darkness. The sprawling space was silent, save for the hum

ense of relief washed over her as

with light, and

ment was the faint red glow of a cigarillo between his fingers. The air

tablet across the marble coffee

Post. The headline was a punch to the gut: "MRS. HUDSON'

, on the terrace of a café yesterday afternoon. He was leaning in clo

she'd laughed too hard. A simple, friendly gesture. In

ngerous rumble. "Couldn't even wait for me t

ose in her throat and died. After the calculated cruelty in that resta

was his co

He was off the sofa, his hand clamping onto her

up. The fidelity clause.

gaze without flinching. "Our marriage was over th

wrong thi

anger, now burned with something

til the papers are

s. She struggled, but it was like fighting against a stone wa

cold. She knew

ld scramble away, he was on her, his weight pinning her down. One hand gripped the neckline of

she cried, her hands beating aga

is breath was hot against her ear. "Insane? You want to see what m

hment. A brutal, violent claiming

lling emptiness. She went limp, a broken doll,

a flicker of hesitation in his eyes. But it was q

s a liar. It reacted to her with a ferocious honesty that

and went into the en-suite bath

violated body. The tears came silently, hot tracks of shame

e her, why this despe

s later, wrapped in a plush white robe, his face o

ook at her

t room tomorrow. And stay away

e bedroom door shutting echoing the