Gianna POV: I woke up with a strange man's heavy arm locked around my waist. I turned sideways and felt for the wallet on the nightstand, flipped it open--NHL ID: Connor Barrett. Last night, I had actually mistaken my best friend's terrifying uncle for a club gigolo and slept with him. My head was splitting. I tried to roll over, but his arm tightened and dragged me flush against his scorching chest. Fragments of neon lights, the club, and tequila burning down my throat rushed back. I pinched his large, well-defined hand to move it away, my fingertips brushing against a layer of rough calluses--worn from years of gripping a hockey stick. He let out a low groan in his sleep and held me even tighter. I held my breath and looked up by the faint light seeping through the door crack. Messy black hair, a high nose bridge, thin lips pressed tight. My gaze moved down to a prominent pale white stitched scar on the side of his neck. I had seen that scar before--at a party at Kristin's house. He was the power behind Aurora Sports, the legendary captain of the Boston hockey team, the Barrett family's absolute authority whose word was law. And I had slept with him. Gritting my teeth, I wriggled out of his arms inch by inch, picked up my dress from the floor, and put it on. I stopped at the door. Given his controlling nature, if I skipped out without paying, he would tear the whole city apart to find me. I dug out my last few hundred-dollar bills, tore a page from a notepad, scribbled, "Great service. Keep the change," and pinned them under a water glass on the nightstand before fleeing the suite. I jabbed the elevator down button frantically. With a ding, the steel doors slid open. Kristin was standing inside, her amber eyes wide as she took in my messy hair and the heels in my hand. "OMG, Gigi? Why are you coming out of the penthouse VIP suite?" My mind went blank. I forced myself to speak. "I blacked out... I hired a male escort. To celebrate dumping Jevon." Kristin gasped, shocked and excited. She was just about to press for details when her phone started vibrating wildly. She glanced at the screen, and her face went pale. "It's my uncle. He only calls this early when he's about to murder someone." She answered, her voice sugary sweet. "Good morning, Uncle Connor." "Where are you?" Connor's cold, hard voice came through the receiver. "I'm... I'm at the Four Seasons, heading to the office." "Come to the penthouse suite. Now." He hung up without another word. Kristin gave me a desperate look. "He definitely found out I skipped work last night. Go to the office first and cover for me. I'll be right there." She stepped out of the elevator and headed for the penthouse suite. I immediately ducked into the elevator and hit the lobby button, desperate to get away from the crime scene. Outside the hotel, I flagged down a cab and gave the driver the address for Aurora Arena. The whole ride, I prayed I hadn't left anything with my name on it in the suite. When I reached the arena and walked into the PR department, I knew something was off. Coworkers were huddled in small groups whispering, their faces grim. PR Director Carolee saw me and walked over quickly. "Gianna, you're finally here. League headquarters just sent an urgent notice--there's a massive shake-up in management. President Arthur is taking an indefinite leave for health reasons, and the majority shareholder has parachuted in a new president to take full control of the team." I murmured a reply, walked to my desk, and turned on my computer. A top-level shake-up had nothing to do with a bottom-tier assistant like me; last night's mess was the real problem. I was about to turn and ask Carolee who exactly this new president was when the desk phone rang. The receptionist's voice came through the receiver: "Gianna, there's a Mr. Jevon downstairs. He says he has an appointment with you. Should I let him up?" I held the receiver, my face going pale. Jevon. My cheating ex-fiance.

