Prologue
The bass pulsed through the club, vibrating in Gaius Caesar Saavedra’s chest as he watched bodies writhe on the dance floor. Girls barely old enough to be here clung to men who didn’t care about their names, their faces flushed with alcohol and adrenaline. He tipped his glass to his lips, letting the brandy burn down his throat.
He had never been the type to lose himself in the noise. He preferred control. Power. The kind came from watching the room, reading it like a well-worn script, and knowing exactly how every scene would play out.
Gaius leaned back against the booth, exhaling slowly as the bitter truth settled in his chest. He was here because his brother had married the only woman he had ever considered keeping. Cruella.
He hadn’t been in love with her. He didn’t believe in that shit. Love was an illusion—just another trick of the mind, like lust and obsession. But for a moment, he had entertained the thought of being different for her.
Now he saw how ridiculous that had been. He wasn’t the kind of man who changed for anyone, nor the type of man women chose to stay with. That wasn’t his role in the story.
A slow smirk tugged at his lips as his eyes landed on something more interesting.
She was standing at the bar, legs long and lean beneath a red silk dress that draped over her curves like it had been painted onto her skin. Dark hair cascaded down her back, and her lips curled into a knowing smile when she turned.
His grip tightened around his glass before he pushed himself off the seat, moving toward her with the confidence of a man who never heard the word no unless it was moaned.
“Hi,” he murmured, his voice low enough to make her lean in.
She met his gaze, bold and amused. “Gaius Saavedra, right?”
His smirk widened. “The one and only.”
She stepped closer, her perfume a mix of vanilla and something dangerous. “I’ve heard about you.”
“And?” He dragged the rim of his glass along the inside of her thigh, watching her body react before she even realized it had.
Her lips parted slightly. “I heard you can make a woman forget everything.”
Gaius chuckled, slow and dark. “Would you like to test that theory?”
She gasped for air, but she didn’t retreat. Instead, her fingers landed on his chest and moved until she could feel the firm muscle under his shirt. His hand seized hers, bringing it down, pressing it against the indisputable evidence of what this evening would be.
She let out a gasp.
He smiled.
He tilted her chin and said, “You’re already mine, sweetheart.”
She didn’t argue. She just let him pull her closer.
