a p
I whispered to the
tasted l
ries. Laughter spilled from rooftop bars. Couples leaned into each other
not tonight
r of midnight, elegant and expensive, just like everything else in this penthouse. My m
the fame, fortu
ng I'd quietly, desperately w
d, Damian
never treated me like a queen. I glanced at the clock on the
he silence that wasn't peaceful, but suffocating. The way the air in
the floor with a soft thud. The cold marble k
ng his arm at galas, of pretending our marriage
t the way a husband touches a wife. No
ons, and a distance so vast, I sometimes
a proposal. It was a merger. Two powerful families, two
g star, he was a rising empire. Our fathers shook ha
t necessary. That I could be happy with th
s ly
ress conference and the third silent
xpression so lonely it broke my heart. The man who, despite his icy exterior, had onc
dness was the crack in my armor. It was th
e moment I st
e loving a ghost. He was there, physica
in the mornings. I redecorated the guest room into a home office he never used. I
he never noticed. Or if
My heart, that stupid, stubborn
g on the smile I reserved for red carpets and ch
, just as he stepped
l., impossibly handsome.
ck," I sai
his keys onto the counter with
ting," he
," I reminded him sof
r a while "R
m late." No "Did you wait for
...
t apart, in a room the si
hair fell just so across his forehead. The intensity in his eyes
ce. A cold, untouc
ving a man who looked through me, of pretending my heart wasn'
inside m
ang, but wit
final s
divorce,
n the air, it wa
fro
s eyes locked onto mine. Not a sweep,
you say?
f pretending. Tired of being your wife on paper and a stra
s me, his jaw tighten
ars, Damian. And in all that time, not once have you held me, kisse
, his expression unreadable, like
for him to f
arm. It was the closest we'd been in months. I felt
ers," I said, my voice steady. "You'
I walked
, by
three years, I didn'
t...
-
AN'S
she was orderin
lear an
divorce,
ds, five
oddamn world ti
walked past me. The whisper of her silk dress agai
n't loo
r spine was straight. Her head, held high. She move
someone had reached in and
t supposed
utual respect, no emotional entangleme
eed. She'
ike I'd just been ha
my throat was nothing compared to the
't lov
poets and fools. I was Damian Blackwood. I built
g at the amber liquid in m
, so... vulnerable. I'd stood there for a full minute, just watching her. And
h
dn't
use the ro
. I didn't want
the table, the sound echoi
, I was s
lling mindlessly. My thumb
antly. Her co-star, Leo Winters, had his arm slung
ghtened on
lou
d into me like
lt jealous
rned, hot and
alous... what the h
rite, a
pushing away the best thing
time in my life,
she was really
rrified that she
t of my own emptiness
over, not by
e was walking away, but
thout