as the first t

against her temples, but a deep, velvety heat cocooning her like a blanket. She groaned

om. The sheets were too luxurious, the air too clean, and the

up wit

d a faint red mark just below her collarbone. Her heart pounded. Her eyes scanned the room sleek, modern, with f

he hea

r running in the

le out of bed before the door

from t

rapped dangerously low around his waist. Water glistened on his skin. Vera's breath ca

her panic

im as if they were having a casual conversation. "Nothin

God," she murmured, buryi

r to grab a shirt from a nearby chair. "That guy had his

ory. "Thank you," she said quietly, sitting back dow

slowly, deliberately. "You passed out.

t brought a drunk stranger to your penth

d toward her then, his eyes scanning her face as if memorizin

ed. "Diff

know who I

oul

with something darker behi

om. The whispered rumors about who owned that place. The underworld kingpin. T

ichael Robb?"

closer. "Does t

s her heartbeat thunde

ose enough that her breath hitched. "Maybe. Bu

. "How do you

tone suddenly hard. "Edward. The one who called you names and

like fire. Her voice dropped t

softened. "You

unreadable eyes, and for a

mething that sur

eached up and touched the side of his face. "You don't know me," she whisp

but firmly, pulling her closer until

from creeps at my club," he murmured

eavy, saturated with someth

parted. "T

uld second-guess it, she ros