her apartment, Eliana created

o clip of their lies. The subject line was simple and devastating:

top three gossip bl

et. But it would create chaos, a media storm that w

of her laptop. The woman looking back was a stranger-her eyes hard,

alone. She needed power. She needed an ally so form

iage will be just what I need to crush her uncle's little business.

Hern

all Street. All she knew of him came from magazine covers-a face carved from granite, ey

f my enemy

e possibly get t

ne more document. She grabbed her purse and drove

y H

a certified copy of her single status, a commoti

an aura of pure, undiluted power. Even from behind, she could feel the arctic chill coming off him.

er steps, her c

his is the fourth time Ms. Sinclair has miss

nan

ve a violent lurc

m aware, Adrian." His voice was low and resonant, like stones grinding togeth

he tu

tly a muscle jumped along his cheek. His eyes, a startlingly dark shade of gray, scanned the room with cold dismissal

ked in Eliana's mind. It wa

her onl

ong strides eating up the marb

run, her heels clicking frantically against the

aid, her voice com

ntercept her, but Jaxon stopped

rcing and utterly devoid of warmth.

hythm against her ribs. She forced her own fear down,

n't show up. My groom ran off with my stepsister. I need a husband to escape

e assistant, Adrian, looked like he was about

ed in Jaxon Hernandez's eyes. It was a flicker of stunned di

so intense it felt like h

see the desperation, but also the unyielding determinat

ce. Then, he turned his head slight

reen. A few moments later, he turned the screen towards Jaxon. Eliana

ngering for a fraction of a second on th

lips, which had been a thin

erms,"

had done it. In the biggest gamble of her lif