wing coffee. It was her sanctuary. Today, it felt like a cage. She stared at a blank dra
rom Julian. No greeting, n
Hamptons. 7 PM. Family
was pulling her strings. She had
anicured suburbs and finally the sprawling estates of the ultra-rich. Her Honda looked like a
the Atlantic. A valet took her keys, his expression carefully neutral. She took a dee
and ancestral portraits. She had barely taken three steps i
ook what the c
te of champagne in her hand. Her designer dress probabl
le
in a designer cage, but it's still just a sparrow." She leaned in, her voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper. "You should
kept her face a mask of indifference. "
a fact. You're just a placeholder. A temporary solution to a permanent
e foyer, her fists clenched. A placeholder. Th
to compose herself. As she rounded a corner into a di
li
behind a heavy tapestry. He slammed her back ag
Alea?" he demanded,
Kianna shot back, trying to ignore
she knows, we are deeply in love. You will smile. You will make pleasant conversat
aze with one of her o
th. The building was recently acquired by a subsidiary of the Harrison
ffocating her. He had her corn
ce drifted down the hall. "Jul
el
of warm affection. He released her arms, his hand sliding to her waist, pulling her
away, but his arm
in her wheelchair, a gentle smile on her face.
Julian said, his voice impossibly smooth. He looked down
the performance, h
own on hers. It wasn't a kiss. It was an invasion. A punishment. A brutal assertion of o
f his chest, the way his hand splayed across her lower back. She had dreamed of his li
primal, surge
where Evelyn couldn't see the
jerked back. His eyes were blazing. A tin
smile for the benefit of his grandmother.
anished. He released Kianna as if she were on fire, taking a step
hand, her lips tingling from the impact. S
room, her head held high, leaving him alone i
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