Page 22 of Enthrall Shadows
This dazzling dominatrix owned each second of every breath.
“You’re not who I thought you were,” she said.
It sounded like an insult.
I lashed out. “Yet you are exactly what I expected.”
I pivoted and walked toward the door.
When I reached it, I silently chastised myself for retaliating.
Turning toward her again, I said, “You remind me of Audrey Hepburn.”
She looked thoughtful, and her calm demeanor made me want to stay.
“Thank you for your service, Henry,” she said with sincerity.
She’d heard all about me from Cameron.
Stay.
Give yourself more time with this goddess.
It would be hazardous, entrusting my happiness to someone like her.
“You’re too good for this place, Lotte.”
I pulled down my mask to disguise my face and stepped into the hallway.
Retracing my steps, I made it back to the foyer beneath the landmark of that extravagant chandelier.
With a polite nod, I strolled past the guard and exited through the front door.
Once down the hill and through the gate, I drew in a deep breath of air, trying to resist the urge to go back inside and search for that mysterious woman.
Charlotte Chamberlain.
Reason kicked in and I shut that desire down.
A match with her was impossible.
I headed out on foot, needing to come down from the high of Chrysalis. Touching my face, I realized what I’d done.
I’d left wearing the golden Venetian mask.
Richard and I had made it to Shutters on the Beach at the same time—both of us running late to the Cole charity event.
He’d driven over from Paramount Studios on Melrose, where Andrea was filming her latest TV show. I’d taken side streets from Encino to Santa Monica to avoid Saturday night traffic.
“Andrea will be joining us later,” he said. “Filming wraps around nine.”
“Can’t wait to see her,” I said cheerfully.
Richard looked gorgeous in his tuxedo—in anything, really.
I wore my favorite vintage-styled chocolate satin gown with a plunging neckline, a dress from the Mia Lauren summer collection.
Cameron’s designer wife knew how to flatter a woman’s figure. She’d come so far from the innocent girl I’d once interviewed at Enthrall.
