The drive back to the apartment was suffused with an unsettling silence, heavy and oppressive. Damon sat alone in the back of the SUV, his silhouette stark against the flickering city lights that streamed past the window, an embodiment of coldness and distance, as unyielding as marble. Not a word had escaped his lips since their departure from the lavish ballroom, where chaos had erupted into something far more sinister.

Mara’s mind was a whirlwind, endlessly replaying the image of ...