The One on My Left Breast Is Prettier

The thought of any Whitmore touching my remains again filled me with revulsion.

Fortunately, before Pearl reached the beads, Miles caught her wrist from behind.

His warning was cold.

“Miss Whitmore. Mr. Blackwood doesn’t like people touching his possessions.”

Pain drained the color from her face.

She turned to Lucian for help.

“I didn’t mean any harm…”

He put the beads back in their box.

Only then did he lift his eyes to her.

The look made her visibly uneasy.

“Mr. Blackwood?”

Suddenly, he leaned close.

If beauty could kill, his face would have been lethal.

He was like the strongest liquor. Near enough to make a person dizzy without taking a sip.

Pearl clearly couldn’t withstand it.

Her face flushed. I could even hear her heart pounding.

He lifted a hand and brushed a fingertip over the red mark beside her eye.

His expression grew unreadable.

A faint smile touched his mouth.

“Pretty mark. Were you born with it?”

His low, rough voice was almost a caress.

I froze.

Then excitement rushed through me.

He must have recognized it.

Once, I had been lying drunk in a private lounge when I dimly sensed someone enter.

I assumed it was a server bringing something to sober me up. Half asleep, I held out my hand.

Apparently, the service was excellent.

A hand supported the back of my head, and a cup was brought directly to my lips.

When I felt a little clearer, I started to say thank you.

Then I saw who it was.

Lucian.

I jolted upright.

“What did you make me drink? Are you trying to poison me?”

I had moved too fast.

My head spun. The moment the accusation left my mouth, I pitched forward.

In a panic, I caught his tie and dragged him down onto the sofa with me.

Our noses almost touched.

The liquor on my breath mingled with the warmth of his breathing.

His mouth curved wickedly.

“Try to control yourself, Stella.”

“Get off me.”

My face burned hotter.

I pushed at him.

He didn’t move.

Then something cool touched the corner of my eye.

His fingertip brushed the red mark there, sending a helpless, tingling shiver through me.

I went completely still.

His voice was low and dangerously intimate.

“Has anyone ever told you how pretty that mark is?”

I slapped him.

It was a weak, drunken little slap.

His smile only grew more wicked.

“I compliment you and get hit? Are you always this unreasonable?”

“How thick is your skin, Lucian?”

Without a shred of shame, he asked, “Didn’t you just check?”

“Get lost!”

That had happened a few months earlier.

I still remembered every detail.

After all, I had never met a second man as shameless as him.

Pearl didn’t know she had been given my skin.

She genuinely thought he was complimenting her.

She leaned toward him and breathed softly into his ear.

“There’s another one on my left breast. Even prettier.”

Lucian smiled and leaned back.

His eyes never left her face.

“You’re more interesting than I thought, Miss Whitmore.”

He left her with that tantalizing remark, stood, and walked away.

“Mr. Blackwood!”

She tried to follow.

A bodyguard pressed down on her shoulder and forced her back into her seat.

She could only watch him go.

Unless Lucian allowed it, nobody got near him.

Fortunately, I was a ghost.

As long as he carried the beads made from my ashes, I could follow him.

I had seen more than enough of the Whitmores’ ugly, lying faces.

Right now, I wanted to stay with Lucian.

There were too many mysteries around him.

Most of all, I wanted to know why he had risked his life to save me two years ago.

“Mr. Blackwood, wait.”

Julian hurried after him.

Miles stopped him before he could get close.