itiel

e humiliation still co

doormen; it echoed in the sudden, suffocating silence that d

lted P

as at a charity auction for inner-city youth-a thinly veiled front for the Fami

parkling water, and surveyed the

atmosphe

pressure-a ripple of unease that tore

toward th

walke

ng, hanging loosely on a frame where the stress of the las

wasn'

too tight, too short, and far too bright for the solemnity of t

them here. To a

as breathtaking

eyes darted between him and me li

ce before he squared his shoulders, forcing a bra

a volatile cocktail of fear and triumph. She thought she had won.

that she had won nothi

said when he

at him, letting the silence s

his voice pitched low. "You'r

dry, sharp sound t

is my event, Liam. My family paid for the very air you're bre

ng her counterfeit Chanel bag

she said, her voice shrill and

long, I

he family, materialized beside

Liam. He looked

p in?" Leo asked

ushed a deep,

Leo," Liam snappe

d. "Doesn't count in the eyes of the Church. Doesn't count to us. You bro

. Her eyes were wide, reflecting the te

y," she

fr

ling the child clo

r voice dripping with poison. "That's th

of a physical blow, dancing a

as using an innocent girl as a wea

rah. I really

was a civilian. She was a gold digger who had snagged a mobster, thinking sh

a step

nd on his ho

," I sai

ked a

my voice deadly calm. "Or I have Leo

lared

only care about the name. You

and pulled

hed people turn their backs on them, isola

sip of

ed in cl

me to handle

" I

. The crystal clicked sharply

laying the

had on Sarah-the escort history, the blac

thumb hovering over the screen. "Let's see

he family

ossi's construction

cold smile finall

t down,