son

e, the word "dead" echoing in the hollow

a private clinic under a false name, letting doctors patch up the lacerations on my

, my phone rang.

trembled as

't abandoned me in the rain, as if my world hadn't just imploded. "There is a c

uestion. It w

g," I said, m

ce dropping slightly. "But your presence is not optional. It is a necessary compone

ic-facing partnership." He was still playing the g

rformance, I'd give him

I told her. "Something that scream

f shimmering silver, cut low in the back to hint at the bandages underneath

rs followed me. I was a supernova in a galaxy of pale stars. Men's eyes followed me, hun

ce a sudden drop in temperature. He draped his suit jacket ove

said, his voice a l

away from

ed, his gray eyes scanning my face. "And the heels.

He was quoting the very line that had made

ld polished and in place, right?" I w

licker of something in his eyes

. "Don't worry about me, Grayson," I said, my smile bright and brittle. "I'm drawin

ied. "The divorce," he said, changing the subject. "This is just a

," I hissed, my voice low and shakin

u don't," he said, his voice soft but certain. "You're in love w

my pathetic, one-woman show, my desperate attempts to win his affection, and he had been a silent,

e that threatened to consume me. I felt like a fool, a c

omposure, to keep the te

aw tightened. The air around him grew heavy, charged with a dark, possessive en

d his lin

and fragile in a pale blue gown. She wasn't alone. A handsome, smiling man had his a

of a chair, tightened. I heard a sharp crack.

s. Not for me

of calm discipline was gone, replaced by

grip like a vise. "We'r

ragged me from the ballroom, his strides long and angry. He shoved me into

inches from mine, his gray eyes stormy. "You wa

ishing kiss, fueled by his jealousy for another woman. He was using me, my

was a tool. A convenient, available object

corridor d

e. She saw us. She saw him kissing me, his hands

ned the kiss, his eyes locked on Kennedy's, a

g my lips, my body, to woun

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