Chapter 1
Someone touched my foot beneath the table.
Not by accident.
A polished leather shoe brushed lightly across the top of my foot.
I frowned and shifted away.
A second later, it followed me.
Slowly.
Deliberately.
Before it could touch me again, I drove my heel down onto his shoe.
Hard.
His foot finally stopped.
But when I looked up, Rhys was smiling.
Not like a man flirting with an old lover.
Like a man who had just confirmed I still remembered him.
My whole body went rigid.
Tonight was the Ashcroft family dinner.
The long table was packed.
Everyone was chatting, laughing, raising their glasses.
No one was looking under the table.
Except me.
I tightened my grip on my chopsticks and looked up.
Across the table, a man lifted his wineglass as if nothing had happened.
Black turtleneck.
The same familiar face.
So familiar it stole the air from my lungs.
Three years.
That was how long it had been since Rhys disappeared from my life.
Before that, we had been together for four years.
I'd convinced myself I'd never see him again.
Rhys Ashcroft.
My ex.
His eyes met mine.
The corner of his mouth curled into a slow smile.
Like he was enjoying every second of my panic.
He didn't look away.
If anything, his smile grew wider.
Still the same arrogant bastard.
I looked away.
But my heart was already in chaos.
Why was he here?
Why today?
Why was my ex sitting at the Ashcroft family table?
Just then, Alistair Ashcroft set down his glass.
"How's the company your father left you?"
I was about to answer.
Callum spoke first.
"Everything's running smoothly."
"I'm keeping an eye on it."
"There won't be any problems."
Alistair nodded in approval.
No one seemed to notice that the question had been directed at me.
Callum had answered anyway.
He often did that.
At restaurants, he ordered before I opened the menu.
At family dinners, he explained what I was thinking.
After we married, he gradually took over almost everything at the company my father had left me.
Even when I was hospitalized, he brought forms to my bedside and told me where to sign.
Dad had passed away not long before our wedding.
I used to call it consideration.
That night, for the first time, it felt like something else.
Genevieve Ashcroft smiled at Rhys.
"You've been overseas for years. I'm glad you finally decided to come home."
Rhys had cut ties with the family years ago.
No one kept his photographs.
No one spoke his name.
Whenever I asked about his family, Callum always changed the subject.
I assumed there was nothing more to know.
Overseas.
So that was where he'd been.
All these years.
Rhys set down his glass.
"I got tired of living abroad."
His eyes never left me.
"So I came back."
For some reason...
I couldn't shake the feeling that I was the one he'd come back to see.
I lowered my head and reached for another bite.
Under the table, the toe of Rhys's shoe tapped mine once.
A warning.
Or a question.
I pulled my feet beneath my chair and refused to look at him.
A silent reminder.
He was here.
Only one table away.
"Elena."
The voice beside me pulled me back.
Callum placed food into my bowl.
"What's wrong?"
"You've seemed distracted all night."
"I'm just tired."
"Then eat a little more."
His tone was gentle.
His movements were natural.
But for a split second...
I could've sworn he'd glanced in Rhys's direction.
Then I noticed it.
Rhys lifted his glass.
His sleeve slipped back.
The watch on his wrist caught the light.
My chest tightened.
I'd refused to use my father's money.
I'd spent months saving every dollar from my internship to buy him that watch.
I'd joked,
"You'd better never take it off."
He smiled and said,
"Not unless you stop wanting me."
Liar.
If you'd really let me go...
Why were you still wearing it?
My phone vibrated.
A friend request.
The profile picture was the watch.
The message read:
Long time no see.
My breathing caught.
I looked up.
Rhys was already watching me.
Without a word, he slowly raised his glass.
A silent toast.
The smile in his eyes was teasing.
Dangerous.
Then Alistair chuckled.
"Callum."
"Rhys is staying in the country this time."
"You two brothers can finally look after each other again."
Brothers.
My mind went blank.
The chopsticks slipped from my hand and clattered onto the table.
I turned to Callum.
His expression didn't change.
He looked at me calmly.
"I forgot to tell you."
"He's my younger brother."
The room fell silent.
Across the table, Rhys watched the color drain from my face.
Then he smiled.
"Long time no see..."
He paused just long enough to make my heart stop.
"...Sister-in-law."
"I hope we'll get along."