ella

finitive slam of a judge's gavel. He stepped fully into the dining

corner of the room. "Tell me, Grayson. How does a man who publicly humiliates his fiancée

de of pale. He opened his m

edge of the table. "Damon, please. He is young

e slicing through her defense like a straight razor. He didn't even look at her. "He l

sing the very foundation of her beliefs-family honor-as his weapon. She slammed her hand

rning to me. The entire room held its breath. "What

the trigger and end the engagement. But if I demanded a broken betrothal now, I would be seen as ungrat

play th

son acted out of impulse. I trust you, Henrietta, to make the decision

relief. Henrietta's expression

. "Grayson, you are confined to the estate for a mo

my 'forgiveness' was a calculated trap to tighten his leash. B

looked at me with a terrifying mixture of absolute disappointment and a dark, possessive fury

ord, Damon turned

ossible, my heart hammering against my ribs. I hurried down the dim, Persi

d out, my voice

ly. When he finally looked over his shoulder, h

idated by his sheer size in the narrow hal

resence pinning me to the spot. "I defend the Falcone name," he said, his v

peared into the shadows, leaving m

leep offered

nt of aged whiskey and Cuban cigars was intoxicatingly thick. I was

elf from the towering

of his massive mahogany desk. A bottle of ink shattered on the floor, staining the wood, but he didn't

e madness I had never seen before. He crashed his lips onto mine, a p

enough to brush his

s voice a dark promise that vibrated throu

. My chest heaved, my skin flushed and damp with sweat. The dream was over, but the phantom h