Chapter 32

• The moment I stepped into the ballroom, the air shifted. A ripple of silence passed through the crowd, their gazes snapping toward me, drawn like moths to a flame. Their whispers buzzed around me, mingling with the clinking of crystal glasses and the lilting melody of the orchestra. I didn’t need to glance around to know the effect I had. I could feel it. The weight of their stares, the mixture of admiration, envy, and lust in their eyes.
• Dorian’s fingers flexed slightly where my hand rested on his forearm. He was stiff, his jaw set in a hard line. The attention I garnered unsettled him, but it wasn’t out of protectiveness. No, he was irritated—because I was drawing too much attention. Because I had turned into a spectacle.
• I didn’t care.