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New York was the city that never slept; it never even got sleepy My condo on the Upper West Side had the level of soundproofing expected in a multimillion-dollar property, but still the sounds of the city filtered in—the rhyth of tires over the orn streets, the protests of weary air brakes, and the nonstop honking of taxi horns

As I stepped out of the corner café onto always-busy Broadway, the rush of the city washed over me How had I ever lived without the cacophony of Manhattan?

How had I everwithout him?

Gideon Cross

I cupped his jaw in my hands, felt him nuzzle into ht through e, that I would have to compromise too much to share e and doubted my own

Had I demanded more of him than I had of myself ? I was shamed by the possibility that I’d pushed him to evolve while I had remained obstinately the same

He stood beforeIn jeans and a T-shirt, with a ball cap pulled low over his brow, he was unrecognizable as the global ht it knew but still so innately co he affected everyone alked by In the corner of lanced at him, then did a double take

Whether Gideon was dressed casually or in the bespoke three-piece suits he favored, the power of his leanly muscular body was unmistakable The way he held himself, the authority he wielded with faultless control, round

New York sed everything that cailded leash

And he was gled to believe it

He would never be just a ance, perfection veined with flaws He was the nexus of my world, a nexus of the world

Yet he’d just proven that he would bend and yield to the breaking point to be with me Which left me with a renewed determination to prove I orth the pain I’d forced him to face

Around us, the shop fronts along Broadere reopening The flow of traffic on the street began to thicken, black cars and yellow cabs bouncing wildly over the uneven surface Residents trickled onto the sidewalks, taking their dogs out or heading toward Central Park for an early- what tieance

The Benz pulled up to the curb just as we reached it, Raúl a big shadowy figure at the wheel Angus slid the Bentley into place behind it My ride and Gideon’s, going to separate hoe?

Fact was, it was our h neither of us wanted it that way I’d had to draw a line when Gideon hired ency I worked for

I understood my husband’s desire forto forceaction behind my back? … I couldn’t allow it, not with a ether—or ere too far apart to make our relationship work

Tiltingface There was remorse there, and relief And love So much love

It was breathtaking how handsome he was His eyes were the blue of the Caribbean, his hair a thick and glossy blackhand had sculpted every plane and angle of his face into a level of flawlessness that mesmerized and made it hard to think rationally I’d been captivated by the look of him from theat random moments Gideon just dazzled me

But it was the y and power, his sharp intelligence and ruthlessness coupled with a heart that could be so tender …

“Thank you” My fingertips brushed over the dark slash of his brow, tingling as they always did when they touched his skin “For callingme here”

“I’d meet you anywhere” The words were a vow, spoken fervently and fiercely

Everyone had deed by his iron hen he ake When he slept, they torht with me We had so much in common, but the abuse in our childhoods was a shared trauether and pushed us apart It ether Our abusers had taken too much away from us already

“Eva … You’re the only force on earth that can keep me away”