POV: Nova

I pressed my ear to the bedroom door, my heart hammering so loud I was sure it would give me away.

Darren's voice carried through the wood like poison: "She'll always be mine, Storm. Even in divorce. Even in your bed."

The words hit me like a physical blow. Even when he wasn't trying to control me directly, he was playing mind games with the man I—

No. I couldn't think about that. Not yet.

The suite went quiet. I heard the door close, then Kai's footsteps moving toward the bedroom. I scrambled away from the door and pretended I'd been sitting on the bed the whole time.

"He's gone," Kai said softly as he entered.

I looked up at him, searching his face for any sign that Darren's words had gotten to him. "What did he want?"

"To remind me who you belong to."

The casual way he said it made my stomach twist. "And what did you tell him?"

Kai's eyes darkened. "That ownership was never part of the equation."

Three days later.

I stared at myself in the mirror of my hotel room, trying to convince myself I could do this. The Music Industry Foundation gala. Two hundred of the most powerful people in entertainment, all gathered to celebrate another year of making money off other people's dreams.

I had to go. My publicist had made that clear. After my very public divorce announcement, I needed to show the world that Nova Black was still standing. Still strong.

Still marketable.

The emerald green dress hugged my curves like liquid silk. Darren used to pick out my clothes for events like this. Now I was on my own, choosing what made me feel powerful instead of what made him look good.

My phone buzzed. A text from Kai: I'll be there tonight. You're not facing this alone.

Three days of stolen moments in hotel rooms and late-night conversations. Three days of remembering what it felt like to be seen, really seen, by someone who'd loved me before I was famous. Three days of fighting the voice in my head that sounded suspiciously like Darren: He left you once. He'll leave you again.

I grabbed my clutch and headed for the door. Time to face the wolves.

The gala was everything I expected. Glittering chandeliers, champagne that cost more per bottle than most people made in a month, and fake smiles that could cut glass. I walked the red carpet alone, my chin high, answering the same questions over and over.

"How are you handling the divorce?"

"Any truth to the rumors about reconciliation?"

"Who's the mystery man from the Grammy ceremony?"

I smiled and deflected, played the part of the gracious star who was handling her personal crisis with dignity. But inside, I was scanning the crowd for two faces. One that would make me feel safe. One that would remind me why I'd blown up my life on live television.

I found Darren first.

He stood near the bar, looking devastatingly handsome in his black tuxedo. And draped on his arm like a piece of expensive jewelry was her. The blonde from the green room. The same red lips, the same predatory smile.

They were holding court with a group of industry executives, laughing at something he'd said. Playing the part of the happy couple while my divorce papers hadn't even been filed yet.

"Miss Black?" A photographer appeared beside me. "Could we get a shot of you and your husband together?"

My heart stopped. The photographer was already gesturing toward Darren, who had noticed me staring. His smile widened as he whispered something to the blonde that made her laugh.

"We're separated," I managed.

"Oh." The photographer looked confused. "But he just told us—"

"Told you what?"

"That the divorce announcement was a publicity stunt. That you two are working things out."

The room tilted. Every face turned toward me, waiting for my reaction. Cameras appeared from nowhere, red lights blinking like hungry eyes.

I couldn't breathe.

I turned and ran.

The hotel had a rooftop garden that most people didn't know about. I'd discovered it years ago during my first industry event, when the pressure and the cameras had gotten to be too much. It was my hiding place. My sanctuary.

I burst through the doors onto the empty terrace, gasping for air. The city sparkled below me, but all I could see was Darren's smug face. The blonde's satisfied smirk. The way he'd made me look like a fool in front of everyone who mattered.

"Nova."

I spun around. Kai stood in the doorway, his bow tie undone, his hair slightly messed like he'd been running his hands through it.

"How did you—"

"I've been watching you all night. When you ran, I followed." He stepped onto the terrace, closing the door behind him. "What happened?"

"He's telling everyone the divorce was fake. A publicity stunt." My voice cracked. "He's making me look like a liar."

"You're not a liar."

"How do you know?" The words burst out of me, sharp and desperate. "How do you know I won't change my mind? How do you know I won't crawl back to him like I always do?"

Kai crossed the space between us in three strides. "Because I know you. The real you. Not the version he created."

"That was ten years ago, Kai. People change. I've changed."

"Have you?" His hands framed my face, forcing me to look at him. "Because when I look at you, I still see the girl who used to sing to the stars. Who believed in love songs and happy endings."

"That girl was naive."

"That girl was beautiful. She still is."

The way he looked at me—like I was everything he'd ever wanted—made my knees weak. "You don't understand. Being with me... it's dangerous now. Darren won't just let this go. He'll come after you. After your business. After everything you've built."

"Let him try."

"Kai—"

"No." His thumbs brushed away tears I didn't realize were falling. "I spent ten years building an empire for one reason. So that when I came back for you, no one could take you away from me again."

The sincerity in his voice broke something inside me. All the walls I'd built, all the protection I'd wrapped around my heart—it crumbled like sand.

"I'm scared," I whispered.

"Of him?"

"Of you. Of this. Of trusting someone again and having them—"

He kissed me before I could finish the sentence.

Ten years disappeared. I was seventeen again, sitting by the lake behind my house while Kai played guitar and sang songs he'd written just for me. When love was simple and pure and didn't come with contracts and conditions.

His lips were gentle at first, asking permission. But when I kissed him back, when my hands fisted in his shirt and pulled him closer, he deepened it. Ten years of longing poured into that kiss. Ten years of regret and hope and desperate need.

"I never stopped loving you," he breathed against my lips. "Not for a single day."

"Then why does this feel like goodbye?"

"Because you're not ready to trust me yet. And I understand that. But Nova..." He pulled back to look at me, his dark eyes burning with intensity. "I'd give my life for you. I'd burn down everything I've built if it meant keeping you safe."

"Good."

The voice came from the shadows near the terrace entrance. Cold. Calculating. Familiar.

Darren stepped into the moonlight, something glinting in his hand.

A gun.

"Because loving her will kill you."