na

doors groaned open

the living room, in a plush ve

d cashmere coat into the hands of a w

smoke, aged bourbon, and the faint, cloying flora

h the sharp, aristocratic features that so cle

sian rug ceased abruptly when

box from a high-end bakery, da

oice a deep, gravelly thing that se

pleased. He sound

ox on the glass coffee table with a soft clink. "Macaron

, the emerald silk of her robe making a sof

recting a triumphant look at me. "Serena has a

ing the shadows to f

Victor," I said, the quiet authori

ning his silk tie wi

aging the territory since

ussian today," I said, the words fal

g over a crystal decanter befor

his chiseled face a

or dismissed, waving his free hand. "The me

the space he considered his own. "He learned it from you. At yo

nce, inserting he

oid fantasies," Gloria snapped, her eyes na

to secure a place in your bed," I said, my gaze fixed upon Victor'

, mocking sound that vi

modest maternity dress I wore-a stark contrast to the tactical gear

words a deliberate, well-aimed blow. "You sit in this house all day, ac

mil

hing that felt entirely

" I asked softly, "then what f

y the icy detachment in my tone that

dered into the room, rubbi

us and immediately sought refuge, pre

rot repeating a line he had been fed his entire

at him-and saw the rot that had

stemic disrespect of the adults who governed

who had sacrificed her

only a

r, and felt the last, frayed th

the word landed in the silent room

urbon glass stopping

bric of her robe as if the air

icate law. It meant the ruthless division of assets, the sunderin

solute decla

dropped to a lethal octave. "You would th

steady. "It is the deafening echo of a family that has cons

meant that the woman who had built his empire in