Warning: This chapter contains mature and explicit content, including sexual scenes, emotional tension, and themes of jealousy and possessiveness. Reader discretion is strongly advised.
On velvet chairs at the grand ballroom's edge, Jonathan and Juliet sat passively drinking their drinks. All around them was the soft clattering of heels and a din of conversations-until, suddenly, the swell of the music began.
The romantic waltz had come.
All the couples had risen from their seats and glided on the polished marble dance floor. The atmosphere had shifted, warm and glowing with candlelight.
Sparkling in Juliet's eyes was mischief. She turned to Jonathan with a smile. "Let's dance."
She tugged him up and led him toward the center of the ballroom before he could utter a single word in response.
"Wait—Madam Juliet, I don't know how to dance," he said in a panic that had him nearly tripping over his own feet.
