bedroom, the faint glow of the streetlights castin

aken place downstairs felt like a distant nightmare,

losed fist and held the

nmistakable, engraved with

to the man f

husband, Ca

against her skin, a stark con

lashed through her mind

id thi

es and a reputation for ruthlessness; he

ere intentionally

on a tight leash, or was it a bold, arrogant declaration that he could c

ion was, Emilee fel

o break her for years with the

ing mind games was not

her piercing gaze

he extreme, unwavering focus her mother had taugh

worked her way around the ro

cture frames, the underside of her solid oa

air vents and

of her bed, in a spot so small and dark it was

isc, no bigger

tech au

resting on her fingertip, a cold,

to hear what sh

crush it

ght the tiny device incr

er warm breath brushing directly against the mi

ury simmering beneath her skin. A moment later, the cool, synthe

listening to m

, no tremor-only a flat, deliberate calm t

e? If you want to know what I do in my bed so

uckle escape her lips-but the sound came

nd. You might just end u

pped the bug

on, she brought her heavy leather b

iece of surveillance equipment into useless pl

iamond cufflink, she simply slipp

actly what she was

p, and she never threw

in the grand library of the Pier

s of old money and absolute power, smel

e leather armchair, swirling a glass

gh-end noise-canc

f him, a sleek laptop screen di

o feed from th

sound of her exha

t as if she were straddling his lap,

l, disembodied vo

cation sent an immediate, elect

ightened around t

apple bobbing as a sudden, int

les coil

soft lips flashed in his mind,

erupted through the headphones, lo

s grinding against wood filled his ears,

form on the sc

ing rigidly by the marble fireplace, l

aid, a slow, genuine smile spre

tertained and deeply hungry rather than annoyed. "She is w

exceptionally good mood over a failed surveillance attempt. "S

y to cool his blood. "Leave her be. She has made her bo

over a thick, heavy manila folder. "We have completely uncovered her background information, sir. E

s expression instantly shift

on the cover, not o

ng. "We cross-referenced her early childhood timeline with the specific geographic locations you requested. There is one thing w

ell into a heavy, s

kled softly i

red on the closed folder f

ssive, a perfect mask of stone, showing no

hiskey glass down o

y, his voice faint, cold,