Gianna POV: "No appointment. Don't let him up." "Okay, I'll--" Before the receptionist could finish, there was a scuffle on the other end. A few seconds later, her voice turned panicked: "Sorry, he's forcing his way in. We can't stop him--" The line went dead. I stood up. Five minutes later, Jevon appeared in the PR department hallway. He was in a suit, hair immaculate, carrying the scarf I'd left at his apartment and wearing that respectable smile he showed the world. "Gianna, we need to talk." "I have nothing to say to you." "You can't call off the engagement on your own." He stepped forward and lowered his voice, his smile unchanged. "Your dad already knows. He's furious." "He's angry?" I sneered. "He's angry that the investment is about to fall through." Jevon sighed, in a tone of someone humoring a child. "Gianna, I know seeing those things upset you. But sometimes a man--" "Sometimes what?" I stared at him. "Sometimes bringing a woman into our bed? Sometimes getting caught by me and grabbing the sheets to say 'it's not what you think'?" People in the hallway slowed their steps. Jevon's smile finally cracked. "Keep your voice down." He reached for my wrist. I shook him off. "Don't touch me." He reached again. A hand cut in from the side, and Kristin stepped firmly between us, blocking him. Kristin stepped in front of me in her heels, her amber eyes sweeping coldly over Jevon. "Jevon, you're touching my friend on my uncle's turf. Do you want to be dragged out by security, or do you want to end up on the internal blacklist?" Jevon's mouth twitched. "Kristin, this is a private matter between Gianna and me--" "Private matters get discussed outside. This is the office area." Kristin tilted her chin toward the end of the hallway. Two security guards were heading over. Jevon glanced at me, then at the guards, and pulled on a respectable smile. "Fine, I'll go. Gianna, we'll talk when you've calmed down." He turned and left. I stared after him until the corner swallowed him, only then realizing my fists were clenched. "Thanks." I let out a breath. "Don't mention it." Kristin pulled me into the breakroom, poured herself a glass of water, took a big gulp, then leaned against the counter and looked at me. "Why are you so pale? That scumbag Jevon isn't worth getting this angry over." "It's not because of him." I poured a glass of water, my hand still shaking. "It's a hangover." Kristin didn't press. After a couple of seconds of silence, she suddenly lowered her voice. "By the way, do you know why I was called up to the top floor this morning?" My heart skipped a beat. "Why?" "My uncle was like a raging beast this morning." She frowned as if recalling some absurd scene. "He had me pull security footage from a downtown club and asked me for last night's check-in records for the Four Seasons penthouse suite. He was like a different person, frantically searching for someone." The cup wobbled in my hand, and water splashed out, scalding the back of my hand. Club footage. The Four Seasons penthouse. Searching for someone. "Gigi?" Kristin waved a hand in front of my face. "Are you okay? You really look terrible." "I'm fine." I forced the corners of my mouth up and set the cup on the counter. "Hangover... I'm going to the restroom." I practically fled the breakroom. The restroom was empty. I locked myself in a stall, sat on the toilet lid, and pressed a hand to my forehead. How much did he know? Had he seen my face? What about the note? Had he recognized it? I closed my eyes, my mind full of the feel of his arm locked around my waist that morning and my ridiculous note pressed under the glass--"Great service. Keep the change." I had slept with Kristin's uncle. The tyrant who could send opponents to the hospital on the ice. The Barrett family's absolute authority whose word was law. And now he was tearing the whole city apart looking for me.

Gianna POV: I sat on the toilet lid, hand to my forehead, one thought left in my head-- I couldn't just sit around waiting for him to find me. With his power, I wouldn't stand a chance. He would pull the footage, check the check-in records, and drag me out of my desk. By then Kristin would know, the whole company would know, and I wouldn't even be able to keep the last shred of my dignity. But waiting to be doomed wasn't an option either. Back in the office area, Kristin was leaning against my desk scrolling on her phone. I sat down and tried to sound casual. "Kristin, hypothetically... I mean hypothetically, if that male escort from last night kept pestering me or tried to blackmail me, what should I do?" Kristin looked up and frowned, thinking it over seriously. "Guys in that line of work only care about one thing. If he tracks you down, throw money in his face." "Throw money at him?" "Hush money, and make him sign an NDA." She shrugged. "For a low-level pimp like that, cash solves everything." I almost laughed. Low-level pimp. That man was a billionaire hockey god--and her biological uncle. But she was right about one thing--if I paid a steep "fee" upfront and framed last night as a transaction, maybe Connor would let it go. After all, he hadn't exposed me that morning; maybe he'd treated it as a one-night stand. "You're right." I nodded. "Pay to make it go away." At lunch, I slipped into the restroom and opened my banking app. Available balance: $12.50. My eyes flew wide open. I refreshed frantically and opened the transaction history. Late last night, every cent in my account had been transferred to a corporate account called "Madden Investments." My father, Dwight, had frozen my secondary card and drained my account. He was cutting off my lifeline to force me back into marrying Jevon. I gripped the phone, my knuckles white. I couldn't even come up with ten thousand dollars in hush money, let alone next month's rent. I had to get cash now. I leaned against the cold tile wall, fought the urge to smash my phone, and dialed Dwight's number. It rang for a long time. When he picked up, I heard the sound of a golf club striking a ball. "Well? So you've finally come to your senses and are ready to crawl back and apologize to Jevon?" His voice dripped with mockery. I gritted my teeth. "Give me back my money. That's my salary--you have no right to touch it." Dwight sneered. "Your salary? You think being an errand girl for a hockey team frees you from the Madden family? As long as your last name is Madden, you do what the family tells you." "Jevon cheated on me! He brought another woman into our bed!" I shouted. "So what if a man fools around outside? As long as he marries you, Madden Sports gets the investment. Drop that holier-than-thou nonsense you got from your mother." He brought up my late mother, crossing my final line. "I will never marry him, and you won't take another dime from me!" I hung up, breathing hard. I would fix this myself. I would never bow to him.