from her cheek, and walked back into the banquet hall on unsteady feet. Her finger
parted, forming a path toward the raised stage at the far end of the room. A sin
was radiant in a gown of shimmering silver, her blonde hair swept up in a
light. It was massive, a glittering rock
It is my great honor," he boomed, his voice thick with pride, "to annou
ndering through the space. Flashbulbs went off like strob
eart felt like it had been hit by a sled
at the couple on stage-Kain, tall and handsome in his tuxedo; Baylee, beauti
her nightm
approved of. That meant this-whatever this twisted thing between them was-had to end.
lized she'd been holding. A bitter
ia made her move. She didn't look toward the stage. She didn't wait fo
he penthouse. Not ton
autumn night. The air smelled of exhaust fumes and roasted nuts fro
raising her hand to the
away,
doorway. But the entrance was clear. She was going to make it. She was
rb, cutting off the taxi that had been pulling over
tared back at her. His expression was
," he said. "P
r heart leaping into her th
uch her, but he positioned himself between her and the waiting taxi
other, their eyes darting between Adelia and the SUV. The last thing she needed was a sc
ard she tasted coppe
d yanked it open. The interior was dark, lit only by the
ie was loosened, the top button of his shirt undone. He held a
k up. He didn
shut behind her, and the heavy thunk of the automatic l
an traffic. The noise of the city-the honking horns, the wailing siren
elt was gone, extinguished like a candle in a hurricane. That fleeting illusion of freedom, the desperate b
your fiancée?" she as
. Then he turned his head, his cold blue eyes sweeping ov
red, his voice low and mocking. "Th
sitation. Just the same cold certainty that always mad
r across the leather seat, dragging her until she was pressed against his side. He
lamation. It was the way a man han
ed into her hair. His voice was a low,
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