Shadows of Temptations
stant thunder rumbled through the mansion's ancient bones. The fire crackled softly in the grand study where she worked, its flickering glow casting long
Adrian B
et-cold, distant, unreadable-had begun to unravel before her. She had glimpsed something raw beneath his armor: grief, guilt, vulnerability. I
ain. The next, he was retreating behind his walls, warn
strate
nfuse
hing-it made her w
tting down her brush. Maybe s
s nights
rned to see Marcus Blackwood leaning casually in t
cket, he looked effortlessly charming. But beneath
You have a habit of ap
is gaze sweeping over the painting before settling on her. "So
the locket, yes. It was hidden inside t
g closer. "And Adrian?
. "It meant a
. "Oh, I'm sure it did. He carries quite a
down Sienna's
, studying her reactio
wned. "Tel
to a child. "Adrian was the last person to see our
eath h
wer. "My mother never went near that lake. She was terrified of
wed hard. "Ar
smoothly, "that my brother i
en them, the storm outs
een the pain in Adrian's eyes when he spoke a
d back. "I like you, Sienna. You seem shar
to the shadows of the corridor, leaving
it b
have killed h
-
tion in t
awing at her, Sienna found herself drawn to the
n was
nto the flames as if they held answers he couldn't find elsewhere. Shadows fli
th and stepped
her voice, but he didn't tu
warning. "I sp
owly, his expression immediately gua
old me you were the last pers
htened. "So he's poisonin
oser. "Is it true? Were
rply, setting his
hat happened, Adrian? Did
ed. "You think
lk about it, you warn me to stay away, but you keep pulling me
ng the space between them. "Y
caught. "
n them shifted
th
rashed aga
enna's hands gripped his shirt, pulling him closer, as if she could drown in the heat of him. Adrian gro
it started, he pulled
mistake," h
tingled
hair. "Because you don't under
ation burning in her chest
red at her. Then, finally, his
something about my father. But before she could, she told me she was leaving. Tha
heart c
the lake," he continued. "But when I
his eyes was
one killed her,
"I don't know. But I know
her fingers brushing aga
a moment. "I don't want yo
alrea
racing her wrist. "Then
ha
trust M
ammered. "And sh
mile ghost
even trus