The Wrong Bride,The Right wife

er sacred. It was suffocating, heavy with the stench o

e word

his will. His gaze held no impatience, only the terrifying certainty of a pr

t to be shown off at charity galas. It was an antique signet cut, mounted in plati

hina's fi

o violently the gold fringe on his stole shook. "Do you..

thur Thorne draw a ragged, wheezing gasp, terrified that a single syllab

ante. Really

gid, coiled with lethal muscle. If I screamed no, if I turned and sprinted down that aisle, I wouldn't make it through the vestibule. Marcus

ante's storm-grey eyes, I realized something far more dange

you,"

y voice didn't shake. I refused to

curved-not a smile of warmth, but the quiet satisfaction of

diction like a man desperate to leave a burning room, "...I now p

t wait for

y in the dark hair Helena had pinned so tightly. He yanked me forward, elimin

edding kiss.

took it, parting my lips with a ruthless pressure that stole the air straight from my lungs until my head spun. When h

lips were bruised, my breath c

e murmured, loud

ancel steps. He didn't look at the three hundred stunned socialites clutching their pearls. He didn't look at Ar

r photos. We didn'

o the biting October chill of Chicago. Flashes from paparazzi came

s that Eloise Tho

is Sera

erger or an

d three security operatives in dark coats formed a human wall. Marcus thr

f I were a bolt of silk, shoving me into the

h

g, and the city. The glass was triple-thick bulletproof ti

The partition rose smoothly, cutting

ed forward i

ing the heavy folds of the wedding gown against my chest like armor. The adrenaline th

my voice cracking

of his waistcoat, loosening his black silk tie with slow, deliberate precision. He l

t, littl

through the panic. "You knew! You knew Seraphina ran! You

tch into a crystal tumbler, and took a measured sip. "Your sister reeks of synthetic tuberose and cheap desperatio

mbling against the velvet seats. "Why call my name? Why put th

ut tray. He leaned forward, bracing his forearms against his thighs,

ted your sis

in the air, hea

. "The contract was for Ser

stand on end. "Your father thought he was offering his golden prize. He thought Seraphina's vanity made her valuable. I let him believ

gainst my ribs. "I

hair for seventy-two hours taking the fall for a hit-and-run your sister committed in a stolen Mercedes. You didn't cry. You didn

ugh my blood. He w

e hem of the gown, sliding slowly up to my calf with terrifying possessiveness. "She ran to the Morettis the m

cking, pulling my leg toward him un

family thought they fed you to a wolf to save their golden child. But they didn't hand me a

urning down the private subterrane

ing over the shell of my ear, h

, Mrs. Valerius. You're n