She took out her phone, her thumbs swiping quickly. She pulled up her gallery, selected the incriminating photo, and held the screen out toward him. “What will you say now?”The image was clear, taken with a powerful zoom lens. It showed Natalia and Heath in the supermarket parking lot, locked in the embrace Taylor had witnessed. Natalia’s face was turned slightly away, but it was unmistakably her. And the man holding her was, without a doubt, Heath Grover.Taylor’s lips curled into a victorious smile as she watched Nathan’s eyes fix on the photo. The shock, the confusion—it was all playing out exactly as she’d hoped. “There’s another,” she said, her voice a soft, poisonous purr. She swiped the screen, and a second image appeared. This one was older, grainer, taken from a distance. It showed Natalia in the driver’s seat of her car, and in the passenger seat, leaning in close as if in deep conversation, was Braxton Miller. The intimacy of the shot was implied, damning.“I didn’t want

In a dimly lit, velvet-draped private room of an exclusive club, Heath was seated in a plush armchair, a complicated metal puzzle resting in his hands. His fingers worked the pieces absentmindedly, but his attention wasn’t on the toy. A nasty, self-satisfied smile was fixed on his lips, one that didn’t reach his cold eyes.Beside him, Braxton lounged, his attention fully captured by the sole performer in the room. A stripper moved to a slow, bass-heavy beat, her movements a study in sensuality, practiced to draw him in. She danced for them, her eyes occasionally meeting Braxton’s, and it was working. His testosterone was definitely rising, a primal urge stirring as he watched the rhythmic sway of her hips. He wanted to call her over, to pull her onto his lap right then and there.But a glance at Heath stopped him. His friend hadn’t looked at the stripper's performance once in the last hour. He just kept working that puzzle, that creepy, unwavering smile plastered on his face. It was u

Natalia just looked at her. Thelma avoided her daughter’s piercing gaze, taking the silence as a sign that Natalia was actually considering the idea, that her words were landing.Then Natalia let out a short, derisive hiss. She shook her head, a gesture of utter dismissal, and without another word, she brushed past her mother and walked into the house, closing the door firmly behind her.Thelma was left standing alone on the driveway. Her scowl deepened into something ugly and desperate. As the door clicked shut, she let out a low, frustrated cry, her carefully constructed composure crumbling.“Oh, God,” she whispered to the empty surroundings, her hands clenching at her sides. “How am I supposed to solve my mounting financial issues if this stubborn, hot-headed daughter of mine won’t listen to reason?” She rolled her eyes skyward, as if appealing to a higher power that wasn’t listening. “It’s always a fight. Always.”However, Natalia entered her room, shut the door, and dropped her b

The towel unfolded, but he pressed his body firmly against hers, holding the fabric between them, keeping her covered even as they lost their balance and tumbled together onto the soft expanse of the bed. They landed with a soft bounce, a tangle of limbs and heat.Amelia’s hands were already at work, her fingers fumbling eagerly with the buttons of his shirt. She pushed the fabric apart, her palms sliding over the hard planes of his chest, feeling the corded muscle and the rapid beat of his heart beneath her touch. He kissed her again, deeper this time, and when his tongue slid against hers in a slow, claiming stroke, a low, helpless moan escaped her throat, swallowed by his mouth.His hand slid from her waist down to her hip, his grip tightening in a way that was possessive, almost bruising, a kind of raw claim she’d never dared to imagine from him. His voice, when he spoke next, was a dark, husky whisper that sent shivers racing down her spine. “So perfect. I’m never letting you go.

Natalia sent the text to Heath: On my way to the villa now.She tossed her phone onto the passenger seat, her grip tightening on the steering wheel. The confrontation with Taylor earlier had left a bitter, metallic taste in her mouth, a residue of anger and frustration. Fine. She was done with the drama, done with the accusations. She was going to get these herbs right now, today. She would hand them over to Nathan, and that would be it. Chapter closed. No more explanations, no more hoping for understanding. She just wanted this task completed.Twenty minutes later, she pulled up to the imposing, wrought-iron gates of the Grover family’s private relaxation villa. She killed the engine and got out. The place was eerily quiet. Standing at the barred gate, she peered through the intricate metalwork into the property. The gardens were immaculate, the villa itself serene and still. She didn’t see a soul. No groundskeeper, no staff, and certainly no Heath.Her gaze traveled further down the