“Von.”

He whispered her nickname so softly, so intimately, his breath warm against her ear. But the words he followed with were laced with cruelty, delivered in that low, almost tender voice that made them cut deeper.

Yvonne’s eyes reddened as a laugh broke free—brittle, humorless. Samuel’s face loomed closer, his expression unreadable as a cold mirror to her anger, her despair. Her chin tilted up slightly, daring herself to meet his mocking gaze full ...