PROLOGUE

Asher walked through the long, bright hall. He desperately needed to get away from the seemingly growing number of unknown individuals swarming the guest hall of his billionaire home. They all wanted to speak to, or get a picture with the famous and powerful, Asher Blackwood. It was for this reason he never fancied social events. He would always opt for missing out on them, unless they were incredibly important.

Like tonight. He had just closed an art deal with the Arabian monarchy. A huge deal that every art dealer in the country had their eyes on. To assert his win, his personal assistant insisted that throwing a party was the way to go. As much as he hated people, Asher would do anything to uplift his already high social status.

As he raised his head to sip from the glass of champagne in his right hand, a flicker of movement caught his attention. A woman, her dark hair glistening under the dim light, stood in his art studio. Her eyes, bright with curiosity, locked onto the half-finished canvas before her. Asher's instincts immediately heightened, his gaze flashing to the painting and back to the intruder.

"Who are you?" he demanded, his voice low, with a hint of displeasure, as he walked towards her.

Unaware that she had been spotted, the woman was immediately startled by the sound of his voice. She took a moment to regain her composure before stretching out her hand towards him.

"Lily," she said with a contagious smile. "Lily Grant." she added.

Asher looked at her hand and back at her. He didn't care for who she was, and he certainly didn't care to make her acquaintance. He looked around the room to make sure there were no other unwanted visitors around before returning his gaze to her expectant eyes.

"What're you doing in here?" he growled, holding her gaze with his unfazed eyes.

"Well that's rude." she mumbled as she retracted her hand, trying to hide the fact that she was hurt by his complete disregard for courtesy.

"That does not answer my question." Asher was getting impatient and his disgust was almost clearly visible.

He was completely uninterested, maybe even oblivious to her disgust for the attitude he was putting up.

"I couldn't muster up another fake smile in the midst of all those people, so I wandered around and found myself in here." she shrugged her shoulders and looked around briefly before turning her attention back to him.

Asher could obviously relate to how she felt. It was the same reason he was wandering about himself, but he was not about to give her a break. She was still a trespasser in his studio.

"You're not supposed to be here." he muttered and attempted to grab her arm.

"Says who?" she snatched her arm just in time to miss his grab.

Asher's eyes narrowed, his disgust was now in plain sight. "Says me. You're in my home and in my personal art studio."

Lily's eyes didn't waver. "Well, Mr owner, that does not excuse your terrible behavior." she hissed, showing off her assertiveness.

Asher's grip on his control had begun to slip. No one, absolutely no one, dared to speak to him in that manner.

"Get out." he growled, fighting to keep his tone under control.

"Oh yeah? Well how about I put on a little show before I go?"

Asher didn't have time to react before Lily threw the remaining contents of her wine glass on Asher's shirt. She humphed and stormed out of the room leaving him standing in his private gallery, fists tightened and fuming with rage.