p tuxedos. Alanna, in a simple but striking black dress, stood wit

He introduced Alanna to a string of business associa

urt in the center of a fawning circle of people. It was Sterling's key investment that had given

roup. "Grant, my friend! L

iden into a hearty embrace. "Aiden! I hear the Phoenix pr

r rippled through the group,

red black tuxedo while the other slowly swirled the amber liquid in his glass. He was Adelard Knowles, sole heir to the Knowles family-an immensely powerful, notoriously secretive dynasty whose reac

first wife of Aiden's father, while Aiden was born to his father's second wife. The

nt him an air of cold authority, but it was his deep blue eyes that made people instinctively look away. Tonight, those eyes were fixed on Alanna. A trace of amused interest

at his side, "that is Alanna B

o looked so out of place amid the sea of false smiles,

hrough the chatter, clear and sharp. "Mr. Sterling, I'm a

d instantly. Every h

rm, hard, hissing under his breath, "

ject's core risks have not been mitigated. To invest more n

any idea who you're talking to? Business is not some

e surrounding guests. The consensus

trying to smooth things over. "She's just und

need anyone to apologize for me. Mr. Sterling, I am warning you that your

bling finger at her. "Aiden, get your woman unde

was thick with tension. Aiden looked trapped be

nna wanted. To cut off hi

her removed, a calm, low voice sliced through the tensio

ady's warning

before him like the Red Sea. He stopped beside Alanna-close enough for his presence to feel like both a

evaporated, replaced by a l

beyond distant familial courtesy. He couldn't understand why the h

room fel

heer power radiating from him was a tangible force, offering a strang

as a lit match toss