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Saidin on her

She froze as his steel-and-silver gaze sla her prisoner

Her next scheduled breath wouldn’t come Her mind stuttered to a standstill as the power and purpose of his strides eliain in a ju on his everywith curiosity and anticipation

Then he stopped before her and brought the whole world to a halt with hiile, when she was anything but

She stood five-foot-eleven in her two-inch heels, but he still dwarfed her She’d never realized he was this i, this…incredible And he wasn’t even handso him handsome would almost be an insult He was…one of a kind Unadulterated power and raw maleness in hue housed as forain, appeal was a la his impact Aristedes Sarantos didn’t just appeal to her He incited a jarring, helpless, unstoppable response

She winced inwardly What a time to revisit the feverish crush she’d had on him since the first time she’d seen him She’d soon known it was futile, not just because he was her family’s enemy, but because he took zero interest in others She still hadn’t been able to stop herself fro as limpses of him as possible

But she’d never been this close Had never had hi down at her with such focus She could now see that his eyes were the crystalline manifestation of molten steel, bottomless vortices of—

She gave herself a mental slap

Stop fluttering over his iirl who’s bu

She cleared her throat “Mr Sarantos” She extended her hand “Thank you for co”

He didn’t answer, didn’t take her hand Just stared down at her until she realized it was as if he didn’t really see her She pulled back her suspended hand to her side, her eyes lowering, escaping the embarrassment and the crowd’s scrutiny

“I’one”

His voice, so low, so dark and fathoe like a bone-shaking bass line But it was his words, their i opacity of his own Not I’m sorry for your loss, the mantra everyone had droned to her for the past hours He wasn’t here to offer her, or any of her family, condolences, real or perfunctory

Aristedes Sarantos was here for hione And she suddenly realized why

“You’llwith him, won’t you?”

His eyes bored into hers, yet still h her into his own realizations “HeI’ll miss that”

Again, he was focused on what her father’s death ness to bend to the laws of decoru in social acceptability and political correctness, took her breath away And freed her to admit her own selfishness