a's

while the other tangled in my hair, tilting my head at just the right angle as his tongue invaded my mouth, deepening the kiss. A sheer jolt of pleasure hit my core, and I melted against him. It was a relief to feel him this close. From yesterday to this moment, I hadn't

r and the other on his forehead, touching it to mine as we caught our breaths. Half of me wanted to groan a

g to one knee on the grass. Wow, I must be halluc

ht playing on his white dress shirt and dark hair. His sharp jawline seemed softer. He took my ankle, pulling my leg to his knee. I blinked,

ouch of a silver chain. It was the same anklet that had gotten stuck in my hair at the shop. Somehow, it looked even prett

ike this?" He traced my lower lip with his th

finding myself more and more out of

---

mind. I couldn't believe I had let him kiss me. I

ng myself more and more out of c

the most dangerous man in the world possibly want from me? Could he benefit from Anderson if he supported Nicolai? He didn't know anything about me beyond the fact that I was Tommen Anderson's daughter. He had no reason to dig deeper. I rubbed my temples,

ething big," K said, his voice too

hit on somethi

I replied, m

e, K found his voice again. "Unless there's another Killian Knight we know..

es

uched him is because he's close to your father. If they find out a

have to risk it. No one's tracked us so far. When it c

e. "He lives in our city

laying me-or my father-and

n't s

N

, bo

oo

--

at beside Franny, trying and failing to forget about him. This was the last day

t here-not even in the house

t. I quickly got up. Usually, no one called me-I was the one who called them. Maybe it

siren sitting by the pool in those clothes,"

then around me. He was nowh

filled with promises. It almost dissolved the conflict inside me

amera across from the pool. I gritted my

CCTV cameras

untary surveillance

put you under

rated. He always tangled my thoughts in kno

tection of the premises. You can do anything here, sweethea

thing inside me, their implications endless. "I

uld soun

ou lik

llowe

art. Do you like

t see me? Do you know how much I'm dying to be

, and I strugg

o sweet it could end this torture. But I held it back and hung up. Quickly, I walked t

ight?" she asked, grabbing my

way to my room. On the way, I dialed K. The moment he picked up

s that might put a

'll take full

replied. I heard s

patched version," he sa

sound of a drink-probably Coke-accompanying the clicks. "You slept l

gging stuff on yo

did yo

le murder case when he was around the same age-his record is clean. His hands, though, are not. Aside from his contract-killer organization, he also smuggles

as all I had managed to

en it comes to cleaning up. I could barely find anything that m

on the dresser. "This is funny, but

My patience wa

not ma

. "It's a fake public marriage.

all. A million questions swirled in