Chapter 1
“She called him her husband.”
I did not look away from Vanessa.
Her attempted smile disappeared.
Around us, the conservatory had become unnaturally quiet. Bruno stood beside Elena with his leash slack, gray muzzle lifted toward me as if even he understood something had shifted.
I spoke softly.
“Who?”
Elena swallowed.
“The man upstairs.”
Vanessa finally found her voice.
“She misunderstood.”
I looked at her.
“Then help her.”
Her breathing changed.
“Elena overheard part of a private conversation.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
She looked toward the staircase beyond the floral arch.
Wrong instinct.
I followed her eyes.
“Is he still here?”
Silence.
Bruno growled.
Low.
Old.
Certain.
His attention fixed on the same staircase.
I trusted that more than Vanessa’s smile.
“Rafe.”
One of my bodyguards stepped forward.
“Upstairs.”
Vanessa moved.
“Adrian.”
I caught her wrist before she reached me.
Not hard.
Enough.
She looked down at my hand.
Then at my face.
“You’re embarrassing me.”
Interesting.
Not frightened.
Not offended.
Embarrassed.
That told me where her priorities still were.
Elena whispered:
“Mr. Sterling…”
I turned.
She looked sick.
“He had your office key.”
My jaw tightened.
“What?”
“He dropped it when Bruno bit him.”
Vanessa closed her eyes.
There.
Another answer.
My office key was not something a stranger should possess.
I looked at her.
“You gave it to him.”
“No.”
Too fast.
“Then how?”
Her silence widened.
Rafe returned two minutes later.
Alone.
“The upstairs room is empty.”
I said nothing.
He handed me one object.
A gold wedding band.
Not mine.
Inside the ring were two engraved initials.
V.H.
M.C.
Vanessa Hale.
And someone with the initials M.C.
My fiancée stopped breathing.
I looked at the ring in my palm.
Then at her engagement ring.
Two pieces of jewelry.
Two different promises.
And for the first time that evening, I understood why Bruno had bitten the man upstairs.
May you like
The dog had not attacked a stranger.
He had interrupted a secret marriage.
