Chapter 1 - The Night the Blind CEO Opened His Eyes
The room smelled of gardenias and fresh cotton, and a slow ceiling fan moved warm air across the tops of her bare shoulders.
Thea sat on the edge of the bed, still in her wedding dress.
The bodice was damp against her ribs from four hours of August heat. The silk was heavier than she'd expected, matte and cool, and she had not yet unpacked her suitcase.
It stood by the door where Emil had placed it.
She had looked at it twice without moving toward it.
Lachlan Voss was sitting in the chair by the window.
His dark glasses were folded on the nightstand beside him.
Temples aligned.
Lenses down.
And he was looking at her.
Not in her general direction.
At her.
His gaze tracked the movement of her hands as she gripped the edge of the mattress. His eyes were gray-blue and focused and entirely intact.
“You can see,” she said.
The words landed in the room like stones dropped into still water.
The silence that followed had a shape.
It pressed inward from the walls.
He did not deny it.
“How long?” she said.
He turned the watch on his wrist.
One precise half rotation.
Thumb and forefinger.
A gesture she would come to recognize as the way he bought himself a moment before speaking.
“Long enough.”
She had married him four hours ago.
She had married him because his family had offered to save her mother's life.
Because Thea Lindquist was nineteen years old and had run out of ways to say no.
She had walked into a cathedral in a borrowed dress and said the words and signed her name on six separate pages.
And she had done all of it believing the man beside her could not see her face.
He had seen everything.
Every vow.
Every signature.
Every tear she had promised herself she would not cry.
Every time she had looked toward the doors as though escape might somehow materialize if she stared hard enough.
Thea slowly stood.
“Why?”
Lachlan's expression remained still.
“Because if I tell you why, you're going to want to leave.”
“I already want to leave.”
He nodded.
“That makes sense.”
She stared at him.
That answer unsettled her more than an argument would have.
“You don't even care?”
“I care enough to give you the truth before I ask you to make another choice.”
“You just said not tonight.”
“I changed my mind.”
He removed his watch.
Placed it beside the glasses.
Then he took off the jacket he had worn for the wedding and draped it over the armchair.
“The accident was five years ago,” he said.
Thea waited.
“My father was driving.”
She frowned.
“I thought your father died before the accident.”
“He did.”
The room became colder despite the August air.
“What?”
“He died before I was supposed to leave the country. My uncle said the safest thing would be to announce that I had lost my sight.”
“And you agreed?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because somebody wanted me dead.”
Thea stared at him.
“You're saying you pretended to be blind because you were afraid someone would kill you?”
“I was twenty-six.”
“Why didn't you tell the police?”
“I did.”
“And?”
“They couldn't find the person responsible.”
Lachlan leaned back.
“Neither could I.”
Thea swallowed.
“So what does that have to do with me?”
“Everything.”
He looked directly into her eyes.
“My family believes your marriage to me is temporary.”
“And?”
“They expect you to become attached.”
“I don't understand.”
“My grandmother wants me married.”
“Why?”
“Because she's trying to secure the company.”
He paused.
“The Voss family trust requires me to remain married for one full year before control transfers completely into my hands.”
Thea's heart dropped.
“So I'm part of your succession plan.”
“No.”
He said it immediately.
“You were supposed to be.”
She stared.
He continued.
“Your mother was dying. Your father owed money. My grandmother knew you would agree to almost anything.”
“She paid for my mother's surgery.”
“Yes.”
“In exchange for me becoming your wife.”
“Yes.”
“And you knew about that.”
“Yes.”
Thea turned away.
Humiliation burned hotter than anger.
“You let me believe I was doing this for my mother.”
“You were.”
“That doesn't make it better.”
“No.”
His honesty almost frightened her.
Thea walked to the window.
The city glowed below them.
Millions of lights.
Thousands of lives.
Somewhere beneath them, her mother was in a private clinic paid for by Voss money.
Alive.
That was all that mattered.
Wasn't it?
She closed her eyes.
“What happens if I leave?”
“I'll still pay for your mother's treatment.”
She turned sharply.
“You will?”
“Yes.”
“Then why should I stay?”
Lachlan was quiet.
“Because leaving makes you a target.”
She stopped.
“What?”
“My grandmother isn't the only person who arranged this marriage.”
“What does that mean?”
“The man who tried to kill me five years ago knows I survived.”
He stood.
For the first time, Thea saw his full height.
He was taller than she remembered.
Stronger.
The image of the blind, helpless CEO suddenly became ridiculous.
“You need me,” she whispered.
“No.”
“Then why?”
“Because they think you're harmless.”
Her heart hammered.
“And I'm not?”
He looked at her.
“I don't know yet.”
She laughed once.
“You married someone you don't know.”
“So did you.”
Silence.
He stepped closer.
Thea didn't move.
He stopped at a respectful distance.
Then he said something she would remember for years.
“I won't touch you without permission.”
Her anger faltered.
“I won't force affection.”
He took a breath.
“And I will never use your mother's life to control you.”
Thea looked down.
“Then what do you want?”
His voice became quieter.
“The truth.”
“About what?”
“Whether you can stand beside me when everything falls apart.”
She stared at him.
“And if I can't?”
“Then I'll let you go.”
Thea searched his face.
He looked serious.
Not seductive.
Not commanding.
Just tired.
“Why did you really marry me?” she asked.
Lachlan looked toward the dark window.
“My grandmother chose you because she thought you were desperate.”
He looked back.
“I agreed because I saw the way you looked at her when she offered you the contract.”
“What did you see?”
“A girl who hated the idea of accepting charity.”
Thea's throat tightened.
“You were watching me.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because you were the first person in years who looked at money like it was dangerous.”
She had no idea what to say.
He walked to the nightstand.
Picked up his glasses.
Put them on.
The transformation was immediate.
The blind CEO returned.
The controlled expression.
The distant posture.
The public mask.
“Tomorrow,” he said, “I'll tell you everything else.”
Thea looked at him.
“No.”
His hand stopped.
“Tonight.”
He turned.
She met his eyes.
“If I'm going to stay, I'm not going to spend one more night in this marriage as a lie.”
Something shifted in his face.
Then he nodded.
“All right.”
He sat.
And for the next three hours, Lachlan Voss told her things no journalist had ever reported.
His father's death.
His uncle's betrayal.
The accident that had never been an accident.
The hidden board war inside Voss Industries.
The men trying to take control of the company.
The reason his grandmother had selected a nineteen-year-old bride.
And the one detail that frightened Thea most.
The contract had not originated with Astrid Voss.
It had been drafted six months earlier.
Before anyone knew her mother was sick.
Before Thea had ever met Lachlan.
Meaning someone had planned for her.
Someone had known her name.
Someone had expected her to enter this house.
Thea felt ice move through her veins.
“Who?”
Lachlan looked at her.
“I don't know.”
He removed his glasses again.
This time, he held her gaze without hiding.
“But I intend to find out.”
Outside, thunder rolled over the city.
And somewhere downstairs, a door closed.
Slowly.
Carefully.
As though somebody else in the house had been listening.
Thea looked toward the hallway.
Lachlan saw it too.
He whispered:
“Don't move.”
She froze.
His eyes narrowed.
Then footsteps began climbing the stairs.
One.
Two.
Three.
Someone was coming for them.
May you like
And for the first time that night, Thea understood that marrying Lachlan Voss had not made her part of his family.
It had made her a target.
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