lade of white against Helena's eyelids. She woke with a gasp,

t night of their marriage, Gaston Vaughn had made it excruciatingly c

ovements slow and stiff. Her fingers were just about

amp from the shower, a single drop of water tracing down his temple. The morning light caught the sharp angle

l man she had ever seen.

ce, a lifetime ago, in a rainstorm on a college campus. That smile had felt l

his expression tigh

rtips brushed the

n a blur of motion. It hit the carpet with a muffled thud,

. A sliver of glass had sliced

bursts. For one unguarded moment, he looked less like an ice-cold C

rled. "Something to make the performance m

d and drugged in a hotel room with her-was the ghost that

Someone had gone to great lengths to make it look like she'

ba

his connected? Had the same person who tri

, Gaston. Jus

y was dead weight. Dizziness washed over

ips. "Right. The frail, wro

a fraction of a second, something flickered there. Some

The final t

ent very still. The light in her eyes didn't die-it hardened int

ath. When she spoke, her

get a d

d all the oxyge

y, he turned. His eyes narrowed. For the first ti

did yo

" Her voice steadi

ly contempt, and something else. Something

oulders, fingers digging into sore muscles. But his grip wasn't violent.

alk away with nothing." He tightened his grip. "Or is this the real pla

ealousy. Raw, irrational, carefully hidden. He wasn't

have given her hope.

p it all. I'll sign whateve

in his eyes. To him, a world without f

expression now. A crack in the arm

pped. Lower. Rougher. As if the words were

repeated, and the second time,

ded lik

iberate, controlled movement. Straightened

lled your contract, you are Mrs. Gaston Va

without a ba

Just a heartbeat. His hand o

ld her

n he wa

The sound vibrated

ent, streaming down her temp

e terrible, liberating understanding that she had finally said the

es. But he hadn'

n three years, she h

ror was a stranger-pale, haunted, hollow-eyed. But beneath the exhaustion, there was something new.

tream of the faucet. The sting was groundin

marble countertop. A dark thought slithered th

zed her e

opene

tle into the silver wastebasket. She would not g

r who sent that text. She would learn the

nderstand exactly what kind of woman he

pt-not the silent sobs of a broken woman, but the fierce,