ed, uneven breathing. Jakobe remained standing in the dark shadow near the

in. She assumed Jakobe had left; any normal billionaire who heard his wife being instr

ed her head toward t

alled out softly. "A

Driven by a dark, twisted curiosity, he

d turned it back on. The moment it connected to the network, three missed call alerts from Herminia pinged loudly. Audra knew he

dialed her mother's numbe

aming, Audra completely changed her voice, forcing a

ra cooed into the phone. "J

ised one dark eyebrow, a dangerous s

ing care of me. He upgraded me to the penthouse suite and c

. To sell the lie, Audra turned her head slightly toward the empty space next to the

emained de

" Audra quickly spoke back into the

ing perfectly still as he watched his wife de

said he would consider it. He said he just wants me to be happy." The words tasted like ash i

isfied. She told Audra to ke

ustion washed over her. She tossed the phone onto the blanket and buried her fa

ow, deep chuckle vibrated through the air.

drifted across the room. "In Mrs. Hartman's mind, I am a fool

pped her head toward the sound, he

leave?" Her voice

liberate click of his leather shoes against the

nce?" he asked. He walked right up to the edge of the bed

ng her fake pet name right back at her. "W