Married To The Man Behind The Mask

ly ran out of the suffocating at

avigated the crowded subway to the Financial District in Lower Manhattan. The rhythmic clatter of the train did little to quiet her mind. Every time she clos

fee shop tucked away on a quiet side street. The rich smel

y sitting in a secluded leather booth in

across from her. She rubbed her throbbing temples. "Iced Amer

scanning Iris's pale face. "You look like

had demanded she track Angus down and inform him about the upcoming wedding announcement, the way she'd spotted him tangled with that Broadway actress behind a

o let me get this straight," Adalynn said, her voice dangerously quiet. "You go to a masquerade ball-not even your event, just a pa

ected dryly. "He had the dec

gentleman." She leaned forward, her eyes blazing. "And your parents' response was to threat

t control him, I'm the one failing. That's how it's always been. His behavior is my responsibility. His re

t on the table, making the sugar packets jump. "Iris, you cannot marry this man.

ement, my parents will make sure I lose everything-the trust fund, the apartment, the job at the paper. They'll drag my name through every society circle

her face. "So that's it? You're just going to lie do

ough to build something of my own-a career, a byline, enough savings to walk away clean

agging. "I hate this. I hate them. I hate that

Iris's lips. "But hating it doesn't chang

rumble of his laugh when he'd called her out on her terrible kissing, the heat that had flooded her face as she'd stammered useless denials. She had been so

erself. That kiss was a mistake born of adrenalin

. "I was supposed to head back for a consult, but I just got a text-i

an interview in about twenty minutes, but

ith Lawson, a senior VP at a hedge fund she was profiling for the paper. If s

tions when a sudden commotion at the front

ly clearing out the VIP section near the front windows. The few patrons in that area gathered thei

sleek, high-tech black wheelchair glided through the

th caught i

rom a high forehead. He wore a flawless three-piece suit that had undoubtedly cost more than her monthly rent. A thin cashm

r hand shot out and clamped onto I

d, her voice barely a whispe

still fixed on the man in the wheelchair. "I

tugged Iris's wrist, pulling her deeper into the shadows of their booth. "I

ok at her friend. Adalynn's face had gone pale, h

ou mean, d

xecutive assistants. She came into the ER with a full breakdown, and some of the things she told me..." Adalynn shuddered. "She said Camden Kirk

te one?" Iris ask

shed, charming, the whole package. Now he barely leaves his penthouse. When he does, people around him tend to regret it." Adalynn's grip on Iris's wrist tightened. "My patien

s as his assistant murmured something in his ear. The man's dark, piercin

ctly on

ned. Her fingers gripped the edge of the

away, and his assistant pushed his wheelchair toward the fros

haled

?" Adalynn whis

eart was pounding so hard she could feel it in her temples

gossip. Everyone in Manhattan knows to stay out of Camden Kirk's way. The fact that he's here, in

e of Camden Kirk's wheelchair was just visible through the translucent surface. The man in the

d

uming intensity, who had murmured dangerous provocations in her ear, who had made her f

ystery. Camden Kirk was a threat she needed to avoid a

table. "Promise me you'll be careful. Don't d

ons Camden Kirk carried with him, they were none of

s on her upcoming interview. Across from her, Adalynn kept her eyes fixed warily on