Chapter 2 Rowen's POV

I watch her face go three different shades of pale when I say my name. Good. At least one of us recognizes the gravity of this situation.

Avery Sage - now Avery Knight - stares at me like I just told her she married the devil himself. Maybe she's not wrong. The business world certainly thinks so. But right now, with her auburn hair a mess and her green eyes wide with panic, she looks nothing like the confident woman who challenged me to a drinking contest last night.

She looks terrified.

"Rowen Knight," she repeats slowly, like she's testing how the words taste. "Should I know that name?"

I almost laugh. In my world, everyone knows my name. Knight Industries is worth twelve billion dollars. My face has been on the cover of Forbes three times. I've been called the most ruthless CEO under thirty-five by Business Week. But this woman, my accidental wife, has no idea who she just married.

It's refreshing. And terrifying.

"You will," I say, keeping my voice neutral. I've learned that people reveal more when they think you're not paying attention. "But first, we need to figure out exactly what happened last night."

She clutches her purse against her chest like it's armor. "I need to leave. I need to go home and pretend this never happened."

"That's not an option."

The words come out harder than I intended, and she flinches. I'm used to people jumping when I speak, but for some reason, her reaction bothers me. I force my voice to soften.

"Look, I know this is overwhelming. Trust me, waking up married wasn't on my agenda either. But we're legally bound now, and that creates complications."

"What kind of complications?" she asks, though I can tell she doesn't really want to know.

I gesture toward the papers on the table. "The kind that require lawyers and time and very careful handling. The kind that could destroy both our lives if we're not smart about this."

She moves toward the table like she's approaching a snake. Her hands shake as she picks up the marriage certificate. I watch her read it twice, her lips moving silently as she processes the information.

"This says we got married at 2:47 AM," she whispers. "I don't remember any of this."

"Neither do I. But I remember pieces." I remember her laugh when I told her my worst business deal. I remember the way she argued with me about economics over our fifth round of drinks. I remember thinking she was the first person in years who talked to me like I was human instead of a bank account. "Do you remember the bar?"

"Vaguely." She sets the certificate down like it might bite her. "You were there for the conference too?"

"No. I was there for meetings. I saw you at the networking event looking like you wanted to disappear, and something about that felt familiar."

She looks up at me, and for a second, I see a flash of the woman from last night. The one who called me out for trying to impress her with expensive whiskey. The one who made me laugh until my sides hurt.

"You bought me a drink," she says softly.

"Several drinks, apparently."

"And then we..."

"Got spectacularly drunk and made a decision that's going to change both our lives."

She sinks into one of the dining chairs, still clutching that cheap purse. Everything about her screams that she doesn't belong in this world. The discount store clothes, the nervous way she keeps looking around like someone might catch her here, the fact that she's more concerned about running away than about what this marriage might mean.

But there's something else. Something in the way she holds herself, like she's used to fighting for everything she has. I recognize that look because I used to see it in my own mirror.

"I can't be married," she says, more to herself than to me. "I can't afford to be married. I can barely afford to feed myself."

"Money isn't the issue here."

She laughs, but there's no humor in it. "Easy for you to say. You're staying in a penthouse suite that probably costs more per night than I make in a month."

She's not wrong. This suite costs fifteen thousand a night. I don't tell her that.

"Avery." I sit down across from her, trying to look less intimidating. It's not a skill I've had to practice much. "I need you to listen to me very carefully. This marriage, as accidental as it was, has created a situation that we both need to handle delicately."

"What kind of situation?"

I study her face, trying to figure out how much I should tell her. She seems genuine, but I've been burned by people who seemed trustworthy before. The problem is, I don't have a choice. I need her cooperation, and that means she needs to understand what we're dealing with.

"There are people who would use this against me. Against us. The fact that I'm married to someone they don't know, someone who isn't from their world, could be seen as a weakness."

"Or a scandal," she says quietly.

Smart girl. "Exactly."

"So what are you saying? That we need to get this annulled quickly and quietly?"

I wish it were that simple. But three hours ago, while she was sleeping off her hangover, I got a phone call that changed everything. A phone call from someone who's been waiting years for me to make a mistake this big.

"It's not that simple." I reach for my phone on the table. "I got a call this morning. From a business rival who somehow already knows about our marriage. He's threatening to make this public unless..."

"Unless what?"

I meet her eyes, and I can see the exact moment she realizes that her simple life just became anything but simple.

"Unless we stay married. For six months. And make it look real."

The color drains from her face completely. "You're joking."

"I never joke about business. And this, whether we like it or not, is now business."

She stands up so fast her chair almost falls over. "No. Absolutely not. I won't be part of some weird billionaire game. I don't care how much money you have or how powerful you think you are."

"Twelve billion."

"What?"

"You asked how much money I have. It's twelve billion. And the man who called me this morning wants to destroy everything I've built. If he goes public with this marriage and then reveals that we got it annulled immediately, it makes me look reckless and impulsive. It gives him ammunition to convince my board that I'm not fit to run my own company."

She stares at me for a long moment. "And if we don't get it annulled?"

"Then we control the narrative. We make it look like a whirlwind romance instead of a drunken mistake. We give him nothing to use against me."

"For six months."

"For six months."

"And then?"

"Then we quietly divorce, you get enough money to start whatever life you want, and I keep my company."

She's quiet for so long I wonder if she's going to bolt for the door again. When she finally speaks, her voice is barely a whisper.

"What makes you think I'll agree to this?"

I lean back in my chair and give her the look that's closed more deals than I can count. "Because you're about to ask me how much money we're talking about."

Her cheeks flush red, but she doesn't deny it.

"How much money are we talking about?"

I smile for the first time since I woke up. Maybe this marriage won't be the disaster I thought it was.

"Enough to change your life forever. But first, you need to know something about the man who's threatening us."

"What about him?"

"His name is Maverick Black. And twenty-four hours ago, he didn't know you existed. Now he's had you investigated, he knows about your college debt, your job situation, and probably what you had for breakfast last Tuesday."

The blood drains from her face again. "How is that possible?"

"Because he's dangerous, he has unlimited resources, and he's been waiting for me to make a mistake this big for over a decade." I stand up and move toward the window, looking out at the city below. "The question is, are you brave enough to help me beat him at his own game?"

When I turn around, she's looking at me with a mixture of fear and something that might be determination.

"What exactly would I have to do?"

And there it is. The question that's going to change both our lives forever.