ning, the penthou

urned in the center

tion burned in her chest, making

eeded

turned sharply to reach for the

dged the dista

he heavy glass tumbler

as

ing glass was deafen

e expensive Persian rug. Sharp shards

She sat up, reaching for the

e switch, heavy, frantic foot

was thrown open w

hard. He was wearing only a pair of

learly b

and locked onto the shattered g

rked. His voice was sh

ot hovering inches above

and vanished

, followed by the heavy clatter of cleaning supplies being shoved aside. He

hed in stun

an who commanded thousands of employee

wept up the large

it over the rug repeatedly to ensure no

ied she would

s completely clea

m and returned with a fresh pla

ded it

her fingertips brushed against

ectricity sh

eir hands back inst

a wild, tangled mess around her shoul

ountry club-that Arthur Vance had raised

otect her, to teach her how to

His tone was heavy, sounding like a disap

on the plastic

caught his words

ng her for being clumsy, for lacking t

the so-called 'cultu

n said. Her voi

and pulled the covers completely

d, staring at the lum

his chest. He had said

aning supplies and q

study and poured

nd off a Cuban c

tter smoke fi

leather chair, stari

mind agonizing over how to bridge the