Mag-log inSarahI dodge a few more high-society couples offering their warm congratulations as I desperately search the crowd for Marcus. When he’d first run off toward the terrace, I hadn’t been too worried. I figured he was just temporarily set off by the sheer audacity of Julian showing up at our celebration. Now, as the minutes stretch painfully long, I’m nowhere near as sure.My steps grow quicker, a sharp edge of anxiety guiding me as I walk the perimeter of the grand ballroom. I force tight, polite smiles at complete strangers as they stop me to express how incredibly happy they are for Marcus and me. Most of these people were invited directly by the Kane family. I recognize a few faces from his corporate office, but for the most part, it’s a blur of unfamiliar, wealthy faces stopping me for quick, superficial chats while all I want to do is find my fiancé.After coming up completely empty-handed in the ballroom, I begin checking the smaller, interconnected reception rooms. Nothing. My h
MarcusI’m navigating my way through a thick group of executives in search of Sarah when a very familiar, deeply unwelcome face steps squarely into my path, cutting me off.“What a spectacular party.”Ruby Robinson comes to a dead stop right in front of me, holding a cocktail glass. I should have known the media elite would find a way in, but I hadn't entirely expected the ruthless woman behind the city's most venomous, popular gossip site to personally attend. Perhaps it was completely ignorant of me not to expect her here. After all, she was the exact reporter who ran that devastating, viral piece on me detailing the long string of high-society women I’d taken on dates across the city in the first place.“Ruby,” I muse, smoothly tucking my hands into my pockets to hide the sudden tension in my posture. I know I have to tread incredibly carefully when speaking with a viper like her. If I piss her off even slightly, she’ll be blasting deeply personal, toxic rumors about me to the enti
MarcusAs we climb the grand marble staircase leading into the venue, an immense wave of pride washes over me with Sarah secure on my arm. She is, without a single shadow of a doubt, the most breathlessly beautiful woman in this entire room. Tonight, I get to officially introduce her to the upper crust of New York society as my Wife. It doesn't get a damn bit better than this. Looking at her, I feel an absolute high that nothing could possibly ruin.Planning a high-profile engagement party in under a single week wasn’t ideal by any stretch of the imagination, but I refused to wait. I was entirely ready for everyone in our circle to know exactly what we are to each other. I was on cloud nine the exact moment she finally told me she’d be my girlfriend; it meant far more to me than I’d ever care to admit out loud, even to myself. From the very first moment I spoke with her in that awful, sterile corporate conference room in Los Angeles, I’d constantly told myself to remain cautious in th
VickyThe lobby of the Michigan Avenue condo was a hushed cathedral of white marble and polished brass, a place designed to make anyone who didn't live there feel like an intruder. I adjusted the thick, tortoiseshell glasses perched on my nose and pulled the edges of my charcoal pashmina shawl tighter around my shoulders, making sure my hair was tucked securely beneath a sensible, low-slung beret. I didn't look like a woman with a mission; I looked like a weary arts reporter hunting for a quote on high-end real estate.I approached the front desk with a practiced, harried sigh. The concierge, a man with a mustache that looked like it had been sculpted with a protractor, glanced up from his ledger."Can I help you, miss?""I certainly hope so," I said, my voice dropped half an octave into a professional, breathless cadence. "I’m with the *Tribune*. I’m doing a deep-dive piece on the Kane development projects, and I was told Mr. Kane was staying here for the season. Did I just miss him?
Christian“What’s up?” Emily says, peeking her head into my private office on Thursday afternoon. “You need me for something?”“Yeah, come in a second, Em. Sit down.”She walks in, probably wondering what on earth I could possibly want with her today. I’ve asked so little of her over the months she's been here. She sits at the reception desk and answers a phone that hardly ever rings. She’s been present for a grand total of five meetings I’ve had with potential investors in this office—two of which were **Genevieve**. I told the others, who came after her, that my current growth fund was completely closed for the quarter, but that I’d be happy to talk with them when I inevitably opened my next round of financing.She hasn’t taken a single line of dictation—if that’s even still a thing in modern business. She hasn’t written a formal corporate letter or even made a pot of coffee for me. Most days, I’ve been paying this nineteen-year-old twenty dollars an hour, four hours a day, simply t
Christian “I got it,” Genevieve tells me the second she gets upstairs into my condo, her chest slightly heaving from the quick climb. She hands me the large, unmarked paper bag containing the Grim Reaper costume. “You paid cash for it?” I ask, keeping my voice low and disciplined. “Made absolutely sure you avoided any street-facing cameras near the shop?” “Yes,” she says, her expression completely flat and professional. “No paper trail. No digital footprint whatsoever.” I pull the heavy black fabric out of the bag and shake it out. It’s thick, coarse, and completely devoid of any defining shape. With Genevieve’s help, I pull the oafish robe over my head, letting the dark material drape heavily over my shoulders and fall down to my shins. “How do I look?” I ask, adjusting the fit. “I’ll tell you how you look,” she says, taking a step back to inspect her work. She folds her arms over her chest, a chilling, analytical glint in her eyes. “You look like something straight out
MarcusMarcus knew finally fucking Sarah would change things for him, but he hadn’t thought it would feel so catastrophic. The way she wrapped around him perfectly fooled his brain into thinking she was made for him—that they were perfect together. It was a shame she had only promised him to keep u
SarahSarah was completely and utterly fucked. Metaphorically, at least.Physically? She hoped to be by the end of all this.She watched Marcus’s tongue peek out to wet his lips, silently applauding herself for how long she had managed to fight the undeniable chemistry crackling between them. She h
Marcus“You’re sure the interstate is closed up ahead?” Marcus asked, his voice tight with the effort of keeping the SUV on the road.“Would you like to check yourself?” Sarah seethed.Marcus braved a look at her out of the corner of his eye. She was shaking her phone at him, some traffic app pulle
SarahSarah Sterling stood on the sidewalk outside the clinic with the late-morning sun warming her face, and for a moment she forgot how to breathe. Her fingers trembled around the folded medical report in her hand. She had read the words at least ten times already, each pass making them feel les







