Hartm

he moment the heavy oak doors clicked shut behind us, the temperature plummeted. The portico of the Lakefront

ess. A sleek, black armored Cadillac idled at the base of the step

ce barely audible over the rain.

Anthony said. He stood beside me, unaffected by the cold, a monol

y fabric settled over my shoulders, instantly enveloping me in his heat and the intoxicating scent of e

the car

ainst the wet stone. "No. My husband is

ur thousand dollars from my club to pay for a penthouse in SoHo? The man who is current

my lungs. "Yo

or his women. Anthony's gray eyes bored into mine, stripping aw

st my spine, triggering an instinctual fear that overr

partition was up, isolating us from the driver. As the door thudded shut, seal

out the three hundred dollars I had carried with me since

the center console between us. "For... for the

were a dead rat. The temperature in

You think you can buy me of

d, terrified by the lethal stillness radiating

clean tra

lap. It was a diamond stud earring. *My* earring. The on

id. "You left a trace. And now,

ut, seizing my left wrist. His grip was iron, bruising and inesca

ony,

the Caldwell family heirloom that Joshua had slid onto my hand with a smug smile

of skin where the ring had been. "Joshua

ing. And Joshua forfeited his right to it the moment he betrayed our blood." He closed his fist

ged, tears stinging

ine. The predatory hunger in his eyes made my breath h

in the air, hea

whispered. "Yo

the curve of my neck exposed by his jacket. "Because if you don't, I will collect that three hundred d

n my side. The sound w

t

th

ge my mind and decide

me, and the Cadillac peeled away, disappearing into the storm. I stood alone in th