His Obsession, My Curse

ss as she stood frozen on the marble steps outside the Langford Hotel. Her heels wobbled und

s doors, her life had just shatter

ed ring she had planned to give Daniel for their one-year anniversary no

r breath fogged in the cold air, mixing with the

d caug

é. The man who pr

b

her

oddam

d to her. Eyes that once adored her now vacant with lust for another. Alora ha

walked in on he

d bitterly to herself

he have bee

sky poured without mercy. She could barely see past the parking lights flic

, shoes slipping as she staggered toward the street. Her phone buzze

or Da

r apol

for

els clicking against the sidewalk until she reached the curb and fina

of the city. But Alora felt utterly invisible, like the world

nly sliced through

n't be out

pulled up, and the tinted window lowered just enough to revea

ly took a step

the middle of Manhattan at midnight." H

g to regain composure.

ger door c

eeded help," the man s

emotional wreckage that had broken her spirit. And the man... there was something strange about him. Not

nd did. Alora slid into the car, the warmth eng

t. The car b

ll thick b

d a glanc

ded to his tall frame like power had been tailored for him. But it was his eyes th

know me," s

't hav

are you he

cause I know what broken looks like. And you,

oat tig

name?" he a

itated.

once, slow

i

cross her spine-powerful, gr

the driver through a built-in intercom.

ed fast. "Wait-wh

meplac

eyes. "I didn't

. "Do you have somewhere better to be t

rted, but n

was w

ne c

he in her chest. The silence in the car wrapped aroun

o an underground garage. An elevator rid

h parted

ic view of the glittering New York skyline. Dark wood floors, steel accents, and soft light

at and poured two glas

urn in her throat grounding her

oing this?" sh

s glass. "Because I don'

do you

for a meeting. I saw you come out of that hotel. Saw yo

r tightly. "So what? Y

smoothly. "I

ked. "Ex

rate. "And then I offer them a choice: Stay broken, or rebuild wi

hammered i

on't k

in, eyes searing in

her-too sure, too c

houl

en

hesi

something far more complicated. Something magn

estle with herself,

in you. And I don't expect you to trust me. But t

ps tre

quiet part of her whispered: Wha

away, exhal

d a sh

lied, as if expecting her surren

lora let the tears fall freely now, the walls around her cracki

t, she was too ti

ing makeup, mascara, and heartbreak swirl down the d

wa

she sa

eel safer in a stranger's penthou

ts and nothing else. Her wet hair clung to her shoulders. The pen

the balcony, drink

he city breeze catching the scent of his

shirt she wore. A flicker of hunger cross

sta

ve anywhere

est part of betrayal. It leaves you

ay, pain twis

"Go to sleep, Alora. Yo

r w

ld he

at come