nce.Her fo
ned, the knuckles showing white. A frigid calm settled over her, extinguishing the
decisive click, the sound echoing in th
," she said, her vo
back at them-a woman in a borrowed man's shirt, her face pale but her eyes burning, and a man whose ca
ver Aurelia. She swayed slightly, her stomach churninbody between her and the mirrored door. He blocked the disorient
stretched across his shoulders. The fear and anger from his confession m
whispered, the wo
s slid open, revealing the grand, marble-floored lobby.
r. His face was flushed with anger, his voice laced with the arrogant entitlement of a man
ing an aggressive rhythm on the polished floor.
ard, planting himself directly in Preston's path. He w
neer of disgust. He looked Hart up and down as if he were
way, you hired
ely in front of him, his posture relaxed but ready. His gaze
placed a light hand on his arm, a silent signal for him to sta
ed man's shirt she was wearing. A dark, ugly flush
Beaumont name through the mud with this... this gutter trash." He was trying to w
, sharp laugh. The soun
gerously sweet. "A man who was screwing my sister while
hand reaching for her arm, his gentlemanly facade cracking to
ver m
on's wrist in a grip of steel. With a sharp, practiced
pain was torn fro
l-dressed guests milling about the lobby turned to star
ontorted with pain and rage. "Celeste was right
az
ted shut. The polished lobby dissolved. The murmuring voices
d stone under her fingertips. The smell of damp earth
e clapped her hands over her ears, a desperate attem
reston with a violent shove, sending him stumbling t
t against his chest, his large hand cradling the back of her head, pressing her face into hi
a low, steady anchor in the storm raging in her
w rumpled, pointed a shaking finger at them.
head sn
, primal fury. A predator's gaze that promised a viol
id. The word was
omething inside him, the instinct for self-preservation that ha
from the lobby, his dignity lef
if she weighed nothing. He held her limp, trembling body close to his chest and stro
doors and into the cool morning air, c
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