The Billionaire's Captive: Debt Of Love

't just rain

illuminating the gothic spires in strobe-light flashes of white and gray. It w

tulle dress that scratched her skin, a hand-me-down

e cloying scent of expensive perfume and the sound of crystal glasses clinking-a symphony of wealth she

s door s

ng into the shadows of

ess for Harper. Behind her, Finn Burke followed. He was twelve, dressed in a custom tuxedo that fit his slender fr

ered, her voice sharp enough to cut through the

the shadows. Her heart hammered ag

profound weariness. "C

er pretty face twisted with contempt. "My uncle only lets you

d. Harper shrank back, but her heel caugh

as

ng terracotta was lou

glee. "Clumsy," she drawled. "J

rper. "Don't talk about them!" she

n, but at Harper. She shoved Harper

ense to her eight-year-old brain. Her back hit the stone ra

ted away years ago, hi

y with a sickenin

lailed, grasping at the wet air

's voice was a

dons burned. He caught her wrist. For a breathtaking second, she dangl

athly heavy, slick with rain. The crumbling

glacial ice, widened in

Harper s

inst her fingertips as he went over the edge with the re

n he wa

ed to mask but failed. It was the sound of a body hitting the pavement be

who had heard the crash. She stood there, rain so

she smiled. It wasn't a happy smile. It was a twisted, terrifyin

him! Harper

oded the terrace. Hands grabbed

!" someon

tal of the party faded into the gray of the sto

rrr-z

l drilled straight into Harper'

her forehead nearly clipped the un

t her sternum. Thump. Thump. Thump. She pressed her h

gone. Replaced by the thick, acrid stench o

asn't at Burke Manor. She was in a garage in Queens

sleeping u

e car. The vibration traveled through

she called back.

lack grease across her skin. She took a deep breath, grounding herself. Pulse check.

back unde

in the dark, were shaking slightly. She clenched the

d to see it. She knew the anatomy of a car as well as she knew the anatomy of the human bod

g as a sedative for her anxiety. By the time she slid ou

her hands. It was a losing battle. The grease had settled into t

looking up from his ledger. "

n

s a bruised purple, the sun setting behind the skyline of M

led up to

he owner of

more than this entire city block. It looked

w in the back ro

towel dropped to t

d already set. But she didn't need to see his eyes to know who he was.

n B

he dark lenses fixing on Harper. He took her in-the greas

spine, colder than the

osed to be broken. But the energy radiating

lled away, disappearing into the

alk. He had come to

nded on that balcony.