Too late to regret

The private jet touched down in Nice just as the sun began to dip below the horizon, painting the Mediterranean in shades of bruised purple and gold. I stepped off the plane, still clutching the blue silk handkerchief in my pocket like a talisman. I expected Marcus to be waiting for me with another stiff professional greeting and a car.

I didn't expect him.

Standing at the bottom of the air-stairs, leaning against a dark obsidian SUV, was Cyrus Thorne. He wasn't in a suit this time. He wore a black button-down with the sleeves rolled up, exposing forearms that were corded with muscle and dusted with dark hair. In the fading light, he looked less like a businessman and more like a predator who had finally cornered exactly what he wanted.As my heels clicked onto the tarmac, his eyes locked onto mine. There was no professional distance in his gaze. It was heavy, heated, and entirely possessive.

"You look better in blue than you did in that grey rag you were wearing in New York," he said, his voice a low rumble that vibrated through the soles of my shoes.

I stopped a few feet away from him, my heart doing a frantic dance in my chest. "You came all this way just to tell me that?"

"I came all this way to make sure you didn't change your mind and run back to a man who doesn't deserve to breathe the same air as you." He stepped into my space, his height casting a long shadow over me. He reached out, his fingers catching a loose strand of my hair and tucking it behind my ear. His touch was warm, sending a jolt of pure fire down my spine. "You're with me now, Maya. Do you understand what that means?"

"I... I'm your partner," I stammered, breathless. "You're training me to take down the Vanes."

Cyrus let out a short, dark laugh. He stepped even closer, until the scent of his sandalwood cologne and expensive bourbon clouded my senses. He placed a hand on the car behind me, effectively pinning me between his body and the cold metal.

"I have a thousand partners, Maya. I have analysts, lawyers, and CEOs who would crawl through broken glass for a seat at my table. I didn't bring you to France to be another employee."

My breath hitched. "Then why am I here?"

"Because Julian Vane treated you like a secret," he whispered, his face inches from mine. I could see the silver flecks in his grey eyes-they looked like a storm at sea. "He hid you away because he was ashamed of his own weakness. He knew that if the world saw you, they would realize you were the real power behind the Vane throne. I don't hide what belongs to me."

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a velvet box. He didn't drop to a knee; he didn't make a grand, romantic gesture. He held it between us like a challenge.

"Julian's father is filing that embezzlement warrant as we speak. By tomorrow morning, the police will be looking for a girl named Maya Thorne. But if you walk into that villa with me tonight, that girl disappears."

He flipped the box open. Inside sat a diamond so large and clear it seemed to drink the moonlight. It was a pear-cut stone surrounded by a halo of deep blue sapphires-the Thorne family colors."Marry me, Maya," he said, his voice dropping to a gravelly, intimate command. "Not in secret. Not in a back-room office with a notary. I want a wedding that will be on the cover of every financial magazine and tabloid from here to Tokyo. I want Julian to see my ring on your finger every time he closes his eyes. I want the world to know that the woman he discarded is the woman I've chosen to rule by my side."

I stared at the ring, my head spinning. "A contract marriage?"

"A marriage," he corrected, his thumb grazing my jawline, tilting my face up to his. "The terms are simple. You give me your loyalty, and I give you the world. I will give you the resources to crush the Vanes until they are nothing but a footnote in history. And in return..."

"In return?" I whispered.His eyes darkened, his gaze dropping to my lips. The air between us felt like it was about to combust. "In return, you are mine. Publicly. Privately. In every way that matters. I've waited three years for Julian to be stupid enough to let you go. I don't intend to be 'just a partner,' Maya. I want everything."

He didn't wait for me to answer with words. He took my left hand, his large, warm fingers sliding against mine, and slipped the ring onto my finger. It was heavy. It was a brand. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen.

"The villa is prepared," he murmured, his breath hot against my ear. "There are designers waiting to dress you, chefs waiting to feed you, and a bed that has been empty for too long. You wanted a throne, Maya. I'm giving you mine. But tonight, I don't want to talk about business."He opened the car door for me, but as I started to climb in, he caught my waist, pulling me back against his chest for a fleeting, heart-stopping second.

"Tonight," he whispered, "I just want to remind you what it feels like to be wanted."

As the SUV sped away toward the cliffs of Cap Ferrat, I looked down at the diamond sparkling on my hand. I was no longer a victim. I was no longer a secret. I was the future Mrs. Cyrus Thorne, and for the first time in my life, I wasn't afraid of the fire. I was the one holding the match.