The gala had ended, but the echoes of whispers still clung to the velvet-draped walls of the Imperial Hotel. Aurora had smiled, laughed, and walked with the poise of a queenbut now, in the quiet of Adrian’s sleek black car, the mask slipped just a little.

She leaned back against the leather seat, her diamond earrings catching faint glimmers of passing streetlights. Her hands trembled, just barely, against the folds of her gown.

Adrian noticed. Of course he noticed.

“You carried ...