The Stolen Sapphire: His Fake Girlfriend

d to the empty seat besid

r upright. The flight attendant offered a glass of champagne, the bubbles fizzing near t

ntrol. Her stomach felt like it was trying to digest itself. It had been doing that since she left Paris, a slow, burning churn that made her skin clammy and her hands shake. She pulled her leather jacket tighter around her chest, trying to disa

ced to h

ce over the last three years. He was reading a document, his pen hovering over the paper with precise, calculated intent. He ha

preferred

hanks. Her fingers trembled against the glass. She needed to calm down

was trashy, glossy escapism. Just what she needed. She flipped the pages aggr

ge

and f

ul, and nauseating: Aryana St

ced smile that fooled everyone. She was clinging to Carlton Bryan's arm like a delic

king at Ary

A deep, midnight blue stone s

rt Stanton's to give. It was hers. It was the last thing her mother had worn before the cancer took her, t

ispered. The word

he edges. How dare she? How dare that interloper wear her m

The seatbelt sig

bul

ed as the jolt threw her torso slightly forward, her body a puppet to the plane's sudd

uid arced thr

cond before splashing down. Not

crotch of the pristine gre

sto

ing. The ink from his pen bled a tiny black dot onto his

ading rapidly across the expensive fabric, soaki

od," she

grabbed a handful of cocktail napkins from the

so sor

t, jamming the napkins onto

thigh turned to st

d her wrist. His grip was iron. It wasn't painful, but it

look

winter storm. They were cold, intelligent, and curr

low, a deep rumble that vibrate

ed, forcing her to realize exactly where her hand was an

help," Belle stammer

released her wrist with a flick,

, her face a mask of professional horror. "Mr. Step

but the way the crew reacted told her he was so

. He looked down at Belle one last time. His gaze swept over her messy hair, her

looking at her again, and walked toward t

ne on her lap. The milk had splattered onto Aryana's face in

o

the nausea that was rising again. She had been back in New York's orbit for l

the base of her throat where