eavy charcoal curtains and stabbing at my eyes. I didn't want to wake up. Every time I drifted back toward sleep

at heavy, expensive scent

ante Vane'

entire night on the very edge of the mattress, listening to the rhythmic, steady breathing of the man beside me. Dante slept like someone without a conscience: calm, deep, unperturbed. I had sp

. He didn't even look a

at the door

you for breakfast, ma'a

d sounded like

oper" wife, but the fabric felt like a shroud. My skin was dull, with a strange grayish t

s sitting at the head of the table, his nose buried in a financial newspaper. He wore a three-piece gray suit

ooking up. "The staff has prepar

sible. The heavy wood screeched against the marb

he smel

l. It was the scent of my old life. But today, the burnt aroma rose like poison,

ante's voic

the role of the "devoted wife" or the staff watching me. I ran down the hallway

d the toilet be

or for what felt like an hour, forehead pressed agains

ate whisper. The bankruptcy. The wedding. Dante. I

ack of my mind. I sat up slowly, wiping my mouth wit

Ten days

was two

e Dante's staff had stocked with "essentials"-and rummaged through the back. I found the small r

aid to use it. Now

s ago: the night of the St. Claire charity gala. I was so angry with my father, so

nt kind of darkness. We shared drinks and a reckless, desperate conversation ab

the test o

s. Bright. Cl

et out, a sob ca

f the only man Dante Vane hated more than my father. If Dante found out, he wouldn't

t in the trash, burying it under tissues. I splashed my face with ice-

erfect. I had

or, bracing myself to go

fr

He was leaning against the bedpost, staring at the phone in his hand. My

His dark eyes locked onto mine with a silent, c

id. His voice was dangerously low, th

; he looked like he

The sunlight highlighted

fee that ba

sounded weak and fake even to me. "The stress fr

ed against the bathroom door. He held up the phone. The scr

Call: Kill

- "We need to talk about that n

one tightened until hi

cedar and rain, but his eyes were pure fire. "Because your

ward me, his thumb hove

"why my greatest rival is calling my wife at s