LOGINALISTAIR'S POV: I walk down the dark hallway to my own bedroom, step inside, and shut the heavy wooden door. I turn the metal lock, lean my back flat against the wood, and close my eyes tight. My heart is hammering against my ribs like a trapped wild animal. My hands are shaking so violently that I have to shove them deep into my suit pockets. My entire body feels like it is vibrating with a raw, desperate need that I cannot keep under control much longer. I almost kissed her. I was literally half an inch away. If I had not forced my own feet to freeze, I would have pulled her in and kissed her right there by her bed. And I know myself well enough to know that once I started kissing her, I would never have been able to stop. I lean my head back against the door and think about the way she stared up at me. I think about her dark green eyes digging into mine, asking me if that was really what I thought. The honest truth is that I am completely lost. I do not know what is right
ALISTAIR'S POV:I am standing right in front of Elara and she is so close to me now. Way too close. She is close enough that I can see the warm lamplight catching the tiny flecks of gold hidden deep inside her dark green eyes. She is close enough that I can track the soft curve of her lips, the delicate line of her jaw, and the smooth skin of her neck. She is close enough that I can actually feel the heat radiating off her skin, wrapping around me like a physical force pulling me down.I want to kiss her.I imagined what it would feel like to finally press my mouth against hers, to taste her skin, to hold her tight in my arms and never let her go again.And now here she is. Standing right in front of me in her bedroom. She is looking up at me with those green eyes that have haunted every single night of my life since I was a teenager.She leans in slowly. I lose all control of my own body, and I lean in too.Our lips are barely half an inch apart.I can feel her warm breath fl
ALISTAIR'S POV:"I know that is not the real reason," she says.She slides off the edge of the bed and stands up. She starts walking straight toward me, closing the physical distance between us until there is barely any space left at all.I feel the breath catch tight in my throat. She is way too close to me now. I can smell her sweet floral perfume so strongly that it makes my head spin. I can see the warm lamp light catching the dark waves of her hair, the desperate way her green eyes keep searching my face, and the small tremble in her lips.I feel completely trapped. She is standing right in front of me. I can feel the actual heat coming off her body. I want to lean down and kiss her. I want to kiss her so badly that my whole chest aches with it.**ELARA'S POV:**He is standing right in front of me now, close enough that I can feel the solid warmth of his body radiating through his clothes. He is close enough that I can see the tiny flecks of gold hidden deep inside his
ALISTAIR'S POV:I walk into Elara's room and I feel like I am stepping straight into a dream.The space feels soft, warm, and quiet, lit only by a single small lamp sitting on the wooden nightstand. The walls are still painted that pale pink color, the white furniture is elegant, and the large window looks right out over the dark garden below. The room smells completely like her, a floral scent that has been haunting my mind for seven long years.She is sitting right in the middle of the bed. Her legs are tucked up under her dress, and her hands are clasped tightly together in her lap. She looks terrified. Her dark green eyes are wide, her lips are slightly parted, and her whole body is tense with anticipation.I push the heavy door shut behind me. The tiny click of the latch sounding out in the quiet room feels strangely loud.I just stand there near the threshold for a long moment, staring at her face. She is so beautiful. She is far more beautiful than I remembered. She is mo
ELARA'S POV:I think about all the dark nights I lay awake in my apartment in the city, staring at the ceiling and wondering if he ever sat in his New York home thinking about me too.I think about the exact second I turned around in the garden and saw him standing by the car tonight. My heart had stopped completely. The air had burned in my throat. Everything else around us had faded into nothing, leaving only him standing there on the gravel.I think about the lies he told me downstairs. The way he kept his eyes cold, looked away, and told me, "I am just tired. The flight was long."I did not believe a single word of it. I have never believed him when he puts on that fake tone. I have always known when Alistair Ashcroft is lying straight to my face.He was lying tonight. I know it in my gut.I do not know what kind of secret he has been carrying around for the last seven years. I do not know what made him pack his bags and run away to New York without a real goodbye. But sittin
ELARA'S POV:I walk down the long hallway toward my bedroom. The air in the corridor is cool, and the only light comes from the small brass wall lights scattered along the wallpaper. My shoes make a quiet tapping sound on the floor. The rest of the house is quiet now, the loud noise of dinner finally dying down into the late hours of the night.I open the door to my bedroom, step inside, and push it closed behind me.I toss my shoes near the closet and lie down flat on top of the bed. I lie there on my back, staring up at the white ceiling in the dark.The big glass window looks right out over the side garden, right down at the red roses my father planted years ago, and the wooden bench where I used to sit for hours and think about my life.I lay there and think about Alistair.I think about the way he sat across from me during dinner, his gray eyes following every small move I made with my hands. He looked like he was trying to memorize every detail of my face, like he was terri
She watched from the window as her father walked out to greet him.August Valancourt shook Lysander's hand with both of his, the way he did with people he truly respected, and he said something that made Lysander nod solemnly. Then her mother appeared, and Isabelle kissed Lysander on both cheeks, t
Her phone buzzed.She pulled it out of her pocket. A message from Harold Wentworth, her father's lawyer."Divorce papers are ready. I've emailed them to you. Print, sign, and leave them for him. I'll handle the rest."She opened the email. Scrolled through the document. Page after page of legal lan
At seven thirty she put the pasta water on to boil, figuring she'd wait until he was actually here to cook it so it would be fresh. She sat on the couch with a book she couldn't focus on, her phone in her hand, checking it every thirty seconds like a teenager waiting for some boy to notice her. At
Celestine started cooking at three in the afternoon, flour on her hands, music playing low from her phone and the smell of tomatoes and garlic filling the whole penthouse.She made the sauce from scratch, the way her grandmother taught her when she was maybe ten years old. She rolled out the pasta







