Beneath the Billionaire's contract

Luca's estate was no

private highway guarded by tall pines and sleek surveillance posts. The city had disappeared l

re: the silence between them or the wa

and unreadable. But his presence was suffocating in its intensity. It wrapped around

ay," he said suddenly,

toward him, s

arrangement. It's not

me in front of a room full of power-hungry m

xpression impassive. "No

waved a lifeline in my

't the heavy kind this tim

d you to know. I don't trap people

g beat. "Then why does th

dn't

the car approached. Ariella's jaw slackened. She'd imagined he w

n marble tiers, glass walls reflecting the setting sun, fountains on either side erupting like synchr

the man

ar st

rs, offering his hand. She hesitated but eventual

me," he said, leading h

cream and ash. A massive chandelier hung like a frozen constellation overhead, a

ward the interior. "You'll be living

adn't been touched by emotion in years. As if the ho

hallway, poised and elegant in a gray unifo

the east wing. She's free to go anywhere except my study and

d and turned to Ariella. "

ked past both of them, heading down a

, she was in the b

East

sitting area, a private terrace, a four-poster bed dressed in Egyptian cotton, a walk-in close

. Immaculate. An

f the bed and buried

ad she

s a contract to become

t man was E

because he wa

everything, a strange voice whispered

shame" to the family name, and blackballed from every job interview du

ed it. And no

That

re. Elian sat across from her at the massive table, looking like a man c

t, but the silence

his?" she asked finally,

d a brow. "

strangers forced

s glass. "We a

him. "Then w

e love makes people weak. Con

anything that doesn't sound like it wa

ctual laugh. Lo

Did I just hear emotion fro

d. "You're not w

r eyes. "What d

A desperate woman willing to g

g," she said quietly. "I ha

. Not pity but something

second, the

n it re

t of my attorney. I'll arrange for your new identity and background just in case people go diggin

at's it? No wedd

id with a smirk. "It just di

wled. "

funny, Ariella. I'm kno

in He

old wind kissing her skin as the ci

in the glass door-part ghost,

to a s

that felt more like

, something i

erous

ive. Maybe this contract could be

blooded agreement into somethin

ing to be a silent wife who smiled

t know h

her room, something on the

bo

with her name written

ned it

d necklace. But not

w

her used to wear

n missing for

art st

ian De Luca get her