LOGINSara Hayes POV I looked at the clock at the wall, feeling anxious. Lucan had promised to return within thirty minutes with a fresh change of clothes.I shifted on the edge of the silk sheets, the fabric sliding against my skin. I wore a white lace bra that hugged my swelling breasts, the underwire straining slightly against the fullness of my pregnancy. Matching lace panties clung to my hips, the sheer fabric offering little more than a suggestion of coverage over my rounded belly. I felt exposed."Where is he?" I whispered to the empty room.Why was Lucan taking so long?A sharp knock echoed through the room. I bolted upright, my heart hammering against my ribs."Lucan? Is that you? Do you have the clothes?"Silence followed. No voice answered, only the heavy, oppressive weight of a presence on the other side of the door. Then, the metallic click of the handle turning sounded. The door swung open with a slow, deliberate creak.I gasped and lunged for the nearest duvet, dragging the
I stood where I was, with an empty glass in one hand and a full one in the other, and watched him go. My heart was pounding so hard I could feel it in my teeth. I raised the second glass and took a small, slow sip, and the wine was dark and warm and tasted of cherries and nothing else, and I looked at him over its rim like a woman at a play.He did not get far when a business associate drew him toward a table at the edge of the floor, and sat him down, and began to talk.I sat too.I chose a small gilt chair half hidden by a screen of potted palms, with a clear view of his table and a good, dim shadow to hide in. I arranged my skirt. I sipped my wine. I kept my eyes on him, quiet and still, and I counted.“Ten minutes,” my mother had said. “Perhaps fifteen.”Eight minutes later I saw him picked up a glass of water and drank. Set it down.At exactly ten minutes, his hand went to his collar.He did it with one finger, absently, like a man easing a tie, and then with two, tugging, and I
Sarai Vance's POVThe moment Lucas turned the corner with her on his arm, I bowed my head to the women and excused myself."Poor thing," the lady said."Accidents happen," I said, in a small, grieved voice, and pressed my gloved fingers to my lips. "I feel dreadful. Please, excuse me. I need a moment."They patted my arm and let me go. I walked away across the stone floor with my head lowered and my shoulders curved in perfect remorse, past the round tables with their white flowers. I did not hurry. I did not raise my eyes. I held my glass of red wine, now empty and slightly smeared with my lipstick, and I walked like a woman on the edge of tears.I made it to the far corner of the atrium, behind a tall column wrapped in ranunculus and eucalyptus, where the lantern light thinned to a soft grey dusk and nobody could see my face.And there I laughed.I did not laugh loudly. I'm not a fool. I pressed the back of my wrist to my mouth and bent forward over it, shaking. My shoulders quivere
Sara Hayes POVI never remember coming down the ramp.I remember his arm around me, and the dizzy brightness of the lights, and the floor rising to meet my feet. I remember the first person who reached me was Mrs. Caldwell, who flung both arms around my neck and said, into my hair, "Oh, my dear, my dear, I finished the hat, it's enormous, you'll never get it on his head," and I laughed so hard I had to hold on to her. Harrison clapped Damian on the back with a hand like a shovel and said, "Well done, son. Well done." Annabel squeezed my arm Then the room closed over us.They shook my hand, kissed my cheek, pressed cards into my palm. It was some time before I noticed that my husband had been taken from me.He had not gone far. Two of his board members had drawn him gently aside, along with the senator and a silver-haired man in a clerical collar whom I did not know, and they stood in a loose circle ten feet away, talking low and fast in the unmistakable cadence of business. I saw Da
Sara Hayes' POVDamian took my hand from the small of his back and held it between both of his."Babe," he said, very quietly "I'm coming."Then he lifted my hand and pressed his lips to the back of it. A murmur ran through the nearest tables, soft and bright, like a sigh."Oh, she's so sweet," someone breathed behind me."Who would have believed Damian Kade could be this romantic?""I'd have paid money to see it.""You just did," said a dry male voice, and a few people laughed.He let go of my hand. For one second his fingers lingered on mine, and then he straightened his jacket, drew a breath, and walked toward the stage.I watched him go. I couldn't help it. The crowd parted for him without being asked, and the applause rose again, warm and rolling, as he crossed the stone floor in his black suit with his shoulders square and his stride unhurried. He climbed the three steps. Eleanor Whitcombe met him at the top, shook his hand, and stepped aside with a small, approving nod.He stoo
Sara Hayes' POVPeter brought the car to the private entrance on the east side, where a line of security stood shoulder to shoulder in dark coats. Beyond them, I could see the glow of the main entrance and a long ivory carpet, with photographers penned behind velvet ropes. The flashes went off in white bursts. I heard someone call a name, and then another, and then a ripple of them, rising and falling like surf."They're not for us," Damian said quietly. This entrance goes straight to the lift."The car door opened. The air smelled of flowers. Damian stepped out first, turned, and offered his arm, and I took it and came up slowly out of the leather seat with one hand under my belly. A man in a dark suit and an earpiece stood at a respectful distance. The pavement had been cleared. The route to the lift was lined on both sides with discreet armed men.We crossed the marble foyer to a private lift with brass doors. A security guard pressed the button and stood aside. "Breathe," Damian







