ISABELLA
The flames danced higher than I'd expected.
Standing in the secure courtyard of the industrial facility Rebecca had selected, I watched fifteen years of Alexander's carefully constructed revenge turn to ash. The blackmail files that had shaped so many lives, my father's, Alexander's, mine, crackled and popped as they surrendered to the fire, releasing their secrets to the wind in spirals of gray smoke.
The heat from the furnace kissed my cheeks, but it was nothing compared to the burn of Alexander's hand at the small of my back. Even now, hours after he'd made me scream his name in the shower, my body thrummed with awareness of him. Every casual touch sent electricity racing through me, a reminder of how completely he'd claimed me.
"Any regrets?" I asked quietly, watching his father's legacy of manipulation disappear into nothing.
His arm tightened around me, pulling me against his side with a possessiveness that made my pulse race. "None," he said, his voice that low rumble
