Page 33 of When Hearts Surrender

“Silas?” The name escapes my lips before I can stop myself.

He stops humming, his entire being freezing at my voice.

The tenor belts out the ending lyrics when Calaf proclaims his impending victory at winning over his beloved Princess Turandot.

My hand flies to my mouth as Maxwell slowly turns around.

It’s him.

Silas. My Silas.

Heady warmth rushes inside me, happiness flooding my body, leaving me disoriented.

His intense slate-gray eyes widen in shock, a muscle twitches in his jaw, and he slowly takes out his hands from his pockets.

“Silas, is it you?”

I can’t help but ask for confirmation, because this man, this billionaire standing tall in front of me, his dark hair carefully swept back, his imposing figure filled with restrained power, doesn’t resemble the soulful bad boy from that night, the one who teased me and held my hand when I was terrified as he sped down the near empty streets of Manhattan.

He steps toward me but halts midway, his hands balling into fists by his sides. A few deep, mirthless chuckles slip from his mouth, the sounds full of incredulity threaded with ridicule.

He shakes his head, his eyes roving over me in disbelief before hardening into a cold glint. He extends his hand.

“Maxwell AngusSilasAnderson, at your service, Ms.Annabelle Law-McKenzie.”

I flinch at the icy expression on his face.

Where is the warm, charming man from that night?

Chapter 12

The fates have adark, twisted sense of humor.

The thought whispers through my mind as I stare at her in shock.

The beguiling woman who has stolen my focus during the day and haunted my dreams at night for the last two months is the woman I’m supposed to marry.

What the fuck.

She took a piece of me with her when she got into the sedan that night, a car I called for her because I knew if I took her home, I would never let her go. And that was before I, in a weak and impulsive moment, kissed her on the pier with the sunrise shining around us.

The kiss obliterated my soul. It felt like coming home after being marooned on an island or reclaiming something precious I’d once lost. Every atom in my body vibrated for the woman I held in my arms, attuned to her every breath, every moan, every gasp.

I knew then, as I know now, I have to stay away from her.

Because of the curse.

Because…if I fail, then she dies.

Andthatis unfathomable.

Now,Belle, as she told me to call her in our email correspondence, stands before me seemingly as shell-shocked as I am, her beautiful lips parted on a gasp.

I am to marry her.

Sydney’s lifeless face shifts into my consciousness and I flinch, the coffee I consumed moments ago threatening to make a reappearance.

I can’t marry her. She’s the last person on this planet I can marry.

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