The flashing of cameras was relentless, a thousand stinging bursts of light blinding Elena as they stepped out of the charity gala. She had learned to keep her face neutral, her hand resting lightly on Adrian's arm like a mannequin posing in a shop window.
But tonight, the reporters weren't satisfied with photographs. They wanted blood.
"Mr. Kane! Mrs. Kane! Is it true you're living separately already?"
"Adrian, people say your marriage is a sham!"
The questions were knives thrown from every direction. Elena felt her chest tighten. Her gaze darted to the black sedan waiting at the curb, the sanctuary that seemed so far away.
She took a small step forward, desperate to escape. That was when Adrian's hand shot out, gripping her wrist in a silent command to stop.
She looked up at him, startled. His eyes were unreadable, but there was something sharp in them, something that told her he was about to do something reckless.
"Adrian, don't" she began, but her voice was swallowed by the roar of reporters.
In the next second, his hand slid up to the back of her neck, pulling her close. Before she could turn her head or step away, his mouth was on hers.
It wasn't a soft kiss. It wasn't tender. It was calculated, a deliberate, possessive display meant for every camera in sight.
The crowd erupted in a frenzy. Shouts, camera shutters, gasps.
Her hands instinctively pressed against his chest, but her mind… her mind betrayed her. The world seemed to fall away for a split second, leaving only the heat of him, the solid strength of his body, and the maddening sensation of being claimed in front of everyone.
She hated it. She hated him.
So why was her heart racing like it had just run a marathon?
He pulled back slowly, his eyes locking with hers as if daring her to make a scene. Then, without breaking his perfect, camera-ready smile, he bent his head and murmured against her ear:
"Careful, Elena… people might start thinking you enjoyed that."
Her pulse thundered in her ears as the cameras flashed again and she hated that, deep down, she wasn't entirely sure he was wrong.