elle

sect under a magnifying glass. The heat of it burned against my skin, but it was

a

ted for him, a sea of black tuxedos and glittering gowns retreating like the tide before a sto

"Isabelle?" he whispered, confusi

ys you just for standing next to me. But my voi

was an obstacle to be bulldozed. Kade stopped directly in front of us, his towering frame blocking out the r

, but the vibration of it slam

k for my han

protective orbit and slammed me against his chest. The impact knocked the breath out of me. His a

gasped, the plea a

voice a low growl that vi

a heavy, mournful waltz. This wasn't a dance; it was a public execution disgu

nd back, violently, to a memory I had

ago. The Cam

he could be proud of. The banquet hall had been filled with laughter, music, and the clinking of crystal. I

Kade?" I had asked, my

s. He didn't see a wife. He saw a debt paid in flesh. His

" he had said, loud enough for his mother and sister to hear. "Let alo

ter around us sharpened into blades. I

irony tasted like ash in my mouth. The man who had once refused to touch me now h

ell of my ear. To the onlookers, it must

laced with venom. "I didn't know my wife coul

n inch of space between us, bu

voice dropped an octave, turning into a weapon. "My child's blood hasn't even dried yet, and here you are, wearing th

d in a lonely hospital room while he was 'busy' with business. He didn't know. He didn't know about the c

the inside of my cheek until I tasted copper. I wouldn

ered, my voice trembling not with

forcing me to look up at him. His eyes blazed wi

are, Isabelle. You aren't a woman. You aren't a wife. You are a piece of

reds of my delusion. He would never see me. He would never love

n't bleed. Th

as doin

could fall. If I was just property, then I had no obligation to

married, and for the first time in three yea

idn't get to de