laundry room. His towering frame instantly

loosened around his neck. His dark eyes burn with

head in a posture of total submission, lea

hair and slightly flushed face. His li

her. His voice is dangerously quiet. "

defiantly, letting her Navajo pride anchor he

broad chest is inches from hers. He invades her space aggressively

ert with hazelnut extract," Julian accuses, his voice

hock. "That is insane! I didn't

ngly tight. He pulls her closer. "The kitchen staff c

ounds against her ribs. She realizes someone went t

e my time poisoning her!" Anissa yells ba

sses his face before he tightly suppresses it behind a mask of

r ear. "I will trigger the punitive

eement stipulates she must maintain the family's public

its her like a physical blow. Triggering it would cut off vit

a cruel, victorious expression that make

straightens his jacket. "You are a savage who

ion goes red. She raises her hand, fully intending

Drake steps swiftly between them. Sh

r. Her joints crack. Her voice trembles, but it

r mislabeled a shipment of almond flour, mixing it with the hazelnut stock. It was my failure in oversight. Mrs. Sinclair's order was

ssion shifts from rage to cold calculat

g a beloved, thirty-year veteran of the household staff

ling form. His voice drips with venom. "Yo

But Hennie grabs Anissa's ankle hard, her finge

officially confined to your quarters indefinitel

eps echo down the corridor as he march

nnie. Her hands shake violently as

f frustration and profound, crushing isola