cold window, her fingers instinctively brushing the faint, yellowish bruise on her shoulder-a mark left by the brass sconce

a sound that still h

ite, the deafening, splintering crash sent shards of wood flying and

vy thud against the carpet. Every step he took felt like a hamm

disputed tyrant of Veridian's underground. All the color drained from their faces, and the man who had be

too much pain from the pen sticking o

ayne spat, clutching his bleedin

t even blink. He simply tilted his he

suite shot forward. They hit Wayne's bodyguards with terrifying speed. The sickening, wet pop of shoul

n absolute horror as he looked at Christian. His knees

yne. He looked down at the heavy metal pen protruding from Wayne

s expensive shirt and lifted the one-hundred-and-eighty-pound man off his

an slammed Wayne's head directly into t

AC

forehead split open, and thick, dark blood

her mouth to muffle her scream. Her entire body shook uncontrol

d to the floor like a sack of

l of his leather shoe down directly onto Wayne's injured hand, right on to

dn't even sound human-a high,

change. He looked mildly annoy

freezing whisper that cut through the screams

ay with four security guards. She was sweating profusely

mery, I am

er. "Clean this trash up.

yne by the armpits and dragging him away.

s dark, bottomless eyes fin

houlder, exposing the pale skin of her chest and the stark black strap of her bra. She was tre

hroat worked, the Adam's apple bobbing once

shrugged off his custom-t

or permission, he draped the heavy jacket over her shoulders, pulling

overwhelmingly of rich Cuban tobacco and masculine

spine hitting the wall hard. She

yes. He reached out, his large hand wrapping around her chin,

oftly. "You were stabbing people a minute

sted blood again. Her eyes were red,

d, her voice shaking but her words p

to push the heavy jac

her shoulder. His grip was like a steel vise, pinni

he ordered, his voice leaving no room for argume

ad zero leverage. She placed her hands flat against

ling and weak from the night's terror, simply refused to hold her weight. Her knees buckle

ever

one arm behind her knees and the other around her back. In on

ip his broad shoulders to keep from falling. The sheer hea

ntered doorway of the DK suite and kicked the heavy mahogany doors

choed in her mind until it was replace

Miss Lee," th

s, and stepped out of the car. The flashback end