Fiona had been questioned extensively by the police after they’d taken the sheet she’d been clutching as evidence and given her some sweats to wear. She couldn’t believe everything that had happened. Images and memories had swirled in her head as Cin drove her back to her apartment. The police had been kind enough to get the woman’s phone number off Ben’s phone before they confiscated it as evidence. When she’d called Cin, the woman had been completely calm, almost acting as though she already knew her half-brother was dead. The car ride had been silent until they got to her apartment. When they arrived, she was told to stay put in the car while Cin went to make sure her apartment was safe.

Everything was different.

She didn’t need to run.

The thought barreled into her like a freight train, and all of a sudden, she was crying. Big, ugly sobs wracked her body as a mixture of relief and grief flooded her system.

“Bad news,” Cin said as she got back in the car. “Your apartment’s locked up with police tape all over the door.” When she saw how badly Fiona was crying, she stopped and pulled her into a giant hug, which was exactly what she needed. “Everything is going to be okay. I promise. You just have to be patient.”

After what felt like hours of crying, she was too spent to do anything other than go along for the ride when the other woman told her she had somewhere Fiona could crash for a while until she got back on her feet. When they pulled up to a small storefront with a sign that said “By Appointment Only,” she was surprised. She’d been expecting to go to an apartment or house, not a store.

“This is my friend Ellie’s store. Her and her husband own the whole building, and on the second floor is an apartment they occasionally rent out.”

“Wow. This is beautiful, but I don’t think I can afford to live here.”

“It’s on the house for a month while you decide what to do. The only thing you’ll have to put up with is living over a magic shop.”

“A what now?” Fiona almost laughed until she realized the other woman was serious.

“It’s a magic shop. Lots of herbs and crystals and such. It’s where people like Hal get their stuff.” She shrugged as though it was the most natural thing in the world.

“Oh, okay. I don’t think I’ll mind that.” And that had been it. Cin had left and dropped off her bags from Ben’s apartment a few hours later, and then she was alone, and had been for over a week. The nerves still plagued her when she was coming home at night, or when she saw someone of the same height and coloring as Tommy, but overall, she felt free.

Her bosses had been thrilled when she’d asked to take on more work, and had offered her the potential of a promotion if the new work she was doing for them was as good as everything she’d done so far. They had even invited her to the company anniversary party, which was usually reserved for full-time employees, not contract workers like her. They had been in business for fifteen years, and fittingly, they had launched their app around Valentine’s Day. A dating app going live when single people felt the most pressure to be in a relationship? Their projected numbers were blown out of the water, and they had been growing ever since, and not with baby steps, either. To celebrate, they were having a masquerade ball, which happened to fall on Valentine’s day. It wasn’t the official anniversary, but it did fall on a Friday night, so it fit perfectly with their plans.

She had spent most of the evening getting ready and trying to calm her nerves. Now, she was standing just outside the doors to the ballroom, her mask in hand as she willed herself to have the courage to go in. There were so many people she didn’t know and a few she knew enough to say hello to, but that was it. Fiona had never taken the time to try to form friendships with her coworkers out of her fear of what Tommy would do. Now that she could be friends with them, she was scared of that as well. It had been years since she had tried to befriend anyone, so she wasn’t sure how to start. It didn’t help that everyone had brought a date. She had never felt so single in her life.

As she pulled her gold lace mask on, she turned to the mirror at the end of the hallway and did one last check of her dress. It was brand new, a celebration of her freedom in a way. She had no idea when she would wear it again, but she loved it nonetheless. The lush red velvet hugged her curves, highlighting her assets while keeping her warm at the same time with the long sleeves and floor-length fabric. The low-cut V of the neckline was slightly scandalous for a work function, or at least she had thought so until she saw what some of the other women were wearing. None of them were slutty, just slightly more fashion forward than she would have imagined people wearing to a work party, with illusion bodices and hi-low skirts seeming to be the popular choices.

The heavy oak door opened and revealed the lavish decorations. This was not a simple work party. This was the event of the season. Guests were a sea of black, gold, and various shades of red and pink. Strings of white and pink lights ran up and down the wall on one side of the room, while the tables were covered in rich cream tablecloths and giant orbs of red roses that were perched atop tall, skinny vases. Pink champagne was flowing, and red flower petals were everywhere. Her coworkers sipped from red goblets and gold martini glasses while some snacked on cupcakes, and others the red, white, and pink chocolates that seemed to be appearing all around her on the servers’ silver trays.

When a platter of cupcakes was presented to her, the sweet smell roused the hunger in her belly, so she took one. The creamy white frosting was dotted with tiny red candy hearts and sat like a cloud above a deep red cake base. She sunk her teeth in and was instantly in cupcake nirvana. The dense, rich, almost chocolaty flavor of the red velvet cake mixed with the sweet, tangy frosting and the crunchy candies. She had to suppress a groan as she indulged in the type of treat she had denied herself for so long.

A hand landed on her shoulder, and she almost wanted to yell at them for interrupting her cupcake bliss. A low voice sent shivers down her spine. “Fiona?”

