CHAPTER 15

His deliberate crudity made her wince, but when she attempted to move away from him, Armel slid his arm around her waist and held her in a vice-like grip.

“Why aren’t you wearing the support bandage on your wrist?” he demanded roughly.

“I thought I’d manage without it for a couple of hours.”

The butler, Alain, was heading down the hall followed by Armel’s guests and, despite feeling as though her heart had been put through a pulping machine, she forced a brittle smile.

“At least, the necessity to go and put it on again will give me a reason to leave the room and excuse myself from your vile company.”

From that moment on, the evening became a hellish ordeal that Harley longed to end. Being there, and acting like everything was alright was absolutely excruciating. Fortunately, no one attending the dinner had known her during the few months she had lived with Armel and awkward explanations were avoided.

His guests were frighteningly sophisticated b