olute indifference. He sat back down in the leather booth, pickin

harp, metallic tang of fresh blood clinging to Augustine's s

his tie and stated flatly that he we

ed into the club's security mainframe. He found the camera pointing at the back alley and permanently deleted

g to know who was stupid enough to make the CEO

rners of his mouth twitched. He dropped the bomb w

d, spraying the liquid across the table, coughi

is legal brain instantly calculating the disaster. He asked which corporate heiress

ad forced him to sign, the one that gave him absolutel

ied Braylon more

mpenetrable mask of a CEO. He stated flatly that he was leaving because he had pressing matters to attend to at home. He offered no further expl

unlight flooded the

studio, trying to distract herself from her frozen

on sleep shirt that barely covered her thighs. She rubbed her e

. A blast of cool morning a

just as Alayna rea

pletely shirtless. He wore only a pair of low slung

d dead on the

skin. Before she could voice her concern about the injury, her gaze drifted upward and locked onto his chest. Thick, carved pectoral muscles gave way to

ng from him hit her like a physica

ing across his left pectoral, right over h

nds of the towel and slowly wiped the sweat from his chest, his biceps

, breathless rasp. "

sent a violent shiver straight down Alayna's s

ng frantically away from his stomach. Sh

e step. Her slipper slid off the wood. She g

l. He lunged forward

, catching her mid air. He yanked her

arm braced her waist. She gasped, stammering a breathless question about his bleeding knuckles. Cruz's eyes darkened for a fraction of a second, the memory of the alley flashing in his mind, before he smoothly

ned in, his hot breath brushing against the shell of her ear.

was suffocating. Alayna could feel the rapi

had been electrocuted. She stumbled backward up the stairs,

down the hall. He looked down at his empty hand, a low, victorious