Slowly falling for you

gidly at the head table. Crystal chandeliers bathed the ballroom in golden light, glinting off champagne glasses

e been glowing with excitement, preparing

in her stomach, pulling tighter

e her look like a dream he never wanted to wake up from. She forced a smile when guests leaned in t

s supposed

tanding by him through failed ventures and whispered scandals. Five years of b

es, the murmured congratulations, the sly smiles. Tonight was supposed to end with a ring

didn't taste, her eyes scanning the room for him. Drake was

chest tighte

ir

versation. Dressed tonight in a shimmering gold gown that clung

Drake and Amira had grown up together, their families int

s

iled at her-brief, almost absent. Then he turne

ed away, her c

. You're being paranoid. Toni

like a lifeline, even as

sh fell ove

speakers. "Ladies and gentlemen, if

lla's heart leapt into her throat as

asy grin that had charmed her once upon a time. "I just cou

ran through the room. A

ght, pressing a tremb

ightly-and drop

s flashed. Champagne sloshed in glasses as gue

at, her heart in her mouth-until sh

ooking a

with triumph, was

you, I knew you were meant to be in my life. You are the light in e

couldn't

dn't

dn't

rprise, tears glistening in her eyes. She nodded, squealed out a yes, and flu

y numb, her mind shattering i

her stepmother dabbing at her eyes. She even caught the pitying glance from one of the

allroom seemed to

ing. She stumbled toward the nearest exit, ignoring the c

eated skin. She sucked in a broken breath and kept walking, her hee

the gala, away from the lies, away from

coul

could

d she been nothing more than a placeholder

t care where she was going. She jus

city dulling into a quieter, darker hum. She leaned agains

you o

ugh around the edges,

jerked h

that somehow made him look even more dangerous under the dim streetlights. His face was ca

n wary. She should

a was so tir

d, her voice break

hem faded-the distant blare of car horns, the laughter spilling from

hands raised as if appr

e to leave?" h

r head, a sob catc

still, until he was just an arm's length away. Close eno

a closed the distance between them. She reache

re. She buried her face against his chest, and fo

he quiet weeping she'd

obs that wracked her body a

h it, saying nothi

ead back to look at him. His hand came up to brush

" he said. "Whatever it is,

f emotion surg

o her toes a

as desperate, frantic, a plea

ack, matching her urgency, his hands framing her fac

and the shudder of a breath caught between two mouth

he didn't question. She d

ould let herse

would let he

romised herself, she would w