ernous living room unt

ng thing, pressing in

fumbling with the screen. She found Ch

wered, a choked sob

s sharp with immediate concern. "Did that

her voice cracking. "Can

at The Carlyle. The low lighting and quiet murmur of conversatio

lasses on the table. She stood up as Elena approached, her face

he ordered, pushing a g

ut Hayleigh's return. She left out the most important part

ite around her glass. "After everything you've done f

answer. She

clipsed the icy dread in her veins. She poured another glass, then another.

warned, putting

her head and

needing the restroom. Her steps were unsteady

led, bumping into someone

rent, cursed at her befo

p and saw a group of scantily clad women laughing loud

what was happening, a d

t, grabbing her arm a

icking into place. The noise from

champagne and a cloyingly sweet per

adjusted,

ath

and ragged. Sweat beaded on his forehead, his tie w

rning with a feverish light

men in the hall-it was a

l and the day's raw pain, was to pus

eyes. The desperate, teeth-gritting effort he was making

ty, she saw a refl

weakness behind a carefully constructed facade. An u

d. "I'll call a doctor," sh

prisingly strong. "Don't," he rasp

dy, stripped of its cold logic, reached for the familiar, for the woma

his contro

, his mouth crash

erate, and hot. It taste

the sudden, overwhelming sensory assault. She made a weak attempt

eel bands around her. He stumbled toward the

ring was a sharp rip in the darkness. A brief sting of pai

y before she was completely l

guarded need. A d

ng she had ever

created by chemica