Dying, I Left His Ruthless Bed
elle
sect under a magnifying glass. The heat of it burned against my skin, but it was
a
ted for him, a sea of black tuxedos and glittering gowns retreating like the tide before a sto
"Isabelle?" he whispered, confusi
ys you just for standing next to me. But my voi
was an obstacle to be bulldozed. Kade stopped directly in front of us, his towering frame blocking out the r
, but the vibration of it slam
k for my han
protective orbit and slammed me against his chest. The impact knocked the breath out of me. His a
gasped, the plea a
voice a low growl that vi
a heavy, mournful waltz. This wasn't a dance; it was a public execution disgu
nd back, violently, to a memory I had
ago. The Cam
he could be proud of. The banquet hall had been filled with laughter, music, and the clinking of crystal. I
Kade?" I had asked, my
s. He didn't see a wife. He saw a debt paid in flesh. His
" he had said, loud enough for his mother and sister to hear. "Let alo
ter around us sharpened into blades. I
irony tasted like ash in my mouth. The man who had once refused to touch me now h
ell of my ear. To the onlookers, it must
laced with venom. "I didn't know my wife coul
n inch of space between us, bu
voice dropped an octave, turning into a weapon. "My child's blood hasn't even dried yet, and here you are, wearing th
d in a lonely hospital room while he was 'busy' with business. He didn't know. He didn't know about the c
the inside of my cheek until I tasted copper. I wouldn
ered, my voice trembling not with
forcing me to look up at him. His eyes blazed wi
are, Isabelle. You aren't a woman. You aren't a wife. You are a piece of
reds of my delusion. He would never see me. He would never love
n't bleed. Th
as doin
could fall. If I was just property, then I had no obligation to
married, and for the first time in three yea
idn't get to de