funds through shell companies. Two point six million pounds is missing.”
Maya froze.
“What?”
“I've been investigating for three months.”
“You knew?”
“Yes.”
“And you didn't tell me?”
“I didn't know who was responsible.”
Before Maya could respond, her phone vibrated.
Unknown number.
YOU SHOULD HAVE LET THE COMPANY DIE.
Her blood chilled.
A second message appeared.
STAY AWAY FROM DAMIEN CROSS.
Damien noticed her expression.
“Who sent that?”
“None of your business.”
His voice hardened.
“Maya.”
She locked her phone.
“You've owned my company for less than an hour. Don't start giving me orders.”
“I need you to understand something.”
“What?”
His eyes held hers.
“You're not dealing with a business rival.”
Maya's anger faltered.
“Then who?”
Damien's expression became grim.
“I don't know.”
She stared at him.
“You're lying.”
“I wish I were.”
She turned away.
Ten years ago, she had believed Damien abandoned her.
Now she wasn't so sure.
Because someone had just warned her to stay away from him.
And somehow, Damien looked like a man who had been waiting ten years for the danger to return.