. The air was thick with the scent of money and expensive perfume. Aud

tic busboy got her in through a service corridor. She stood in

were. The h

ss partners. Isabelle, in a shimmering silver dress, was clinging

thin and cold in her lungs. She clutched he

etermined sound. A few people turned to look, their expressions ranging

uched his lips. The look of a hunter watch

k of fragile vulnerability. She shrank back against Asher'

opped directly in front of Ashe

clear and steady. "The file you re

smirk hardening into a sneer. "Before you hand

th his chin to

, "Ash, please don't. It's okay.

l stroke, painting Audrey as the ag

r. "Apologize for what, exactly?" sh

behavior. For your pathetic attempts to cause trouble. F

t, bitter sound, devoid of any humor. "I ref

arby table, turned, and started

dre

g her arm just as she reached the relative privacy of th

k you're doing?" he hissed

g the spot where his fingers had

he coldness in her eyes, the absence of the adoration he had taken for gr

o destroy he

ropping to a cruel, conversational tone. "You di

air, sharp and glitter

e, Audrey. A pleasant distraction while I was waiting for the re

ound he had already created. She felt the i

g away a diseased part of her. With those words, he had severed the la

elt..

in the eye, her own ga

oice quiet but firm. "Thank

d her bac

over her shoulde

e long, carpeted corrido

ad expected tears. Screaming. Pleading. He

lling finality. He had not expecte

ine, unsettling panic bega

omposure holding until the cold night

ther. She leaned against the cold stone wall of the building,

tears of rage for her own foolishness. Tears

herself, her shoulders shaki

ly in front of her. The tinted rear window glided down,

just watched her, his sto