The Dying Billionaire's Secret Contract Wife
it was a rolling fortress. A stretched, black SUV wi
s a tree trunk, opened the rear door. "M
said, sliding onto the leather seat.
aced by the dense, manicured greenery of the North Shore, Elsie felt a tightening in her chest.
that wound through a forest of ancient oaks. The house itself sat on a cliff overlooking the Sound. It
d. The driver
e looked like he had been carved out
I am Godfrey. Mr. Hunter is
asked, trying to sound like the
ood day," Godfrey
rtment building inside it. The air was cool and smelled
double doors. Godfrey knoc
ins," he
tepped
the dying light of the sunset filtering through heavy velvet d
room, near the firepl
her. He was looking into the fire. A
a breath.
to the Persian rug. She softened her fac
said softly.
ed as he turned it a
les under his eyes, his bone structure was devastating. High cheekbones, a nose
ooked like a caged predato
her short hair, then her shoes, then her eyes.
he said. His voice was a low ras
els," Elsie said, kee
hacking sound that shook his shoulders. He reached for a gl
in. She stepped forwar
hed for
hot out. He gri
k grasp of a dying man. It was iron. It
his. For a second, the sheer po
e hissed.
the chair, his chest heaving, his face draining of what little color it had. Sweat beaded instantly on his foreh
said terminal patients sometimes have bursts of adrenaline before the crash. She watched
whispered, watching him with a mi
closing his eyes as if the light hurt them
sympathy evaporating as she rubbed the re
hat turned into another cough. "Silas sai
and turned on a projector screen that desc
charity gala. Wednesdays, dinner with my mother. Fridays, y
id. "And what do we
r my heart to stop beating," Hardin said flatly. "Tha
lsie corrected. "That implies
now," Hardin said.
rdl
light danced in his eyes, maki
be late. And don't look at me like I'm a charity cas
try," E
elt his eyes on her back, burnin
wall in the hallway. She looked down at her wrist
the spot.
d to herself. "For a dying
rdin Hunter waited unt
the tremor in his hands to stop. It wasn't an act. The rage, the need to maintain
his phone and
ttled?" Si
s voice still raspy. "She tri
e buy t
bought it. But just barely. She's observant." He paused, looking at the tablet on hi
s,
report. He tried to
it. But he'
omes within ten miles of this house, break his legs. She's
stood,
air and covered his legs. He hated the chair. B