Zane's POV

I cursed under my breath as we broke the kiss. I let her take a while to arrange her silk gown. I moved a bit from her as my mind played over what happened the night before.

Belle couldn’t sleep all night; I could tell from the way she kept shifting in bed, her body tense beneath the silk sheets. I lay beside her, watching her.

I thought back to earlier that night when I walked into the Perri mansion, my mind filled with chaos, only to be confronted by an entirely different reality. I remember the way Belle’s mother was yelling, her voice shrill with rage, but...