he deception in the air. She was a woman who had survived forty years in New York high society; she could spot

ated, the word drip

op of the stairs, stood the patriarch, Grandfather Alexander. He leaned heavily on an ebony cane, his face a roadmap of wrinkles and ruthlessness.

er said, pointing a sharp finger at a puddle that h

he glanced down. The water from the ice bu

na lied, her voice steady despite the adrenaline co

sharply toward Charles. "Char

and ice, not champagne-the lie would crumble. Helena's grip on the door handle tightened until her knuckles turned whi

htly. "Yes, Madam. The young master requested a bottle of

a microscopic re

. "Young people. No discipline. Tell him not to be late for the rehearsal dinn

a whispered, lowering her

glare before following the old man toward the stairs. Helena watched

legs suddenly feeling like jelly. She squeezed her eye

oor flew open. Steam bil

ing water onto his broad shoulders. His skin was scrubbed red, but his eyes were cold, dark pits of

her. The predato

self off the door, trying to reg

d grabbed her chin, his fingers digging into her jaw with bruising

s voice dangerously low. "You think lying t

nch, didn't pull away, though his touch burned her skin. "If they saw her"-sh

nd it, a flicker of something else-annoyance, perhaps respe

eered. "For your father's failing com

ted, smoothing the front of the overs

ena's wrist, his grip like a manacle. "Oh no, darlin

, her heels catching on the wet carpet. He pull

he had pulled from a hanger, looking terrified. The smell

a forward. She near

rframe, crossing his muscular arms over his chest. "Show some hospitality. Help her

and her confidence snapped back into place.

wiggling her toes. "My shoes

ing her with a cruel smirk, waiting for her to break, waiting for

ine's foot. Her eyes narrowed, shifting focus. She wasn