osure finally cracked, her

w but sharp enough to cut. "A black widow, eager to disc

ll, drawing shocked murmurs from the staff and

oom opened, and "Damian" Hawthorne walked

eving brother, his expressi

arm, her face tear-streaked, a per

, his voice a careful imitation of Dam

aternal concern. "Damian, my dear boy, this... this woman, Julian' s

f something unreadable in his ey

stand your grief might make you say rash things, Jul

ressing down on me. He was trying to m

from Julian's arm, her pretty

ng in her eyes again. "Julian adored you, and Damian... Damian

cs, all

I sa

ched into his pocket and

endant, a cascade of delicate, leaf

des

ago, something I' d shown Juli

it then, calle

tening it aroun

soft, "to remind you that you are not alon

eemingly ones of gratitude mixed with sorro

gift from him, a design stolen from m

e remembered and

solidified into som

Sr., the patriarch, a man whose quiet presence usu

ce was

low rumble. "Isabelle, Aurora

the traditional mourning, then to control the inevitable scandal, your remarriage must be swift

me in, to salvage the

ble smirk. He thought I was trapped, that no one sui

is was a desperate gambit, but it was my

the suddenly silent room. "Then I ask, is there any man here,

rnful silence

The air was thick with disapprova

widened. He be