The Sterling Scandal: Married To The Uncle

ning before I eve

liers of the Sterling estate blur into streaks of aggressive light. I gripped the edg

ok pale

rock. My future mother-in-law stood too close, her hand resting on my sh

say. My tongue felt thick, heavy in m

her eyes remained cold, calculating. She signaled a passing waiter with a sharp flick of her wrist.

pull away, but my legs betrayed me. Th

blank as a slate, took my arm. Hi

he warmth, down a corridor that grew quieter and colder with every step. The plush carpet swallowed the sou

The part of the estate Rya

, dragging my fee

oak door at the end of the hall. He opened it, the hing

hitting the thick Per

led out into

ing behind me was the loud

the haze of the drug. I scrambled to my feet, swaying,

ice was weak, absorbed by the

utside the floor-to-ceiling windows, illumi

when I

ows. He wasn't Ryan. This man was broader, darker. He was seate

n Ste

e man the family whispered about

ak. He just watched me with e

t heat; it was a disorienting vertigo that made the world tilt on its axis. I couldn't think. I couldn't breath

led tow

ears blurring my visio

rs was cool against my burning palms. I could feel the rigid metal of his

y, but he didn't help me either. He sat the

ing through the darkness. It wasn't the voice of a weak man. It was t

arable. I tugged at the neckline of my dres

p intake of br

to the empty air, his v

a faint blue light. "Lock down the wing. No one

. The scent of him-sandalwood, tobacco, and something uniquely ma

the man behind me; I could onl

ply defined-handsome in a ref

ight bridge

th thick, promi

a lit

ou're so

large hand firmly gripping mine and

t be gentl

ade my body tremble; I nea

more; tears welled up in

hen will

with its prominent veins, shifted to m

ind went blank

his low, husky voice reso

e times. You count them

parted my lips, a voice full of g

I'm done counting. Ca

his deep, dark eyes fixed int

s not the kind of

d process his words, a large ha

with his own, enveloping me completely in an

the bathroom, thoroug

s felt sharpe

, with a sigh that sounded like resignation, his fingers brushed again

he comman

zation that the legs beneath my cheek felt as cold a