The ballroom glittered under crystal chandeliers, but your stomach twisted with every fake smile. You weren’t here for the party—you were here on assignment. Your family and his had been rivals for years, and you’d been taught to see him as nothing more than the enemy’s heir.

But when he caught you slipping out toward the balcony, he didn’t look like an enemy. He looked… curious.

“You don’t like parties either?” he asked, loosening his tie.

You narrowed your eyes. “Shouldn’t you be charming someone important?”

He laughed, unbothered. “That’s what they expect. But expectations get boring.”

The moonlight lit his profile, softer than the rumors made him out to be. Dangerous, yes, but in a way that made you lean closer. You weren’t supposed to feel this way. This was the boy raised on the opposite side of a feud.

And yet, as his fingers brushed yours when he offered a drink, you realized something dangerous: sometimes the enemy knows you better than your own side ever did.