inner was, of c

ballroom of the Vale estate. Two hundred of New York's most powerful figu

lips. She wore a slip of a dress in silver silk, a stark, m

er, hadn't dissolved. It was still ther

harming, attentive, and devastatingly handsome in

buzzed silently every few minutes. His thumb would s

urmured to her, his

e'd smiled, her

the merger. Al

two hundred pairs of eyes, Aurora slipped away. She needed air. Just one min

ading for a small side terrace. The sudden quiet was a relief, broken only by

the cool plaster wa

w, it will all be over. T

g staff had set up a staging table, she heard voic

e tonight, I bet,"

you," a second, you

et," the first voice scoffed. "Besides, everyone

nd of glasses be

nger voice whispere

call it. Poor Miss Vale. She's wandering aro

idn't just run c

ls, her fingers digging i

us. "That crimson red dress Vanessa was wearing yesterday? The one sh

ne

ark, hit Aurora with the

hic assistant. The woman who organized his life. The wom

red

imbed into Liam's car, and a scrap of crimson fabric was caught in the passenger sea

oked at her. He'd plucked it from her fing

e'd snapped. "It's handl

r feel small

e dark gave his annoyan

voices fading, the clatter

d in her lungs. The corset of her silver dress, which h

ng. It's cruel, jealous

locked the cold dread in her stomach. The distant eyes.

run. She

built of ice and steel

back into the ballroom. The warmth and lig

e orchestra, laughing with her

ng. He

om seemed to part for her, a silve

iled, raising his glass. "There

But when he saw her face, the smile faltered, his eyes

til she was close e

ce was a whisper, but it cut

"Now, Aurora? We're in

, Li

e she'd never used with him

urt nod, offered an apology to her father, and gripped her e

ck into the same service corridor she had just left

oor swung shut,

ed, his voice low and col

sing bubbled up, tasting like acid. "I'

le

ver heard. He didn't deny it. He didn't

ring from her. "I heard them. The staff. They

r denial. For outrage. For anythi

id something that broke her heart

sig

bed the bridge of his nose, as if she were the problem

actured. "We are getting married in less than twenty-four hours. This is the sing

ed into fists, her nails biting into her palms. "They said she left her d

Vanessa pick up. Do you have any idea the pressure I'm under? The Vale-Cr

g her to tilt her head back. He was tall, pow

amily. For our future. And you are in here, accusing me

ul. He was doing it again. Making her sm

ed. "The way they

placed by a practiced tenderness. He reached out

once more. "It's just business. It's just stress. The

is tux was stiff, and he smelled o

her hair. "It has only, ever

rt hammering against his ribs. He felt so so

believe him.

red, the word a l

n kissed her forehead. It was a kiss

back. "Now fix your face

into the ballroom, leaving

body trembling. He had reassured h

the dark suddenly feel so