face with both hands, her shoulders shaking violently. To everyone w

of the banquet hall wer

s, his tie hung loose around his neck, and a she

in the center of the crowd. A flash of panic and pure rage crossed his f

a flashes erupted from the dark corners of the r

cate skin with bruising force, feeling like a steel vice trying to snap h

rrowing. She let her body stumble weakly agains

her ear, his breath hot and ragged.

re red and puffy. She looked like a terrified deer, despe

d, private balcony. He slammed the heavy glass door shut behind th

ammed hard against the cold marble balustra

fted her chin and stared at the man who had ordered her heart cut

ettled by the sheer emptiness in her gaze. B

ilm that?" he roared,

sobbed, her voice trembling. "We didn't mean to hurt you. We're in

ocritical face. The memory of her chest being s

ord. She just rais

ac

er entire body weight into the slap, striking Evelyn across

g her rapidly swelling cheek. She stared at Alaia in pure shock,

shielded Evelyn with his body, pulled his arm bac

ed right at his incoming fist, already calculat

one inch fr

gant fingers wrapped around Austen's wrist, stopping the punch dead in

p was like iron. He couldn't move an inch. He snapped hi

pair of deep,

k suit. His aura was suffocating, radiating a terrifying, predatory coldnes

sten's aggressive posture crumbled the sec

n stuttered, the color

ng Austen's arm away as if he were discarding a piece of trash. He reached into

d a beat as she stared at the Wall Street titan. She had

ercing gaze dropped to Evelyn, who was sti

uldn't meet his eyes. She forgot to cr

voice was low, smooth, and

slicing through the tension. "I

dropped. He whipped his head toward Evelyn, his eyes

er tracks perfectly in the past life. Alaia had ne

ked onto Alaia. For a split second, a flicker of dark