From Shadow Lover To Her Own

lover, all because of a deathbed promise to hi

illed, he told me to plan his en

pte

hundred-and-twenty-fifth day since Cayla Bass had made he

her gaze fixed on the sprawling city lights below

the woman who absorbed his rage and cleaned up his messes-but also his lover. A secret kept tucke

a promise to a dying man.

mell of the hospital, the insistent beeping of a machine, and th

of the warm baritone she adored. "Just watch over him

l light in her world, extinguished in a wreck of twisted metal and shattered glass

grief, she had transferred that devotion to the one person he left b

mmed open

ay

silence. He didn't bother to look at her, his a

akes,"he snapped into t

sofa. His eyes, no longer cold and dismissive but filled

you g

"she said, her voice flat, devoid of emoti

her. He was convinced she was hopelessly in love with him, a loyal puppy who would never leave his side. "I'm talking about the Hughes merger. Cherrelle and I are getting marri

Grafton's neck from behind. She pressed a kiss to his cheek, her

She tries her best. It's just... well, you can't expect someone from her background to unde

ed at Cherrelle. He turned, pulling her

epeat for five years. The arrogant heir, his perfect high

out, not for a glass, but to run a finger pro

knocking over a glass of red wine. It splashed directly onto Grafton's pristine white shirt. "Look what you did!"sh

air, absurd and blatant.

the stain on his shirt to Cayla, his eye

"he spat. "Get

d been drunk and vulnerable, whispering that she was the only one who understood him, that maybe, just maybe, they could have something real. It was that single promise, t

a word and walked

ing,"Grafton's v

d, her ba

party is next month. I expect you to handle the arrangements. After all, you know how good I am at

was a ha

t she was in love with Grafton. But in this moment, with his final, cruel jab, the fog of grief and obligation finally cleared. She didn't love

was

calm. The word tasted not like ash, but like the

e reaction he wanted. Where were the tears? The pleading? The heartbreak? He hated this unnerving calm. He opened

ing it. She'll go home and cry her eyes out. She's too obsessed with me to ever leave.* He made a mental note t

her steps even and controlled.

e same building, she pulled out her laptop. Her fingers fl

t answeri

al Rally. An endurance race. A brutal, dangero

five years. A name that belonged to a dif

popped into her inbox

sed the

ulfilled. Her sen

ime to d