per

was the only room in the house that felt remotely like mine, thou

he bolt o

st my ribs, beating a s

ter and launched

mpire's legitimate face for years. I kne

web contact I had unearthed mo

Protoco

Harper

n Window

y finger trem

ng the application for the Pa

cret, stolen moments late at night, training

perfect lines and rigid

They were raw.

em under the a

. It meant something Bennet c

front door slammed downstairs, t

rpe

e marble hallway. It was the roar o

Fifteen missed cal

expression into the perfect mask

e door and stepped

rs, his eyes wild with a manic

hest

ed, his voice tight. "I cal

keeping my posture non-threatening. "To cle

ance between us in

er do that again," he hissed, his face inches from mi

roughly int

allic blood. And beneath it all, the fai

n't f

net," I lied ag

ouring my face, searching f

ound

he shift from monster to l

id, his voice dropping to

the helipad

ed through the night ai

lights of New York fading into the s

e entire time, his thumb rubbing obs

Now, it felt like he was che

sive estate I had

stone and glass, perched p

over the headset, pride swelling

was empty, cold, and magnificent-

and pulled a velvet

pene

f a quail's egg, glittering und

burning with intensity. "Renew our v

t my throat, almos

ws to a woman he wasn

it onto my finger. It fe

utiful," I

military-grade GPS tracker embedded within the setting. If you are eve

ehead, a benedic

ever leave

wer, his phone buz

tone. Two short

iffened i

ay, checking

romantic facade dropping. "Syndicate b

jecting just enough tremor into m

ng toward the door, his focus gone. "Stay here.

alone in my multi-

he glass as the hel

going to

going