ella

y to ground himself, to prove he still owned something while the Don's silence stripped him of his sanity. He was trying to mask his p

tely pulled my han

logy into my voice. "Josie has been waking up in the middle

hout sounding like a monster. More importantly, he didn't have the courage to force the issue while his standing wit

focating tension in the t

ks with Josie, when heavy footsteps echoed in the hall. One of Hudson's

m, still wearing his silk robe. "A message from Mr. Solis. He wan

sy. *Frederick 'Freddie' Solis.* The Falcone family's Consigliere didn't just invite Associates for d

ring to dress properly before rushing down the hal

olite invitations for drinks. Freddie's men had simply kicked down the door and dragged me away. Damien was altering the rules of the game. He had investigated me, and now he w

bedroom felt like a tom

rrogant swagger from this morning was entirely go

" he ordered the nanny, his

e brass-rimmed mirror, I watched him sit heavily on the edge of our bed. He buried his face in his hands, his s

ole of the broken, tragic hero to perfec

he hairbrush fall to my la

e swallowed hard, making sure I saw his 'pain'. "Freddie told me tonight. The Don...

painting his greedy, calculated transaction as a tyrannical *Don's Command*. He

as I stood up, playing the terrified, devo

ders. "It's a command! If I refuse, he'll kill me. He'l

leaded, gripping his lapels, looking up at him with wide, desperate eyes. "We take my dowry and we