pocket. A text message from her landlord: "URGENT. Someone bribed night security. Tryin
slammed against her ribs. The only though
ght air burned her lungs. Police would mean questions. Reports. Her identity, her care
ted a sickening crunch of torturet, her chest heaving, her eyes wild with panic an
in front of the broken door, becoming a human shield. Her
cket. "Mr. Carlisle is prepared to compen
icient. Break into a woman's home, terrify her household, then wave paper at her as if manners
calling the police was worse. There was only one w
go. But your men leave. Now
elevator opened onto the penthouse. Vivian
o open and shut. Kara was curled on the sofa, looking pale and victi
condescending amusement. "The great Dr. Vivia
was not bought. I was abducted by your thugs. There is a diff
n lik
." She didn't flinch. "You are not the first rich man to mist
the conversation. Instead, the cool contempt in her voi
u speak to him that way? You're supposed
ts who need it. You, from what I can see, need an audience far more than y
carefully arranged fragility
erl
voice, a razor edge beneath the French accent, that hooked into his attention and refused to
me here in the middle of the night. Your fiancée is c
ned. "My fiancée is i
ra, stopping to look down at the woman who had systematically dismantled her lif
erling. "Ster, I don't w
ong moment, then nodded to Owen
tient to be partially undressed. I won't have an audience.
ollowed, pausing at the door. "I'll be right outside." But his eyes lingered on Vivian for
rdened. "I know what this is. You're attracted to him. Ever
ivorced her on their anniversary. "I don't make a habit of chasing married men or engaged men," she s
less like a wounded swan and more like a woman
is your problem." Vivian's voice remained smo
earsed monologue. "It was a car accident four years ago," she said, voice trembling on cue. "It ruined ever
How precious a white moonlight became when a man decided she was worth protecting. With Vivian, he had taken
probing. The scar tissue distribution told a very different st
full medical file. Proper imaging as we
? I'm in
te has silk cushions, champagne, and bodyguards. It does not have an MRI machine, a surgical
ivian walked to the door and pulled it o
el
nd a full blood panel. I'll
t for hours, and all you can gi
he night," Vivian corrected. "I'm giving you a pr
t of him pressed against the cold space between them. "C
faction of retreating. "And you threaten as if you expe
the set of her shoulders, the way she moved through the hallway as if she owned it. As if he were the intru
/1/120139/coverbig.jpg?v=8a4f2388c28b46bd5f28bb7caacdc0b0&imageMogr2/format/webp)