A dangerous glint flickered in the depths of Julian's dark eyes. The air between them seemed to crackle with static.
Beneath his initial annoyance, a strange, uncharacteristic curiosity was beginning to stir.
Julian grasped her arm to steady her. "Stop making a scene. You're drunk."
That tone—that condescending, paternalistic tone—was the spark that lit the fuse. It was the exact same tone Eldon used when he wanted her to stop questioning him. The tone of a self-righteous man who thought he knew better.
"Get your filthy hands off me!" she hissed, trying to yank her arm free.
He didn't let go. His grip wasn't painful, but it was absolutely uncompromising.
A few drops of tequila from a nearby glass sloshed over the rim, landing on the cuff of his pristine white shirt.
He looked down at the small damp spot. When he looked up again, the air around them had turned freezing. The curiosity that had been flickering in his eyes vanished, replaced by a glacial chill.
Aubree didn't notice. She was completely swept up in the storm of her own righteous fury.
"You're all the same," she continued, her voice rising. "You and your custom-tailored suits, and your Wall Street bullshit. You think you own the whole world. You think you can lie and cheat, and no one will ever call you out on it."
She was practically yelling now, rattling off a laundry list of sins—sins she pinned on him, on Eldon, and on every man cut from the same expensive cloth.
"You change your phone password every other week. You're always working 'overtime.' And the passenger seat of your car always smells like cheap department store perfume."
Julian listened to these absurd, sweeping accusations. And then, something strange happened.
The icy anger in his gut began to dissipate, replaced by a profound, almost surreal sense of amusement. This woman—this beautiful, broken, furious creature—was more alive than anyone he had encountered in years. In a world full of polite breezes, she was a hurricane.
A slow, dangerous smile touched the corners of his lips.
"Alright," he said, his voice a low purr. "Let's say you're right. Let's say I'm a liar and a scumbag. What are you going to do about it?"
The question, laced with a challenge she couldn't quite decipher, made her freeze completely. Her alcohol-fogged brain stalled, struggling to process the shift in his tone. He wasn't defending himself. He was... provoking her.
She blinked, trying to bring his face into focus.
But all she could make out was the glint in his eyes and the mocking curve of his lips.
He was laughing at her.
The humiliation felt like a physical blow. She bit down hard on her lower lip, a childhood habit she fell back on whenever she was trying to hold back tears of frustration.
Julian's gaze dropped to her lips, watching the way her teeth sank into the soft flesh, turning it pale. His throat tightened.
Suddenly, her hand darted out. She didn't reach for her tequila. She grabbed the glass of ice water the bartender had left for her.
Before he could react, she threw its contents straight at his chest.
The freezing water soaked through his suit jacket and shirt in a shocking, icy splash. A small group of bystanders who had been watching the drama unfold let out a collective gasp.
Julian froze for a second, then slowly, deliberately reached into his breast pocket and pulled out a folded silk handkerchief.
He began to dab at the wet spot on his shirt, his movements unhurried, almost lazy.
But his eyes, when they locked onto Aubree's again, no longer held any trace of amusement.
They were the eyes of a wolf that had just cornered its prey.
