The Heiress Returns: Marrying The Ruthless Billionaire

her upper body shootin

ht she died. She clawed at her own throat, her fingernails digging into the soft skin,

blood. Ther

red at the familiar, suffocating floral wallpaper of her bedroom in the Hogan estat

calluses from her five years in the "Underworld"

e the Hogan family pla

g pain to her temples. She remembered Sloane taking her place, Julian draining h

d called a cripple. The man who had burned down half of New

nic in her veins turned into som

r. She walked straight to Sloane's adjoining closet. She bypassed her own cheap clothe

silk slide over her naked skin. It clung to her

he Waldorf Astoria in Manhattan. The smell of stale pine air freshener fr

with practiced ease, slipping through the blind spots.

d a rigid piece of plastic-cut from a discarded hotel keycard-from her pocket.

ic

hed it open and slipped inside, l

e city filtering through the floor-to-ceiling windows. The air sme

lain yourself before my securit

avelly, and completely devoid of warmth. It mad

ting in the wheelchair near the glass. Deron Fitzpatrick. Even seated, his b

making no sound on the thick Persian ru

steady, looking straight into the dark ab

ected the intruder to know his full name, le

he edge of her thumbnail with her index finger-a habit she used when calculating her next kill. "But she thin

once against the leather arm

ch filled her senses. "I will marry you. I will secure your position in yo

orless laugh. "Why should

g both her hands firmly on the armrests of his wheelchair, c

ng," she whispered, her breath brushing a

arrowed. He di

ping an octave, "I will give you a 'sincer

word, Aspen closed her eyes

hard his knuckles turned white. Shock rippled through him, followe

on of teeth and desperation, a transaction sealed in the da

er in place. He took control of the kiss, turning her calculated move into a ruthless inv

chest heaved against his. She reached dow

he let the silk pool a

dark room, her skin flushed

lights from the street below cast long, tangled shadow

g sun pierced through t

angled. Her muscles ached with a dull, heavy soreness, a physi

ad. The space bes

t. On the mahogany nightstand, resting next

o name, no logo. Just a string of alphanumeric

lips. Her stomach stopped twisti

on dress from the floor, and put it back on. She

the grandfather clock in the hallway struck eight. She smoothed down the silk of h