The silence in the car was no longer cold. It was electric, heavy, and smelled like the sandalwood on Reid's skin and the salt of my tears.
I pulled back from him, my fingers brushing against the leather of the passenger seat as I scrambled to find the door handle. My lips were tingling, a phantom heat that refused to fade. I stared out the window at the blurred green of the Hamptons, my reflection in the glass looking like a stranger.
"That," I whispered, my voice cracking like dry parchment, "was definitely not in the contract."
Reid didn't move. His hands were still gripped tight on the steering wheel, his knuckles white. The "Ice King" was gone, replaced by a man who looked like he'd just stepped off a ledge and realized there was no parachute.
"The contract is a piece of paper, Maya," he said, his voice a low, jagged rasp. "Human error is... expected."
"Expected?" I turned to him, the "diner girl" spark returning to my eyes. "Five million dollars, Reid! That's what you're paying me to not have 'human error.' We just handed Cassandra Vance a nuclear bomb. If she saw that—"
"If she saw that, she saw a man who is obsessed with his fiancée," Reid snapped, finally looking at me. His gray eyes were turbulent, a storm of silver and regret. "Which is exactly what we're supposed to be. Why are you so panicked?"
"Because I'm not supposed to feel like that!" I yelled, the words tumbling out before I could stop them. "I'm supposed to hate you. I'm supposed to count the days until I can take my check and buy a life where I never have to see your arrogant, beautiful, complicated face again!"
The "beautiful" slipped out. I wanted to crawl under the floorboards of the car and stay there until the year was up.
Reid's expression softened for a split second, a flicker of something that looked dangerously like hope, before he masked it with a sharp, cynical laugh. "Complicated? Is that what we're calling it now? Maya, you're an architect. You know that when a foundation is built on a lie, it doesn't matter how beautiful the house is. It's eventually going to crumble."
"Then let it crumble," I said, leaning back and closing my eyes. "Just don't expect me to be the one standing under the debris."
The drive back to the city felt like it took a lifetime. By the time we reached the townhouse, the sun was dipping below the skyline, painting the glass buildings in shades of bruised purple and orange.
We walked into the foyer, and the oppressive luxury of the place felt heavier than ever. I headed straight for the stairs, needing to hide in the master suite—my "lion's den"—just to breathe.
"Maya, wait."
I stopped on the third step, my hand on the banister.
Reid was standing in the center of the foyer, looking small beneath the massive crystal chandelier. "The board meeting is tomorrow morning. Not a formal one. A private session with Marcus. He wants to discuss the 'hospice situation.'"
I turned around, my heart sinking. "So Cassandra's plan worked. She got him to look into it."
"She got him to smell blood," Reid corrected. He walked to the bottom of the stairs, looking up at me. "He's going to offer you a deal, Maya. I know how he works. He'll offer you double what I'm paying you—ten million—to walk away and admit the marriage was a sham."
The number hit me like a physical blow. Ten million dollars. That wasn't just clearing a debt. That was a dynasty. That was a life of luxury for me, a private wing for my mother, and enough left over to build a city.
"Ten million," I breathed.
"Ten million," Reid repeated, his eyes searching mine, looking for the "gold-digger" he'd accused me of being on day one. "He'll tell you that you're 'protecting' your mother. He'll tell you that a girl like you doesn't belong in this world anyway. And he'll be right."
I walked down the three steps until I was eye-level with him. "Is that what you think I'll do? Take the highest bidder?"
"It's the logical choice, isn't it?" Reid's voice was devoid of emotion, but his hand was trembling slightly as he reached out to adjust his cufflink. "In this world, everything has a price. I bought you for five. Marcus will buy you for ten. That's just business."
I felt a flash of pure, unadulterated rage. It was a human emotion, raw and messy, and it burned hotter than the kiss in the car.
I reached out and grabbed his silk tie, pulling him toward me until our noses were almost touching. "Listen to me, you arrogant jerk. I spent three years scrubbing floors and taking insults from people like you just to keep my mother's lights on. I have been bought by exhaustion, by hunger, and by desperation. But I have never—never—been bought by a man like Marcus Sterling."
"Maya—"
"Five million is a contract, Reid. Ten million is a betrayal. And I don't betray people who stand in front of me when the sharks are circling." I let go of his tie, shoving him back. "I'm staying. Not for the money. But because I want to see the look on Marcus's face when he realizes that there are some things his checkbook can't touch."
Reid stared at me. For the first time since I'd met him, he looked genuinely stunned. He opened his mouth to speak, but the words seemed to fail him.
"Now, if you'll excuse me," I said, turning back to the stairs, "I have to figure out how to look like a 'ten-million-dollar woman' in a pair of flannel pajama pants. Because if I'm going to war tomorrow, I'm doing it on my terms."
As I reached the top of the landing, I heard his voice, soft and barely audible over the hum of the air conditioning.
"Maya?"
"What?"
"Thank you."
I didn't look back. I couldn't. Because if I did, he'd see the tears in my eyes and realize that I was lying.
I wasn't staying for the integrity. I wasn't staying for the fight.
I was staying for him. And that was the most expensive mistake of all.