The penthouse was silent, a stark contrast to the deafening applause and clinking crystal of the ballroom. The city lights of Chicago twinkled outside the floor-to-ceiling windows, looking like a carpet of diamonds laid out just for us. But for the first time since I had stepped into this glass tower, I didn’t feel like a prisoner looking at a world she couldn't touch.
Damian closed the heavy oak doors of the master suite, the soft click echoing in the room. He didn’t turn on the lights. The moonlight was enough, silvering his shoulders and casting his face in deep, mysterious shadows.
He leaned against the door for a moment, watching me. I stood in the center of the room, still draped in thousands of dollars of silk and lace, my heart hammering a frantic rhythm against my ribs.
"It’s o
