The Million-Dollar Heart by Rebecca Ryan

Percival’s lips curled into a smile, his eyes twinkling like stars in the night sky.

The divine beauty of Vivienne’s face, akin to a masterpiece carved by the gods themselves, made even someone like her—who prided herself on being no stranger to handsome men and beautiful women—pause in sheer admiration.

She belonged to him, and the fierce surge of possessiveness that rose from the depths of her heart quickly spread to her eyes.

Unabashed by her desire, Vivienne discarded her drenched dress. Her pale arms wrapped around Percival’s neck. “What’s so funny?” she asked, her voice sultry.

Percival’s gaze flickered. “I’ve already shared my thoughts,” he said. “Now’s not the time, so we have to… postpone ‘it’ a bit longer.”

Vivienne rolled her eyes internally. Who was really being put out here?

“You’re not worried about Kaitlyn?” Percival asked just before their lips met, voicing the final question of the night.

Before Vivienne could respond, the sound of labored breaths filled the steamy bathroom, spreading throughout.

As her mind hazed over, she thought she heard her phone ring. But then she was pulled into a sea of desire by Percival, all thoughts forgotten.

…

At the Hawthorn residence, the clock struck midnight.

Dorian sat up in bed, sleep nowhere in sight. His gaze then shifted to the emails on his laptop, feeling as if a boulder weighed heavy on his chest, making it hard to breathe.

[By tomorrow, I want to see that Hawthorn Group has terminated the endorsement deal with Kala.]

He had been on edge for days, and those few words made his heart tremble once again.

He opened and closed Vivienne’s contact on his phone, looking years older all of a sudden.

The once gentle and resilient eyes were now filled with weariness.

sigh echoed through the

he supposed to

The next day.

and Percival were determined not to follow the path laid out for them, which

they decided to visit the Hawthorn residence with Leopold in

cars in your garage, do I really have to play chauffeur?” Leopold complained as he followed Vivienne into the house. He’d been up late with

dare ignore Vivienne’s orders. Before he knew it, he was waiting in

was unrepentant. “Got a problem

all,” Leopold replied, shaking his head like a tambourine. “Besides, I’ve

his tracks and glanced back at him.

not assigned to an important person is basically on house arrest. Micah and Vance, too. The ones with assignments get

Thomas tried calling you yesterday.

acknowledgment. “I’ve already arranged for him to

that

in response, apparently not inclined to explain, and followed

out several times, both upstairs and downstairs, but received no response, which soured her

had tried calling that morning with no answer and wouldn’t have come over if it weren’t for the lack

was ready to call on the Order

Vivienne reached the master bedroom on the second floor and

“Dorian,

impeccably dressed in a suit and tie, ready to walk out the door at a moment’s notice, yet he

just now hear Vivienne’s

clear eyes noticed the fine sweat

softly, “I called you yesterday, and you didn’t pick up, so I came to check on you. Are you hot? It’s 79 degrees outside, and you have the

a bit. Got a little hot, so I turned it on to cool down,” Dorian said, loosening his

honest, he was

glanced around before turning to whisper something