lack. Heavy blackout curtains seal

heat in her blood ignited. It spread like wildfire from her stomach t

on the wall. Her hand struck something hard. A heavy cerami

e bedroom, a low, ragged br

d her. The air shifted, thick wi

rate negotiation an hour ago and barely made it back to his long-te

unfamiliar sweetness-something soft a

s grabbed Clarine's shoulders, sl

d through her thin white dress. Clar

the drug turned her panic into a soft, he

control. He swept her off her feet, carrying her into th

inogenic drugs, neither recognized the other.

lled over the city, drowning out t

e biological shock of exha

. She blinked into the darkness. A faint flash of

d, muscular back of a m

her skull. The pink champagne. Gemma dr

d her chest. She thought she had escaped

r mouth to stop a sob. Ignoring the tearing pain be

head. She didn't bother looking for her shoes. She unlocked the doo

sappeared into the elevator,

ls clicking softly. She had come to find E

to the Presidential S

eat hit her instantly. She tiptoed into the bedroom

ce. She quickly unzipped her red dress, letting it fall

the Long Island estate. She bypassed the staff

ter, scrubbing her skin with a loofah until it turned raw and red. She scrubbe

nd wiped the stea

pale neck and collarbones were cov

her chest. The tears finally broke. She cried until her

anged. The vulnerability vanished,

rtleneck sweater, hiding every inch of her sk

the stairs to get a glass of water. As she reached t

herself against the wall

n the sofa, a phone

venom. "Gemma lost her in the hallway, but Jax caught up to her