Hartm

e a courtroom where sentences were passed before the appetizer was served. The twenty-foot mahogany tabl

idn't eat. He simply watched, his storm-gray eyes

carried effortlessly over the clinking of silver against china. "Th

d. He coughed violently, red liquid sloshing onto the p

wheezed, wiping his mouth with a tre

uth. "By what? Cheap whiskey and cheaper women? While you play at b

of all defenses. He looked pathetic. To

rate to prove his household had som

and suffocating. "Is that so? And what exactly do you do for

der the pseudonym 'Iris,' I had written the very songs that were currently selli

galas, garden parties. She's excellent at smi

rned white. Ornament. The word burned. I stared at my pl

he way I was strangling the silverware. A ghost of a smirk touched his lips. He saw the ang

poke up from the far end of the table. "Speaking of the club, I heard

shua's face so fast it wa

he truth." He looked directly at Joshua. "You know the Ancient Bloodline laws of our family. Any member who sires a bastard with a

at

s hands were shaking so badly he couldn't hide it. He

traction, anything to pull Anthony's predatory

h the family trust documents. She's stubborn. Refuses to sign the transfer

lling me

d his head sl

I felt a sudden, firm pres

, pressed against my shin. Before I could pull away, his knee drove be

he room's murmur. I was trapped. Pin

calm, professional, but his eyes were dark with a twisted amusement. Below, his knee w

heart hammered against my ribs like a trapped bird. Joshua was sitting right

s leg unyielding. "I can appreciate that. But

the humiliation sink in, before abruptly withdrawing his

ble. "Dinner is over. Joshua, I have the revised

a man who had just escaped the gal

oming large against the dim light. He didn't look at J

in-law will

quest. It was

actically pushing me out of my

ssure of his touch. I had no choice. I walked toward the door, leav