~CHAPTER TWENTY~
The penthouse suite sits on the top floor of the Grand Imperial, a place soaked in gold light and dripping with silent expectations.
The wedding is over. The guests have gone. The flowers are wilting somewhere downstairs, and the world has moved on…
Except me.
Except him.
Hardin closes the door behind us with a soft click, the sound so quiet yet so final that it slides under my skin like ice.
The room is warm, dim, lit only by a spread of candles someone must have arranged earlier, soft amber light dancing across the marble floor.
I stand there, still in my gown, breath shallow, heart racing from something far more dangerous than fear.
Desire.
It coils low in my stomach, a familiar, hungry ache that only grows stronger when he shrugs off his jacket, loosening t
