Chapter 1 - AT MIDNIGHT, YOU’RE GOING INSANE
Julian Cole threw the leather whip onto the wedding bed before he even kissed his bride.
“Take off the dress.”
Emma Cole stared at him.
Outside the floor-to-ceiling windows, Manhattan glittered beneath them like a kingdom.
They were seventy-two floors above Fifth Avenue.
Champagne waited in silver buckets.
White roses covered the penthouse.
Her wedding gown alone had cost more than the farmhouse where she had supposedly grown up.
Julian loosened his bow tie.
Then he smiled.
Not the polished smile from the ceremony.
Not the gentle smile he had shown photographers.
This smile was colder.
Private.
Real.
“Did you hear me, sweetheart?”
Emma slowly reached for the diamond necklace around her throat.
Julian’s eyes narrowed.
“Leave that on.”
Her hand stopped.
He stepped closer.
“I paid three million dollars for those diamonds.”
He touched the necklace almost lovingly.
“You’ll wear them when the doctors take you away.”
Emma looked at him.
“What doctors?”
Julian laughed.
There it was.
The moment she had waited two years to hear.
“God, I’m going to miss this innocent little face.”
“Julian.”
He walked toward the bar and poured himself bourbon.
“You were perfect, Emma.”
He raised the glass.
“Quiet.”
A sip.
“Grateful.”
Another.
“Easy to train.”
Emma’s breathing remained slow.
Julian mistook that for fear.
He always did.
“You really thought a man like me fell in love with some nobody from a farm in Kentucky?”
Her eyes lowered.
Exactly as he expected.
Exactly as she had practiced.
Julian grinned.
“At midnight, Dr. Warren is coming upstairs.”
Emma looked toward the elevator.
“He’s a psychiatrist.”
“I know what he is.”
Julian paused.
Emma corrected herself quickly.
“I mean… you told me about him.”
His smile returned.
“He’ll document a severe psychotic break.”
Emma’s stomach tightened.
Not because she was surprised.
Because he was finally confessing.
Every word was being transmitted through the tiny microphone hidden inside the diamond clasp at her throat.
Detective Lena Ortiz was listening from an NYPD surveillance van three blocks away.
So was Assistant District Attorney Marcus Bell.
Julian had no idea.
He continued.
“You’ll scream.”
“I won’t.”
“You’ll attack me.”
“I won’t.”
He smiled wider.
“The report will say you did.”
Emma looked at the whip.
Julian followed her gaze.
“That helps make the story convincing.”
“You’re going to hurt me?”
“No.”
He walked toward her.
“I’m going to prove you’re dangerous.”
He leaned close.
“Then I’ll have you committed.”
Emma whispered, “Why?”
His face changed.
For two years, she had watched him hide behind charm.
Now the mask was gone.
“Because I can.”
Emma felt something cold settle inside her.
Julian took her chin between two fingers.
“And because women like you need to understand something.”
“What?”
“You don’t marry into the Cole family.”
His grip tightened.
“You become property.”
Emma looked directly into his eyes.
For the first time that night, she stopped pretending to be afraid.
Julian noticed.
His fingers slowly released her face.
“What was that?”
“What?”
“That look.”
Emma smiled.
Just a little.
Julian’s expression hardened.
He reached into his jacket and placed a small remote on the nightstand.
Emma recognized it immediately.
Penthouse security lock.
Julian pressed the button.
Every exit clicked shut.
“There.”
He slipped the remote into his pocket.
“Now we can stop pretending.”
Emma’s heartbeat stayed steady.
Under the diamonds, the transmitter continued streaming.
But then Julian reached toward her neck.
His fingers touched the clasp.
And he frowned.
“What the hell is this?”
Emma froze.
Julian turned the clasp between his fingers.
The hidden transmitter was less than an inch from his hand.
Then he looked straight into her eyes.
“Emma…”
May you like
His voice dropped.
“Did someone alter my necklace?”
