di

thumb hovered over the call button.

ach tone stretche

out to hang up,

el

s female, languid, with a purr t

that

rina

around the phone. "Why do

e was flat,

h, sweetheart. He's a lit

berate

w it is at Hawthorne Ma

as a perfect

orne

landed like a f

hifted, becoming intimate, as if she we

r fiancée is

ne wen

quiet salon. Nausea and rage washed over me in a dizzying wave. I shot

" Laura, the manager, asked

y and violent. I pulled on my own clothes, my hands sha

faces of the staff, and into the waiting ca

ne Manor. Now," I t

of the windshield wipers. Each mile was an agony. When we fi

ley. Parked r

told Mike. My v

suit, plastering my hair to my scalp. I barely felt it. I moved ac

red i

e. And there he was. Easton. He wore a soft

him, curled in a sil

ng, was a fluffy

rld s

head, his fingers moving with a familiar grace. He s

who made a show of waiting in the car, protect

ergy wa

gle, silent action hurt more than the fifty million dollars. The money was

from my throat. I couldn't watch anymore. I stalked to th

eren't

r heads toward me. Catarina gasp

Easton's eyes. Calculation. He stepped t

side. Privately. Whate

on

it felt like it was holding my skeleton

dare try to

nto place. "Fine. This is a private matter," he said, h

stared at me with wide green eyes. "I th

g crossed his face. Panic. G

as I thought. W

led out of me. "My point? My point is our wedding dress fitting. My p

"Easton, I'm not feeling well," s

protective arm around her shoulder. He tu

he's fragile. You need to

ecting Catarina from me. T

pped laughing. I stopped trembling. I just looked at hi

r us, Easton," I said.

. The pain in my abdomen flared again, a v

heavy thud of the Fre

of my wo