Alle Kapitel von Forbidden By Her Sister's Husband : Kapitel 221 – Kapitel 230

Damian stood and came around to her side of the table. She stood and he placed his hand at the small of her back, warm, steady, she felt it through the silk, and his other hand took hers and they moved toward the floor. The first few steps were the adjustment. Finding the same pace, the same rhythm. Then something in her body settled and she stopped holding herself careful and just moved with him. He was close. She could feel the warmth of him, the solidity of him, the way he moved like he had done this a thousand times and had no particular opinion about it. His hand at her back rested without pressure, without grip. Just rested. Like she was exactly where she was and it was fine. She watched the lapel of his jacket. The dark fabric, the clean line of it. She let out a slow breath. The music was soft and the room moved quietly around them and she was aware of the candlelight and the low sound of other people and his hand warm through the silk of her dress and all of it felt fa

Alfred Cross kept good whiskey for important conversations. Damian had known this his whole life. The bottle was already open when he arrived and two glasses sat on the desk, poured and waiting. Alfred stood at the window. Small talk lasted ninety seconds. Alfred turned and set his glass down. "Elena Winters," he said. "I know." "Then sit down." Damian sat. He looked at his father and waited. Alfred began the way he began everything that mattered — with precision. The Winters Group. Cross Industries. Three markets, the board's interest, the strategic alignment, the kind of union that consolidated their position in ways nothing else on the table currently offered. Elena's family. Elena's understanding of what was required. He laid each piece down like a man laying cards, methodical, certain of his hand. Then he looked at his son. "The situation in your penthouse needs to end." Damian looked back at him. "She has a name." Alfred's expression didn't change. "The Ha

The question sat between them in the stillness and he didn't reach for words. He looked at her and she looked at him and the silence stretched out, full in the way silences were between two people when something true was sitting in the room with them. He didn't have a clean answer. Not one he was ready to say out loud, not one he had finished understanding himself yet.She was the one who looked away first. Down at her hands. At the lamp. At nothing in particular.He let the quiet sit for a moment longer."Did you eat?" he said.She turned back. The simplicity of it seemed to pull her back into the room, back into her body. She looked at him and slowly shook her head.He stood and reached down and lifted her in one motion, one arm beneath her knees and one behind her back. Her lips parted and her eyes went wide for a second, caught off guard by the sudden shift, and she grabbed onto his shirt. He carried her to the dining table and sat down with her still in his arms, settling her ont

The makeup artist stepped back, looked at her work, and said, "Done."Aria looked at herself in the mirror.The gown was midnight blue, floor length, the silk fitted through her waist and falling straight and clean to the floor. The neckline was low and draped across her collarbone, simple and deliberate. Her hair was swept up with a few loose pieces falling at her jaw. The makeup artist had worked for an hour on her eyes, the shadow blended dark at the outer corners, the liner precise, a smoky depth that made everything else unnecessary. Her lips were nude. She looked at the whole picture and something in her chest settled.Two weeks ago Damian had asked her to be his plus one to the Cross Industries gala. The biggest one New York had seen from this family in years. She had said yes.And here she was.A knock at the door. It opened before she turned.Damian stepped inside.Midnight blue.The surprise crossed he

Aria held Elena's gaze for one more second. Then she looked away, like the conversation had simply run its natural course. Before Elena could say a single word, footsteps crossed the floor behind them. Damian came through the crowd and his eyes found Aria and that was it. That was where they stayed. He walked directly to her like Elena was not standing there, like that corner of the room held only one person worth crossing it for. He did not glance at Elena. Not once. Not a flicker. She could have been part of the wall, part of the air, part of nothing. He stopped in front of Aria and held out his hand. "Dance with me." Aria put her hand in his and they walked toward the floor. At the far end of the room Elena stood exactly where they had left her. She watched his hand settle at Aria's waist, fingers pressing in, deliberate and certain. Watched the way he drew her close the moment they reached the floor. Watched the way he looked down at her when the music began. Only at he