Taylo

d glittering shards on the marble floor, its amber contents staining the white rug like dried blood. The portr

, but of weary disappointment. He loosened his tie, his gaze sweeping ov

his voice calm, which only

ll amidst the chaos I had created. "Don

hair. "Cassie, I already told you. She' s young. She

She knew enough to tell me she' s pregnant with my husband' s chi

o look pained. "I wa

was born? After you mov

roken glass, and poured himself a scotch from another deca

escaped my lips. "A mis

iberate. I reached into my pocket and pulled out a folded pi

m my gynecologist. An itemi

in confusion. Then his gaze locked on the date.

he asked, his vo

aced with venom. "That was your son, Adam. Or m

hich had been a mask of cool indifference, crumpled. His eyes, for th

he stammered, his body tr

voice as soft as silk.

same raw strength he' d used on my stepfather all those years ago. "Why?" he roared, his fac

with adoration, with a promise of protection. And I felt a strange, det

was the night he killed for me. The second was when a rival corporation tried a

he never knew, with a wom

king. "You were the one who want

d his cheek, my fingers tracin

is no room for her. Or for it. If you try to bring anyon

rds a chilling promise.

in my eyes. The cold, hard conviction. He saw the girl he had created that night in

ting on his cheek. He noticed the thin line of blood welling up on m

old Adam, the protector. His hands, which had been bruising me moments before

he murmured, his voice

net, his movements practiced and familiar. He had done this a hundred times before, patching me up after I' d pushed my

it felt like a violation. He was trying to fix the wound he had caused, a tin

a bandage, I sna

ed up,

the words feeling like acid o

d than any I could inflict with a knife. He didn' t argue. He didn' t

poke to one of the house staff who w

evoid of emotion. "Tell her to bring the fi

aving me alone in the pristine white bathroom, my ow

-