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It feels like a fairytale.

I close my eyes and breathe it all in, loving the way his scent envelops me.

This is a moment I will carry for the rest of my life.

But will it outlast the guilt?

By the time we get back on the yacht, it’s already been turned toward the shore.

My heart feels heavy with the burden of reality. At dinner, I push food around my plate while the city grows steadily larger, and try not to think about what comes next. I don’t want to go back home.

The past twenty-four hours with Dimitri have been surreal and magical. I don’t want it to end. I don’t want to go back to a reality where he’s so far out of my league. A reality filled with struggle. A reality without Millie. A reality where I have to give Dimitri something I’m praying won’t hurt him, but know will.

The thought makes my throat tighten. I don’t want to go through with it, but I don’t have a choice. It’s either him or Millie.

“Hey, you good?” His hand covers mine across the table, and I fake a smile as I glance up at him. The question pulls me back to last night—how he asked me the same thing right after turning me inside out.

“I’m good. I’ve had an incredible day. I just don’t want it to end… I don’t want my time with you to end…” I let myself be honest, because that’s the least I can do for him.

“Who says it has to end?” he asks, like it’s obvious, like there’s no reason it should.

I raise a brow.

“This was a one-time thing,” I remind him. “You’re never with the same woman twice.”

He rolls his eyes. “I see you’ve heard the rumors. Well, they don’t matter. I don’t want this to end yet. That’s what matters.”

A bittersweet ache settles in my chest. Why can’t he just tell me to fuck off? Doesn’t he get that it would save his life? I thought he was supposed to be smart, brilliant even. If he was the playboy everyone says he is, then this wouldn’t be so hard. But he’s not giving me an out. I have no excuses for my blackmailer. I have to go through with it.

It’s like being caught between a rock and a hard place.

Then, suddenly, a thought crosses my mind like an arrow. Sharp and dangerous.

What if I tell him the truth?

No. That’s⁠—

What if I tell him I’m being threatened?

Someone like him, who has enough power to dock on Liberty Island when it’s shut off to the world, would surely have the connections and resources to find and save Millie before it was too late, right?

But what if he doesn’t believe me? Or worse, what if he doesn’t like me enough to care?

I swallow a sad lump.

Or worst of all, maybe he does like me enough to help, but that changes when he finds out I lied to him.

I stare at the approaching city, and the darkness between the sparkling building lights seems to grow inside of me. Sadness and dread fill the spaces.

Fear isn’t far behind.

What does a man like Dimitri Petrov do to those who betray him?

11

DIMITRI

“Did you enjoy your day out at sea away from us peasants?” Noah asks, the second I step into my penthouse.