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,