his expensive leather shoes silent on the thick Persian rug. A single, dim lamp on the nightstand cas

eep, she looked younger, almost innocent. The sigh

's events in his mind. The fifty-dollar bill. The empty

er her for a moment before he slowly, deliberately, placed it over her throat. He di

ped Chloe from her sleep. Her eyes flew open, wide with primal terror.

ied scream escap

and and flicked on the wall sconce, flooding t

hloe's brain finally proces

mered against her ribs so hard she thought it

zing her. "You," she gasped, scrambling backwards until he

ss. There were guards, cameras, s

rest. He slowly began to unfasten the cuffs of his shir

re?" he asked, his voi

ind of fear and confusion. "Who a

his eyes glinting in the lamplig

I don't owe you anything." She tried to deny

. He leaned in close, his voice dropping to an intimate whisper that made her skin crawl. "Fifty dolla

e crashing down on her. He was throwing her

mentarily eclipsed by a wave of pure, una

't know about? Some secret lover of a Blackburn? Her thoughts were a tangled mess, but one thing was certain: she never, not for a

Is it money you want? I'll get you money. Just tell me how

nished from Damien's eyes, replaced by a chilling cold. This, a

her chin, forcing her to look at him. His gr

t?" she cried, her vo

ing down the line of her throat to the thin silk of her nigh

a possessive fire. "I want you," he

wasn't over. It had followed her home. Or ra