ering the Long Island coast. Rain lashed against the windows of the guest room where Chloe

lost in a

er neck. Then the scene shifted. She was on the floor of the Hayes, and Ashley was standing over her, laughing that high, sharp laugh

er body thrashing, tangling the sil

d open, the sound completely swallo

had come to check the physical hardware of the audio sensors, to ensure there was no interference from the storm. That's what he told himself. The tru

e side of her be

ress. She looked nothing like the defiant woman who had faced down Ashley, or the

dy. "Please," she cried out, her hands

e possessed took over. He rea

n was i

ike a drowning person finding a piece of driftwood, she clung to him, pulling his arm toward her until h

ing her lips. A single, hot tear slid from the corner of her eye and land

with the slurry of sleep. "Don't take t

terror. The terror of losing everything. He looked at her face, her features sof

es of his revenge

ngers gently brushing the damp strands of hair from

e frantic tension in her body eased, and

ss that she didn't know he'd given. The memory of that night at the Plaza,

a violation of his own rules,

He leaned closer, drawn in by a

d the room for a split second, revealing

d and captured her

s control. The kiss deepened, becoming a raw, hungry claiming. He wasn't Nix, the cold executor. He wasn't The Shadow, t

red against his chee

heaving, a war raging inside him. He gave her one last, dark look before tur

all sigh escaping her lips. Her hand drifted up to touch her mouth, and in the depths