LOGINThomas swirled the wine in his glass idly, looking a little distracted."What do you mean?""You and Sharon," Marcus said, watching him. "You keep derailing her dates, chasing off every guy who shows interest in her. What are you up to?""I need her for my treatment," Thomas said."Her treating you has nothing to do with her dating someone," Marcus pointed out."I don't want her splitting her focus," Thomas said.Marcus let out a short laugh. "That's a new one. Funny how much that sounds like an excuse."He shifted gears without missing a beat. "A few days ago, Sharon's best friend Wendy rented a yacht, and it happened to be through one of my companies. So I had someone keep an eye on things, just curious what they were up to. Turns out they were setting up for a birthday party."He looked at Thomas, a knowing smile playing at his lips."I checked around. Neither of their birthdays is anywhere close to now. None of their friends or family have birthdays coming up soon either.
The gesture already skirted the edge of intimate. But they were out in public, with Weston sitting right there, so Sharon didn't feel like she could say anything about it.Once they'd stepped outside, Weston, normally so easygoing and chatty, fell into an unusually quiet mood.Thomas asked politely, "Where are you staying, Weston? We could drive you back, if you'd like."We.The single word left him out entirely, no room for interpretation."No need," Weston said, forcing a smile. "I can get myself home. The view out here is pretty nice tonight, so I think I'll walk around a bit first. Don't you two have somewhere to be? Go ahead, don't let me hold you up."Hearing that, Sharon said, "All right. If you have any questions about the project, just call me anytime."Weston nodded.Sharon said her goodbyes to him and got into Thomas's car.Weston stood there a while longer, watching until the car had disappeared entirely from view.In the side mirror, Sharon watched Weston's figur
Thomas walked over, unhurried.Sharon had been in the middle of talking with Weston when she caught sight of a lean figure approaching out of the corner of her eye.She looked up and spotted Thomas's familiar face. Checking the time, she realized barely twenty minutes had passed. The food hadn't even arrived yet.Thomas greeted Sharon first, then let his gaze settle on Weston."Weston. Hope I'm not interrupting."Since the two of them had already met the day before, there was no need for another round of introductions.Weston rose politely from his seat as Thomas approached."Not at all," Weston said, smiling. "The more the merrier."The two men exchanged brief pleasantries before taking their seats. Sharon settled into the inner spot, with Thomas beside her and Weston across the table.For reasons she couldn't quite explain, something about the arrangement struck Sharon as oddly strange.Fortunately, neither Thomas nor Weston was the type to let a conversation go cold, and t
Out of respect for him, Sharon still asked Weston's opinion first. Once he'd agreed, she pulled out her phone and called Thomas again.While the call was connecting, it occurred to her that even if she invited him, Thomas might not actually want to come. Maybe he wasn't fond of eating with strangers. Had she jumped the gun, assuming he'd say yes?The phone rang for a moment before Thomas picked up."Sharon?""Are you already here?" Sharon asked quietly."Yeah."She hesitated, then asked, "You're eating alone anyway, so... would you want to come join us instead?"There was a pause on the other end.Sharon assumed he wasn't interested and was about to let it drop when his voice finally came through, slow and even."Sure.""We'll wait to order until you get here," Sharon said."No need," Thomas said evenly. "Go ahead and order, don't wait on me."That felt wrong to Sharon somehow. "We'll just wait for you. We don't mind holding off a little while.""That restaurant's always s
"Thanks," Sharon said.Thomas looked at her downcast eyes. "Go on up. Get some rest."Sharon hurried off.Just as she reached the entrance to her building, she couldn't resist glancing back once.The car window was half open, and Thomas was leaning back against the driver's seat, watching her.The night hung deep and dark, streetlight slanting in from the side and throwing half his face into shadow, his expression impossible to make out.Sharon looked away and disappeared quickly through the door.Not until she was gone did the amusement in his eyes fade, replaced by something deep and dark, almost consuming. His gaze stayed fixed on the spot where she'd vanished into the stairwell, not looking away until the hallway light flicked on, and only then did he slowly pull his eyes back.…The next day, Sharon arrived at the restaurant where she'd agreed to meet Weston.She'd barely sat down across from him when her phone started ringing.It was Thomas.Sharon gave Weston an apol
At Thomas's words, Sharon's mind went blank for a moment.Then it caught up with her, and pure mortification flooded in.She'd actually said his name in her sleep?Her lashes trembled slightly, her gaze flickering, unsteady."...Did I? I don't remember."Maybe it was the deep night outside, or maybe it was the dim lighting inside the car, but Thomas felt overwhelmingly present right then, almost suffocatingly so. Sharon felt like whatever she'd been trying to hide had already been seen straight through.She didn't dare meet his eyes, glancing instead out the window as a distraction, and realized they'd already pulled up outside her apartment.She forced herself to calm down and pushed the car door open. "I'm home. Thanks for the ride. I'll head up now."She was practically bolting for the door.That was when her wrist was suddenly caught."Wait a second."Thomas leaned in without warning, close enough that his shadow fell over her entirely. Sharon could see the sharp line
Johanna glanced at the paintings on the wall. To her surprise, every piece was signed by the same name—MK.Two of them she even remembered seeing years ago in Jamie's study at the Walton family estate. They had hung there for as long as she could recall, though back then she had paid them little mi
"When the time comes, I'll step into the Kalen Group and take part in its decisions," Sharon said.Her bright eyes met Jamie's. "Jamie, you've taught me something important: power is a woman's truest ally. Once I get into the Kalen Group, I'll drive Victoria out. My mother single-handedly kept Ka
The guy's voice dripped with lechery, thick with sordid desire.Thomas didn't so much as glance in that direction. His steps never faltered. He had no intention of interfering."Oscar, if you dare lay a finger on me, my brother will kill you!""Johanna, don't worry. I'll take responsibility. Once
Over the past two days, when Johanna came to visit, Victoria had heard her mention the painting.Of course, Johanna wasn't foolish enough to tell her that Jamie had been reluctant to part with MK's work. Instead, she had twisted the truth, saying that Jamie recognized the figure in the painting as







