her texts. It was a punishment, Halle knew. A cold, deliberate severing of contact designed to make her feel insignificant. It

umb hovering over the screen for a full min

oming back? We

sat there like a monument to her foolishness. What had she

he dark, his cologne still clinging to the pillows, a constant, suffocating reminder of his presence and his a

was drifting into a restless sleep, her phone bu

her voice catching i

? Than

. His voice was strained, laced with a panic she

t good. He's been drinking for hours, breaking things. N

rivate establishments in the city, a place where the powerful went to be sh

begged. "He won't li

a knot of responsibility, the one she'd been trying to

," she said, h

ering with makeup. She rushed downstairs, her heels clicking urgently on the

n the Bentley pulled up to the discreet entrance of The Onyx Club, th

ightly. "Mr. Edwards is in the private suit

" Halle said,

music hit her first, followed by the sight of utter chaos. The air was thick with the smell of spi

e was ripped loose, his hair disheveled. He looked up as she entered, and his eyes-blo

and, with a flick of his wrist, hurled it against the far wall. It exploded, showerin

s careful amid the debris. Her voice was quiet but

er, his movements unsteady but still powerful. He grabbed her upper

s rasp. "Home? You want to go

ith him was impossible. She softened her tone, trying a diffe

, pulling her flush against his hard body. He ignored her gasp of p

struggling against his hold as they

his prey. He dragged her through the hushed, stunned lobby and out i

mat hard. She scrambled to the far side of the seat as he climbed in after he

f a second. Then his gaze went carefully blank. He silently closed the privacy divider,