ir was thick and suffocating as if the mansion itself were alive, pressing down on her from all sides. She sat down leaning against the headboa

n, the chain of belittling remarks from Vivian, and the constant prying eyes of Eleanor. It was in this quiet that she remembered what it had b

untenance making all things safe and secure. For her, he had always been bigger than life, an influence of strength and character. She could almost h

uture had d

debts, bankruptcy, and along with it, that relentless pressure which pushed her mother into a quiet desperation. Even today, Leya co

but Leya now knew the cost had come in much too high. He hadn't saved them, he'd only i

it, Harrison moved through the mansion, a storm waiting to break. She knew all the signs only too well: the tightening of his ja

ing deeper, something more dangerous. It was as if her presence in his lif

agreed to this marriage to protect her family, but she could only imagine at what cost: the coldness in Harrison's e

a future. Yet, in this cold and sterilized mansion, she wondered if she had just made the biggest mistake. How much longer could she

not quite all it was. It was Fear too. Fear of what would happen if she ever let her defenses down, if she ever

ping in slow beats upon the gleaming wood. The room was still; save for the soft crackling of the fi

er wanted t

ury. Samuel had done this to him, chiseled him into a marble statue of control just as he had done so many times during h

ey

uld be. No, there was something to her something which made him uneasy. Too collected, too poised, too strong, irr

at acerbic tone. He could see it in the way her eyes flickered with hurt before she quickly mask

this," he growled, his fingers

s not about to let her act above it. He would make her pay for agreeing to such a marr

dark as memories he had thought long buried rose once again to the surface like a visitation from his gho

ce. Not in the bald sense, perhaps, but there was something about her that un

what happened bef

ken meaning. Unspoken aloud, reverberating i

ad set in motion, Harrison was determined to come out on top. He had onc

me, he w

in Ley

gh her despite the warmth of the room. She couldn't shake this feeling that ca

e could feel the tension rising between them, like a growing thickness in the air. And though he'd said litt

to him, to make him this way older, bitter, cruel. But one thi

ghts away, a thought couldn't help but seep into

ping chamber. Leya's eyes snapped open; her heart jumped to her throat. The sound

e darkness of the room suddenly claustropho

it Ha

t somethi

more intentional, more measured. Then