The flash of cameras was blinding.
Ava stood frozen at the top of the marble steps outside the grand hotel, her hand resting stiffly on Ethan’s arm. She hadn’t wanted to come, but Ethan’s presence at her door earlier that evening had erased any chance of refusal. He’d been dressed in a black tuxedo, sharp as sin, holding out a gown like it was a gift instead of a leash.
“Put it on,” he’d said. “Or I’ll have it put on you.”
She’d worn it. Not because he threatened her, but because some dangerous, shameful part of her wanted to see what it felt like—to step into his world, into the glittering lights where he ruled like a king.
Now, under the onslaught of paparazzi, her chest tightened.
“Smile,” Ethan murmured, his lips brushing her temple as though whispering an intimate secret. “They’r