She turned, still trying to clear the cupcake from her mouth, and as her eyes took in the man standing before her, everything around her stopped, the moment frozen in time. He was wearing a black suit with a dark-red damask waistcoat and matching tie. The mask he was wearing made him look like a warrior who was barely containing himself. The gold material covered everything down to his lips and looked almost Grecian in its origin, with filigree on the cheekbones and above the eyes. The top was like a crown. Each side had a Pegasus sitting above the forehead with a lyre in the middle. She hadn’t seen it on the table of masks that her bosses had laid out for those who had forgotten to bring their own.

The guy was familiar somehow. She wasn’t sure what it was, but when she realized that she still hadn’t responded, a flush crept up her cheeks. “Yes?”

“May I have this dance?”

“Do I know you?” She felt her body relax even though alarm bells were going off in her head.

“I’m fairly sure you do.” The man grinned and held his hand out expectantly.

She took it, unsure what to expect, but as soon as she did, a familiar heat scorched her skin. Her mouth went slack, and she looked up at him as he led them out to the dance floor. Hundreds of balloons were held by a net overhead, with streamers and tags hanging from the ends, creating a ceiling of reds, pinks, and golds.

“Fi.” He smiled as he began gently swaying with her to the music.

A chill went down her spine. His mouth looked like Ben’s. From the way his lips thinned as they spread over his face, to the creases that formed on his cheek, and even the shadow of stubble that clung to the edge of his jaw, it all looked like the man who she had wanted to love and had lost. Without thinking, her hand came up and cupped his cheek.

When her skin made contact with the rough stubble, she snapped it back. “Sorry, you remind me of someone.”

“I should hope so,” his low voice said with a chuckle. He leaned in and said, “I don’t normally go around saving women who fall off balconies.”

“Ben?” Her heart lifted, and her throat closed up as she looked into the same dark-brown eyes she had been staring into so recently when they closed in pain for what she thought was the last time.

“Yes, love?”

As soon as the words left his lips, she knew it was truly him, and her hands pushed the mask up and off his head, releasing his barely tamed hair and cupping the face that had left a hole in her heart. A moment later and her lips were on his. The hot, sweet taste of him invaded her senses as he crushed her body to his, the cinnamon and clove scent of him wrapping around her, a comforting blanket against the struggle of the past week.

“Don’t cry,” he whispered between kisses, rubbing his thumbs over her cheeks as he pushed her mask up.

She hadn’t even realized her eyes were leaking until he said something, but once she did, it was like the floodgates had opened. A choked sob escaped her, and Ben wrapped her in a tight hug.

“Let’s get some air.”

She stumbled after him, almost tripping on the slight train the dress had. When he scooped her up into his arms, she knew she should protest, but for the life of her, the words wouldn’t come. If this was the last memory she had of him, that would be enough. Him holding her, comforting her as she clung to him like she needed him to breathe.

When he set her down, she wanted to pull him close once more, but she also knew she had to get her emotions under control. She managed to expel one question between all her tears. “How are you alive?”

“That is a long story. We have a lot to talk about, but I hope you’ll give me a chance to explain everything, because I’m falling in love with you and would like nothing more than to explore what is between us.”

“That sounds oddly cryptic.” She pulled back slightly, unsure of whatever it was he needed to explain to her.

“I don’t mean it to. Oh, and before I get distracted again”—he wiggled his eyebrows at her suggestively—“I want you to know that you look absolutely amazing. That dress . . . Let’s just say it’s taken an enormous amount of willpower not to just throw you over my shoulder and take you home.”

Her blood heated at the thought. The sex they’d had was phenomenal, and she craved more, craved him. “Feel free,” she whispered.

His lips were on hers then, soft and wet, and when she opened her mouth, his tongue swept in, tangling with her own and causing her to make small needy noises in the back of her throat. She could feel his hand skimming the velvet of the dress and gripping her ass as he pulled her away from the wall she’d been leaning against and pressed her flush with his body. Arousal flooded her system as she felt his erection press against her through the thin material of his pants and her dress.

Fiona wished they were at home so she could strip the suit off him and enjoy herself in a way she hadn’t been able to in years.

“Do you trust me?” he asked with a voice hoarse with lust.

“Yes,” she breathed.

“Close your eyes.” He kissed her cheek.

She was about to open them again to ask what that was about, but the world around her seemed to shift, almost like she’d had too much to drink, except she hadn’t even had a chance to try the pink champagne.

“You can open them now,” Ben said as his hands became much more exploratory, massaging her breasts through the top of her dress while he began to kiss a line from the crook of her neck up to her earlobe.

Her eyes were open, but what she saw didn’t make any sense. Instead of being at the masquerade ball, or even outside the ball, they were at the apartment she was renting from Cin’s brother-in-law. Fiona’s mouth opened and closed as she tried to form words to express her confusion. Ben chuckled darkly in her ear.

“I promise I’ll explain everything in as much detail as you wish, but first I want to peel that dress off you and show you how fucking happy I am to come back to you.”

Her eyes were sharp on his own, but the fire of lust burned bright within them both, and she was just as happy to have him with her once more. “Fine, but you better have a damned good explanation.”

“Oh, I promise. You might not believe it at first, but I can prove it. Now, about that dress . . .” Ben’s hands came up and caressed her curves through the soft velvet before his fingertips brushed the sensitive skin of her collarbone as they hooked under the fabric and tugged it off her shoulders. The cool February air licked at her newly exposed skin, and when contrasted with the hot, branding kisses Ben was placing on her skin, it made her shiver in anticipation. Being in his arms was heaven, and she didn’t want to leave any time soon.