Gilded Vows And A Scheme Of Skin

Synopsis

Night after night, I tangled with Brantley Hawthorne in our sheets. I was Claire Summers, his wife of two years, the keeper of his secrets and the calm to his storm. Then, on our second anniversary, he didn't come home. The call came in the morning, his voice smooth and light. "Darling, I stopped by that little bakery you love. Picked up your favorite almond croissants. Let me make it up to you tonight." I'd barely set the phone down when the alerts began to flash. Every gossip site and every newsfeed blared the same blazing headline. [Brantley Hawthorne rushes to Ex Vivian Reed's side after a horrific crash. Old Flame Ignited Once More?] Before the board could finish reading, his ice-cold voicemail popped up. "Vivian needs me. Handle the board. You know what to do." So I did. Under the heated glare of the directors, I buried the headlines, called in every media favor we had, and spun the story into corporate static, nothing but harmless background noise. As the last furious executive stormed out, a silhouette appeared in my office doorway. Lucas Hawthorne, Brantley's half-brother, leaned casually against the frame, a sly grin touching his lips. "Well, well...Claire, darling," he drawled, amusement dancing in his tone. "Feel like changing sides?" I opened my mouth to refuse, but then words flickered in my vision, luminous and ghostly, like captions from an unseen screen. [SAY YES. Lucas is your child's true father.] [PARTNER WITH HIM NOW. Brantley is about to persuade you to donate skin for Vivian's recovery.]