The First Spark of War

Jennifer

The morning sun slanted through the glass walls of my office, catching on the crystal decanter on the side table. I poured myself a splash of bourbon, early, I knew, but the burn steadied my hands. Today wasn’t a day for weakness.

I glanced over the mock-ups on my desk: the joint venture proposal. My empire’s next move.

Lucian and I, two unstoppable forces merging for the ultimate fashion takeover. That’s what the press would say. That’s what they’d be fed.

Except Lucian didn’t seem as thrilled anymore.

I’d seen it in the meetings, in the careful way he avoided my gaze, in the...