The gala hall sparkled under chandeliers worth more than most small towns. Champagne flowed like gold, but everyone's eyes weren't on the luxury.
They were on them.
Aurora Lane.
Dominic Raine.
The once-whispered "power couple" who had now become the city's favorite scandal.
Aurora knew what she was doing as she walked through the crowd, sipping her drink, ignoring the murmurs that followed her like a storm cloud.
Dominic hadn't looked away since the moment she entered.
She was breathtaking—deadly in red. A statement. A warning. A provocation.
She didn't smile when their eyes met.
Didn't blink.
Didn't soften.
He hated and loved her for it.
He needed to touch her. Hear her voice. Break this cold war with something hotter than war.
---
"Aurora."
His voice behind her was a dark whisper. She didn't turn around right away.
When she did, her smirk was razor-sharp.
"Raine. Enjoying the show?"
"Are you the main act, or just here to light the whole damn place on fire?"
"I don't burn things, Dominic. I replace them."
He stepped closer. Too close.
People were watching, but he didn't care.
He never had.
"You think this is about power," he said under his breath, his voice like silk and gravel, "but it's not."
"Then what is it about?" she asked, her eyes not flinching.
"You."
Aurora didn't respond. Her silence was her weapon. She turned to walk away.
He grabbed her hand.
Not roughly. Not gently.
But with that signature Dominic King grip—just enough to remind her that he'd always been able to make her stay.
She looked down at their joined hands. Then up at his face.
"Let go, Dominic."
"Meet me upstairs," he said instead. "Five minutes. Conference suite."
Her brow arched. "Still trying to control the narrative?"
"No. I just need five minutes where I can tell the truth and no one else is listening."
She stared at him.
Then walked away.
But not out the door.
She walked toward the elevators.
---
The private suite above the gala was empty except for tension.
Aurora stood near the window, arms crossed, while Dominic shut the door behind them.
"I didn't come here for drama," she said without turning. "Say what you need to say."
"You were never part of the plan," he began. "You were supposed to be a rival. A threat. Someone I could crush on paper."
"Romantic."
He ignored the jab. "But then you started laughing in boardrooms. Rolling your eyes during meetings. Calling me out in front of clients and walking away in heels I couldn't stop watching."
"Flattery won't win you points now."
"I'm not trying to flatter you," he said, voice dropping. "I'm trying to tell you the truth."
She turned.
"And what is the truth this time, Dominic? That you accidentally bought my company's shares behind my back? That you accidentally didn't tell me you were using me as a business strategy?"
"I didn't want to lose you," he admitted. "So I made a mistake trying to keep you."
Aurora stepped closer. "You did lose me."
The room went silent.
The kind of silence that comes before thunder.
Then she whispered, "Why does it still feel like you have me?"
Dominic's jaw clenched.
He stepped forward.
She didn't move.
"Because you want me, too," he said, voice low. "Even now. Especially now."
Her heart betrayed her. Her pulse skipped.
And he saw it.
His hand moved to her waist. Slow. Testing.
She didn't stop him.
But when his lips brushed hers—just barely—she pulled back.
"Don't."
He looked at her. "Why not?"
"Because if you kiss me now, I'll forget why I hate you."
"You don't hate me."
"I want to," she whispered. "But I can't."
He reached again.
This time, she let him.
And when their lips met, it wasn't a kiss.
It was a collapse. A confession.
Fingers tangled in hair. Backs slammed against walls. Breathless. Hungry.
For minutes, they weren't enemies.
They weren't rivals.
They were just two broken people who wanted to believe this could still be real.
When they finally pulled away, her lipstick was smeared. His collar was wrinkled. Both of them were shaking.
"This doesn't fix anything," she said, breathless.
"I know," he replied.
"Then why did we—?"
"Because we never stopped wanting it."
She stepped back, fixing her dress.
"I'm not forgiving you, Dominic."
"I'm not asking you to," he said, voice steady now. "I'm asking you to listen. There's something bigger going on. Something I didn't see before."
Her eyes narrowed. "What are you talking about?"
"Juliana," he said darkly. "She's playing both sides. She leaked our fight. She manipulated the shares. She's trying to take us both down."
Aurora froze.
Juliana.
The woman Dominic's family once tried to marry him off to. The woman Aurora never trusted.
And now…
"You have proof?"
Dominic nodded.
Aurora stared at him, heartbeat shifting from pain to fury.
"Then let's burn her empire together," she said.
Dominic's lips curled.
Enemies.
Lovers.
And now?
Allies.
For now.
---