dache and the unfamiliar softness

was a floor-to-ceiling window framing a panoramic view of the Manhat

lk sheet pooling around her wa

. The rasp of a man's jaw against her cheek. The taste of whiskey.

it. She had slept wi

waves-first a dull confusion, then a creeping horror,

ad she

y she had ever seen. The man was clearly wealthy. The other side of the kin

ning came from an adjoini

. Her only thoug

carpet. Her clothes were scattered on the floor. She pulled on

y to flee, when her eyes caug

small, blac

er panic. At least she hadn't lo

ped open

x was

at ring-redesigned from a piece of her mother's jewelr

ugly, guttural sound that came from somewhere deep and raw. She began tearin

he one thing she had

away. To a stra

like a physical thing. She wanted to disappear. Sh

water in the ba

late to run. She had

o face the door, steeling herself for a c

a white towel knotted low on his hips. Droplets of wa

from the bar. Coldly, brutally handsome. He was

cool and impersonal, as if

nd her voice.

ced down at his left hand, as if to c

s when sh

r. It looked achingly familiar. He

e band. For a split second, she saw it clearly. The tiny, elega

s her

lm with a flippant air, as if it meant nothing. "Take it," she remembered saying, her voice light and dismissive. "It's yours now."

her's jewelry-handed it over with a flippant smile, as if it meant nothing. As if three years of carrying her mother's

finger. Would he think that givin

ad been drunk. Because she had been careless

he said, his voi

think. She could only stare at th