nce.Her fo

ned, the knuckles showing white. A frigid calm settled over her, extinguishing the

decisive click, the sound echoing in th

," she said, her vo

back at them-a woman in a borrowed man's shirt, her face pale but her eyes burning, and a man whose ca

ver Aurelia. She swayed slightly, her stomach churnin

body between her and the mirrored door. He blocked the disorient

stretched across his shoulders. The fear and anger from his confession m

whispered, the wo

s slid open, revealing the grand, marble-floored lobby.

r. His face was flushed with anger, his voice laced with the arrogant entitlement of a man

ing an aggressive rhythm on the polished floor.

ard, planting himself directly in Preston's path. He w

neer of disgust. He looked Hart up and down as if he were

way, you hired

ely in front of him, his posture relaxed but ready. His gaze

placed a light hand on his arm, a silent signal for him to sta

ed man's shirt she was wearing. A dark, ugly flush

Beaumont name through the mud with this... this gutter trash." He was trying to w

, sharp laugh. The soun

gerously sweet. "A man who was screwing my sister while

hand reaching for her arm, his gentlemanly facade cracking to

ver m

on's wrist in a grip of steel. With a sharp, practiced

pain was torn fro

l-dressed guests milling about the lobby turned to star

ontorted with pain and rage. "Celeste was right

az

ted shut. The polished lobby dissolved. The murmuring voices

d stone under her fingertips. The smell of damp earth

e clapped her hands over her ears, a desperate attem

reston with a violent shove, sending him stumbling t

t against his chest, his large hand cradling the back of her head, pressing her face into hi

a low, steady anchor in the storm raging in her

w rumpled, pointed a shaking finger at them.

head sn

, primal fury. A predator's gaze that promised a viol

id. The word was

omething inside him, the instinct for self-preservation that ha

from the lobby, his dignity lef

if she weighed nothing. He held her limp, trembling body close to his chest and stro

doors and into the cool morning air, c