Chapter 360

Bianca's fingers tightened around the suit jacket. The expensive fabric still carried Ethan Roscente's signature icy scent, mingled with a faint trace of alcohol that made her pulse quicken.

"You were drunk..." Her voice trembled, eyes glistening. "I couldn't leave you alone."

He was like an untouchable alpine flower—aloof, aristocratic, devastatingly handsome. Just glimpsing him from afar always stole her breath.

Tonight was her golden opportunity.

She was certain Ethan harbored feelings for her. Why else would he have funded her all these years? Despite his cold demeanor, the endless financial support and indulgent favors could only mean one thing—repressed affection.

The elevator doors slid shut. Bianca held her breath, watching his tall reflection in the mirrored walls. He hadn't sent her away.

The penthouse blazed with light. As she bent to remove her shoes in the foyer, a pair of women's slippers caught her eye—strands of long hair still clinging to them.

"Don't touch." Ethan's voice was glacial.

Bianca bit her lip. Isabella Valentine couldn't possibly monopolize this man. After tonight, everything here would belong to her.

By the floor-to-ceiling window, the ember of Ethan's cigarette pulsed like a heartbeat. Smoke curled around his razor-sharp profile. Bianca stared, mesmerized.

"Mr. Roscente..." She deliberately softened her tone, mimicking that woman's coquettish lilt from the private booth. "Have some water."

When she offered the glass, Ethan finally looked up. His shirt collar was slightly open, his Adam's apple bobbing with each breath. Bianca's mouth went dry.

"Who told you to imitate her?"

His quiet question plunged her into an icy abyss. Only then did she notice the drunken haze had vanished from his eyes, replaced by something terrifyingly lucid.

He stubbed out his cigarette in the crystal ashtray and stood, his shadow engulfing her completely.

"I funded you out of respect for your brother." He methodically undid his cufflinks. "Not so you could covet what isn't yours."

Bianca staggered back until the cold wall stopped her retreat. The magnitude of her miscalculation crashed over her.