My mind slid to Jane. I loved her as I should love my mother. She was the one who was always there for me. She was the one who rocked me when I was little and put the bandages on my scraped knees. She was the one who worked to protect me from the monsters that lurked in the shadows. My mother hadn’t been there then. Why did I think she’d be there now?

Tears threatened as I considered the possibility that this could be the last time I was ever home, ever in Savannah, maybe even in Georgia.

I’d walked calmly out of the sitting room when silence followed my question to Adelaide. I didn’t want to hear any more of Alton’s reasoning or Adelaide’s excuses. I made it all the way to my bedroom before I let the pain register.

Everything I’d worked for, everything I’d accomplished while away at Stanford was for naught. According to them, it was a four-year reprieve, my chance to see the world. It wasn’t about education or bettering myself. They didn’t know how hard I’d worked to bury Alexandria and create Alex. None of it mattered.

Alexandria Charles Montague Collins had her time away, now she had a duty. They didn’t care about my dream of law school, because the only dream I should have had was to marry, continue the bloodline, and live the genteel life of illusion.

As I threw my possessions into my suitcase, I left the dresses my mother bought for me wadded up at the bottom of the closet, along with all the other gifts she’d left around the room. They weren’t for me. They were for Alexandria.

For maybe the last time, my comfort came from Jane. She wrapped me in her arms as the hurt and rage came out of me in deep hiccupping sobs. I hadn’t cried like that since… since him. Though she rubbed my back and told me it would be all right, I knew, just like last time, it wouldn’t.

The blessing I’d requested from my mother in the sitting room came via Jane. It was my mother who gave it, just not in person. I had one semester and some money in my checking and savings accounts in California. It wasn’t much, but it would get me to New York. Even if I survived until the holidays, even with my mother’s blessing, Jane and I both knew the beginning of the year would signal my death.

If I didn’t return to Montague Manor, I never could. I’d be dead to my family.

If I did return, I’d be dead to me.

Either way, my diagnosis was terminal.

My phone vibrated with a text message:

Chelsea: “CALL ME!”

I’d turned off my ringer. I wasn’t ready to talk to anyone.

Me: “I WILL. GIVE ME A FEW.”

Chelsea: “WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED? ARE YOU COMING HOME?”

Me: “LATERS.”

In all the madness, my best friend still made me smile. This time she’d done it without even knowing. She did it by calling our apartment home. As usual, Chelsea was right. The two-bedroom flat we shared had been more of a home to me than Montague Manor had ever been. My shoulders straightened and I sucked in a breath as we pulled under the Departures sign.

I had a home in Palo Alto and I would find one in New York.

The Montague name didn’t own me—no one did.

NOX REACHED FOR the lapels of the robe and teased them apart.

“Hey, Mrs. Witt,” I reminded.

“Do you know how badly…” His husky tone was thick, sending tingles through me. “…I wanted to look under your robe the other night?”

I rested my hands on his arms, making no effort to stop him from doing exactly what he wanted. “No, how badly?”

He loosened the sash from around my waist. As the tie fell dangling in its loops, the robe gaped open, revealing just the sides of my breasts. The warm pad of his finger skirted across my skin, moving the satin aside. With my breasts fully exposed I looked up and quickly away. His pale gaze swirled with an intensity that reverberated to my bones. With nothing more than his eyes, my breathing hitched and nipples hardened.

I had absolutely no control or willpower when it came to this man.

Nox lifted my chin, bringing our eyes back to one another. His lips gently touched mine. I moaned as his fingers captured my pebbled nipples.

“Very, very badly.” His velvet words were a blowtorch, melting my insides. “I imagined what I’d find.”

I leaned into him. My head, suddenly heavy, fell backward as he continued to caress my breasts.

“I already knew you were stunning, ravishing even. I knew you had a smile that beckoned, holding me captive. In the short time before you left me alone in my suite, I saw a glimpse of the depth of your intelligence and humor. Your quick wit still keeps me on my toes.” He released my breasts and pulled me tight to his t-shirt-covered chest. “But I still didn’t know what was under that robe.”

I was lost in his words.

“Do you know what I found?” he asked.

I shook my head.

“I found an alluring body. Enticing breasts that I could caress for hours because I love how you respond. Your nipples fascinate me. I love how they not only harden but how the color darkens when you’re aroused.” His lips twitched as he stole a glance at my aroused nipples. “And your pussy… I found heaven inside of you. The way your body hugs me, the way it shudders as you come apart.” He kissed me again. “My imagination wasn’t even close to what I found.”

The world no longer registered. Nox and I were lost in the fog of him.

“Excuse me, Mr. Nox,” Mrs. Witt called from the hallway. I turned away and quickly fastened my robe.

Nox laughed. “Mrs. Witt, your timing is impeccable.”

“I’m sorry, sir. I thought you should know that you have an email. I believe you’ll want to see it before your… your plans for today.”

“Thank you, I’ll take a look.”

Her footsteps disappeared.

“Your housekeeper reads your emails?”

Nox walked to the other side of his desk and looked at his computer screen, but his head quickly snapped upward at my question. “Housekeeper? Mrs. Witt isn’t my housekeeper.” A smile snaked over his lips. “I can’t tell you any more. No information. I believe that was your rule, Miss Moore.”

I knew what he meant. I knew he was referring to our lack of last names. He was right. Who Mrs. Witt was, what her job entailed, or even its description, were none of my business. I reached for the cup of coffee that I’d set on the edge of his desk.

“Because of you, my coffee is cold.”

He was deep in thought with whatever he was reading. My words hung unanswered in the air, until he looked up. “I’m surprised. I thought it was getting rather warm in here.”

I blew him a kiss, purposely avoiding the other side of his desk. I didn’t want him to think I was looking at his email. Although, the fact that it more than likely contained his last name did run though my consciousness. “Nox, I should go back to my suite.”

“No, stay.”

His command wasn’t said with any urgency, but the lack of request didn’t go unnoticed.

“I’m interrupting you.”

“No,” his tone was brisker. “This asshole is interrupting me—us. This won’t take long. I’m going to call him and put this to rest, at least for now. His sense of urgency and mine are different.” Nox walked to where I was standing, and the menacing gleam that was heroin to my system flashed in his pale eyes. “Today my only urgency involves you. What would you like to do today?”

“I don’t want to be the cause of any problems. I’d hate to have you lose your job or account or whatever that is, over me.”

He caressed my cheek. “None of that is your concern. Don’t give it a second thought. Now about today: I know what I wanted about a minute ago, but we have all day. Would you like to stay here, go to the pool…” He added with a smirk, “Maybe we can see Max?” When I only pursed my lips, he went on, “Or the beach. We could rent a yacht. Have you eaten?”