BLOOD AND PETALS

its delicate ring blending with the fragranc

hands of someone who had turned flowers into an art form. Her little shop on the c

rried footsteps, but inside Bloom & Grace, time s

closet at home. In just two weeks, she would marry Daniel. The thought made her lips curve in

l chime

er familiar customer. Instead,

ike armor. His presence was... wrong for her shop. Too sharp, too commanding, like a blad

froze around

e steady though her heartbeat stumbl

walked in not for flowers, but for her. When he finally spoke, hi

os

her throat.

it wasn't quite a smi

ched not as a customer studies a florist, but as a predator studies prey

bouquet, his fingers brushed h

our name?

she said

the way it felt on his tongue. Then he laid down more money th

he looked back at her wi

be b

he stood frozen in the middle of her flower shop, surrounded by

vase into fragments of stained glass. Elena let out a breath, tucking a stray curl behind her ear

nd her heart leapt instinctivel

t

ni

ni

shattered as the

immediately easing her shoulders. He wore a navy suit, his tie

the counter to brush a kiss against her cheek. "I thou

r chest. "You're supposed to let me spoil y

velvet box from his pocket. "

n of gold with a single p

" Her voic

t around her neck. "A reminder of what's comin

its coolness resting just above her collarbone. For a fle

fr

ence the way shadows filled an empty room. His dark gaze slid f

e said, voice

is polite smile falter

ook at him. His eyes

you I'd

gripped the

moothly, his lips curv

a flicker of something sharp

hand at the small of her

mouth, but Adri

he said it felt like a lie dressed as trut

steady though her chest wasn't. When she finally handed them ov

didn't pull a

s eyes

efore, and with that faint, dangerous smil

t, but his presence linge

"Strange man," he muttered,

tay away

ed to the roses in Adrian's hand

petals in her shop did

lt like