lett

way's gilded warmth. My only thought was to find my driver, to put distance

Leo stepped out from behind a m

o slits, the pupils lik

ing back into the ballroom to

whose life I had sav

ect him back then, and leveraged m

ep around him wit

nd saw Chloe looking our way from the

d his jaw and forcef

anded, his fingers clamping down like a vis

across the polished lip of the marble step. My equilibrium vanished in an instant; there was no graceful

ke a dry branch being snapped under a heavy boot. A wet

anced up my leg, and the ai

of the stairs for a s

twisted into

pathy card, Scarlett,

le you hold all the power.

Gabriel rushed out of the ballr

ing at my swollen knee pressing a

t to manipulate Julian into

t out a cy

ttle blackmail ledger?" Gabriel mocked, each word carefull

of my cheek that the slick, metal

ands against the cold floor

iolently, but I refused

f my way, causing Luca

ng a scene,"

olently yanked my lef

e, grinding pop from my left shoulder as the joint was wren

hat wiped all sight from my eyes, plungi

ross my forehead and

rm, which now hung usele

rned stiff a

ghting us just to steal

his eyes darted nervousl

heiress who survived the s

thing to her. Do not exp

hallway, enduring a pain so s

I had protected with my li

id, my voice eerily c

suffering. Thi

lbow and let my left arm drop

mirk vanish

to stomach the sight

ds began t

's private doctor," Luca o

refuse

tank the Falcone Family's st

at me like I

rsed. "You only care about t

morphed back int

a warehouse years ago to secure

o only understands pr

rned around and st

head with a cold

f tonight, Julian will never

ed Luca back into th

t me. He simply walke

he corridor and leaned my hea

ent white-hot daggers

g silence, a cold certainty settled over me. It

slipped into my palm six months ago. I had laughed then, tucked it away, and forgotten it existed. Now my thumb found the