held in Leo’s ballroom, which is more beautiful than it’s ever been, thanks to Eva—I run back downstairs to get my purse and my phone. Everybody else grabs their things and heads out.
I follow them.
Slowly.
Because I have a new message from my collector.
Come with me.
Oh, I want to. My heart picks up, racing and racing at even the thought of it. He’s not dangerous, no matter what Leo says. But it’s my brother’s wedding day. I don’t actually want to miss the reception. I love parties. Everything is beautiful, and you can smooth over all the complicated things with champagne and pretty clothes.
I can’t. I’m not in the city!!
That’s where my studio apartment is. And where I’ll live again, once Leo is convinced that my security team can handle the collector. I’m moving back after the wedding whether Leo allows it or not. I’ll go crazy if I have to live in my brother’s house another day longer.
I know where you are, little painter.
Goose bumps pull up on the back of my neck at the name.
And that he claims to know where I am.
You’re in the basement of St. Thomas’s church as we speak. Come to the sacristy.
I can hear his tone in his text.
It’s not supposed to make me hot.
It does.
I bite my lip. Everyone is leaving the narthex and heading for the cars. I can only delay a minute.
I’m running up the stairs to the main floor of the church before I can change my mind.
I cut across the sanctuary to get to the small room he’s talking about. Ornate dressers line the wall. They’ll be full of robes and candles and whatever else the church needs for services. A large cherry wood table sits in the middle, its surface charred and dull from use. I imagine a thousand communion wafers counted here, a hundred gallons of sacramental wine poured into a goblet.
Sitting in the middle of the table is a single white orchid.
It could have fallen from a flower arrangement for mass, but I know better. It’s from him. The collector. The petals are smooth between my thumb and forefinger.
It’s a message. He wants me to know that he’s watching.
He was here.
I shiver in my satin bridesmaid’s dress. I should be afraid of him. And I am—but I’m also curious. No one’s ever wanted my art this badly.
No one’s ever wanted me like an obsession.
* * *
Thank you for reading Leo and Haley’s dark trilogy!
Want to find out more about Daphne’s stalker? Order DARK REIGN now for a brand new story from bestselling author Amelia Wilde in the Midnight Dynasty world…
Wealthy. Reclusive. Dangerous. Emerson LeBlanc doesn’t enter society much. He only ventures out in pursuit of new art for his collection. It starts with a haunting painting. Then he meets the artist. Innocent Daphne Morelli is more exquisite than anything he’s ever seen. He becomes obsessed with her. It doesn’t matter that she’s a living, breathing person with her own hopes and dreams. She’ll be the perfect addition to his collection.
ONE CLICK DARK REIGN NOW >
Love the dark Morelli heroes? Leo’s brother’s story comes out soon!
He arrives all dressed in black. Diamond cufflinks. A watch on his tanned wrist that cost more than we would ever see in a lifetime of work. He carries a single red rose for my mother.
Months later, Tiernan Morelli lays red roses on my mother’s grave. That same day, he tells me that he is my new guardian.
I should have known from the very start that he had more in common with the thorns than the rose. Now I know the truth: I’m a pawn in his dangerous game of revenge. I was too young and naive. Now it’s too late to save myself from his clutches.
Now I belong to him.
ORDER DANGEROUS TEMPTATION NOW >
Have you met Winston Constantine yet? Yes, the one Leo confronted in this book! Find out what happens when he meets Ash, the young woman who cleans his office…
Money can buy anything. And anyone. As the head of the Constantine family, I’m used to people bowing to my will. Cruel, rigid, unyielding—I’m all those things. When I discover the one woman who doesn’t wither under my gaze, but instead smiles right back at me, I’m intrigued.
Ash Elliott needs cash, and I make her trade in crudeness and degradation for it. I crave her tears, her moans. I pay for each one. And every time, she comes back for more. When she challenges me with an offer of her