The Twins Ruin

1: The W

ng against my cheek was a familiar, bitter

ld, possessive anger. Instead, I pressed my palm against my burning sk

armth, as if he were discussing a quarterly earnings report. "My brother is sniffing

hispered, keeping

f the master suite, the heavy oak door clicking shut wit

ce, my name was whispered with envy in the highest circles of high society. I was the shining center of the elite. But

thless heir to the Blackwood dynas

e grass. I knew Adrian had orchestrated my family's ruin. I had

a precious trophy. Behind closed doors, he kept me like a bird in a golden cage, starving me of r

of peace. Two weeks without h

kered. The storm had hit the city faster than the forecasters predicted. The lights flicke

wer wa

ded against the glass. I told myself it was fine. The backup generators would kic

ing the exhaustion of

much time had pass

y sound of the bed

The backup generators hadn't turned on.

hammering against my ribs. Adr

didn't have the sharp, military precision of my husband

ed under the weig

trapped in my lungs. If it was an intruder, I cou

in the darkness.

uch was impossibly gentle. Fingertips, warm and calloused, trailed slowly down the curve of my

nt that clung to Adrian. This was different. It smelled o

a low voice whis

that haunted my nightmares. But the cadence was entirely different. It lacke

reathed, my v

ckle filled the silence. It was a sound of am

e murmured. "Even when I am

g a jolt of pure adrenaline through my veins. His lips br

hest to push him away. But as my fingers brush

ne, was a jagged, raised scar. A

My husband's skin was flawless.

the scar Adrian had given him during a bru

li

n't my husband. It was Adrian's twin brother. The man who wanted to dest

my mouth to scream, to call for t

hot out. It wrapped around my throat-not squeezing, bu

ightly against my pulse point. His voice was still gentle, but the

He knew. He knew I

ng me beneath his weight. He leaned d

e dark, "I will make sure the entire house knows what I did to

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