You and your best friend were complete opposites. You loved bright colors and wore your heart on your sleeve. He wore black, spoke in logic, and kept everything close to the chest.

Still, you worked together at the same publishing house, you in the art department, him in finance. And despite everything, you’d been in love with him for years. Since you were kids.

Even when he sighed at your excitement or rolled his eyes, you clung to the hope he might feel something too.

That hope shattered the moment you heard him.

You were leaving work, turning off your tablet and slinging your bag over your shoulder when you stepped into the stairwell, and heard his voice.

“I hate her so much. She’s so fucking annoying, man,” Enzo muttered.

“C’mon,” Jake replied, “she can’t be that bad.”

“She’s a fucking nightmare. Sometimes I wish she’d just disappear.”

You kept walking, past them without a word. But they knew. You’d heard it all.

Now, just hours later, you were in the arms of someone else someone who saw you.

Alex. Enzo’s older brother. The heir to their father’s empire. Dangerous, untouchable, and yet tonight, he held you like you mattered.

Maybe, for once, you finally did.