Julian closed his eyes for a long moment. When he opened them, the dark irises were stormy. "Is that what you think of me? That I wouldn't care?"
"Action speaks louder than words, Julian. And your actions for the last two years have said one thing clearly: you don't need me. You only needed a suitable wife for your public image."
He stepped closer, closing the distance between us until I could feel the heat radiating off his body. "You are wrong, Clara. I needed to protect you. You have no idea what my life involves. You have no idea what kind of threats exist outside these doors. The reason I was away in Tokyo, the reason I brought guards into this house, the reason I kept my distance... it was to keep you out of the crosshairs of people who would use you to break me."
"Then you should have let me break!" I cried out. "I would rather face danger beside you as your partner than be kept safe in a golden cage as a prisoner! You chose isolation for me, Julian. You locked me out of your life to keep me safe, but all you did was destroy us in the process!"
Julian looked at me, truly looking at me, perhaps for the first time in years. The harsh lines around his mouth softened slightly. "Clara..."
Before he could finish, his phone on the marble table began to ring frantically. It was the emergency ringtone assigned only to high-level security breaches at Vance Global Headquarters.
Julian looked at the glowing screen, then at me.
For a second, the old habit kicked in—the duty, the obligation to his empire calling him back. His gaze lingered on the phone.
And in that brief split second of hesitation, I knew my answer. He would always be bound to his kingdom.
"Answer it," I said quietly, taking a step backward toward the main entrance. "Go fix your world, Julian. But you won't fix mine."
While his attention flicked to the ringing phone, I grabbed my smallest suitcase, turned, and hit the emergency release latch on the heavy front doors. The alarm shrieked loudly through the grand hall, disorienting for just a few seconds.
"Clara! No!" Julian shouted, dropping the phone as it clattered across the floor.
I sprinted into the freezing night air. The icy wind slammed into my face, blinding me for a second, but I didn't stop. A black car was idling by the outer gate, its brake lights glowing red through the swirling snowstorm. Simone’s driver had managed to wait outside the perimeter.
"Stop her!" Julian’s voice boomed from the open doorway behind me, but the snow was falling too heavily, and the slick ice made rapid movement impossible for his dress shoes.
I reached the side gate, pulled it open, and threw myself into the back seat of the waiting car.
"Go! Please, just drive!" I cried out to the driver.
The tires spun against the icy pavement before catching traction, and the sedan lurched forward into the white darkness of the New York night. As I looked out the rear window, I saw Julian standing at the edge of the snow-covered driveway, his dark hair plastered to his forehead by the storm, watching the taillights disappear into the winter night.
He had all the money, all the power, and all the security in the world. But for the first time in his life, Julian Vance was completely alone.
