The Price of Pride

Clara

Heat scorched my skin, rushing from my cheeks down the curve of my neck. My fingers dug hard into the mattress, catching the edges of the silk sheet as the shattered pieces of the porcelain vase lay scattered across the dark floorboards.

Darius Thorne's parting words still rang against my skull. He had walked out of this suite with that cold, dismissive posture, treating me like a streetwa