Roman

table, my gaze fixed

resh wounds—marking social obligations, c

to move past a date

ey,”* it read in Dante’s sh

operation, h

had to overs

ess sound that scraped against

as no d

Isobel De Luca spreading her legs for th

t feel

lt s

rkest secrets, and bent my entire life

ospitals just to stay here, wading through

lay on

p, cutting throu

om Dr. Ross

family—merely a serendi

osition on his resear

decl

married,”* I h

d dialed the number l

, but he picked up a

was thick with surprise.

tion still o

reet

mall

pause on the oth

illed the spot yet,

have chang

the balcony, where Dante was smok

f war, untouchable and

tart, Tim. As far

-sharp hardness I had grown accustomed to. “I’ll handle the paperwork. It’s a classified

isi

ctly what I

ept,”

ung

to the calendar and pi

e 2

eddin

raw a hear

t cross

lmost imperceptibl

rac

eat, requiring removal before seps

of tobacco and cold nigh

tanding by

that charming smile playing on his lips—

“I’m counting e

is hands settling

nst him, his body

rand wedding, Nina. T

if it were a deity we were

ng my head against his chest

d to his

a

ea

n who believed he held t

woman in his arms had