ex

as less a home an

everything the Dunlap manor did, but the atmosphere was darker, heavier. The stone was slate-grey, the iron gates p

luxurious, draped in silks and velvet, yet for the first three ni

d buy. His memory was returning in jagged fragments. He clung to me less now, finding a new, instin

n anoma

enemy, living under

g to solve. We ate dinner together in the cavernous mahogany dining room, the silence punctuated by his ques

ever li

is a fragile thing, made of

n gates groaned open to a

gripping the railing. I recognized the cre

at like a physical h

erratic rhythm against my ribs. I reached the m

foyer, his posture relaxed but r

re stepped across the threshold. He loo

slightly, his voice tight. "We

ed, the single word ech

id, trying to find his footing. "Alexandra Dunlap. She is the

shadows of the stairc

widened in genuine shock. "So t

t me. He kept his predatory

id, his voice low and dangerous, v

an insisted, though he took

ut him off, his tone brooking no argum

muscles tensing, expecting him to hand me over. To use me as a bargaini

d my waist. He pulled me into his side, his body a so

messenger de

yn he's t

red, blinking rapidl

ibration of his voice traveled through his

cked. His face was hard

g an octave, delivering the final, cru

he hall was abso

But it was also the ultimate shield. In our world, a woman carrying the heir

looked at my stomach, then up

attered. "This... this changes ever

ast beneath the suit finally showing its teeth. "Touch her

retreating to the

d shut, Daniel didn't le

e leaving me weak. "Why?" I whispered. "Why

s softened, just a fraction, the grani

, Alex. He th

behind my ear. His touch was surprisingly gentle, contrast

e said, referring to Aa

t on his chest, right over the st

rld, Alex. No one

rotected by a lie, and for the first time

queen on a n

had no idea what