eri

he distance between us, his hands r

The anger had evaporated from his face,

ith an admiration for a quality I did not possess. "I knew y

lief, telling me how terribly guilty Seren

spent convincing her to remain Maid of Honor-all

lity. I realized, with a sense of profound detachment, he was speaking mor

he announced that Serena's original plan to move out o

an big enough for all

ct, perverse little life

his encrypted phone from his suit jacket pocket with his right hand. He

ted the dim hallway

ery top of his list. The first one was saved

as me. It was starkl

hone. He was in such high spirits he smiled down a

old even through the fabric of my blouse. His cologne-dark amber and clove-invaded my nostrils,

against his chest, leanin

and potent it felt like a phy

ith a strength I didn't know I had. I pointed a trembling fi

e cold, rigid, imperio

, and with deliberate care, adjustin

atic," he said, his voice

that in this dark, violent world, only a man

on my heel, walked into the master bedroom,

reath coming in ragged gasps, w

te's event planner. With unsteady

f the massive wedding poster tha

screen, feelin

right next to his, her sm

he truth I had manufactured for them-and neither Silas nor Serena