AVA’S POV
"Does it hurt? Holding your breath like that just to keep the world from seeing you tremble?"
I didn't turn around. I knew the voice. I was standing in front of the floor-to-ceiling vanity in our bedroom, staring at a woman I barely recognized. The dress was a masterpiece of midnight-blue silk, draped so perfectly it felt like liquid against my skin, and the Carter diamonds around my neck felt like a cold, heavy collar.
Lucas was standing in the doorway, already dressed in a tuxedo that made him look like a lethal shadow. He walked toward me, his reflection joining mine in the glass. He didn't look at my face, he looked at the way my collarbones protruded, at the frantic pulse in my throat.
"I'm not trembling, Lucas. I'm preparing," I said, my voice thin.
"Good. Because toni
