nity on Long Island, finally coming to a stop before a sprawling

ust of salt-laced wind whipped

flowers. No gu

in a flawless tuxedo, waiting

he said, the title sounding like a formality, n

a thick Persian rug. They ascended a sweeping staircase to the second floor, s

er to enter, and then retreated, pulling th

all sunlight, and the air was thick with the faint, steril

adjust. From the left, she heard the faint sou

ments unhurried. She reached up and pulled off the cheap

door opened. The sound of a wheelchair rolling across th

erling, dressed in a dark silk robe, his pre

shard of ice."Cecelia,I don't care what deal my family mad

legs. Her voice was calm, cutting through the t

snapped up, his gaze locking onto the indistinct shape on t

m for a fool. A surge of pure, un

air. He rose to his full, intimidating height, his body weak but his

his grip brutal and unforgiving. He leaned down, his f

" he snarled, the words

grip, to make her pay for

dden it was as if he'd

cold fragrance of herbs. The same scent that had clung to his fingers in the rain-

s, a wild, frantic rhythm. The image of a calm face in th

n almost unconsciously as his eyes scanned her features

ge in pressure, the sudden, sharp intak

iking snake, clamping onto his

She used his momentum to pull him off balance, and with her other hand, she brought hi

. That was al

undred and twenty-two beats per minute," she stated, her voice a clinical m

he puzzle slammed into place. The scent. The impossibl

out, grabbing her free hand, his grip now desperat

believing whisper, each

's

s, the woman he was prepared to discard, and he

Sur