CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY THREE – FRAMED FOR MURDER

Crossing the scant distance between them in two strides, Julian gripped Charlotte by the shoulders and hauled her upright with a gentleness that belied the violence he'd just unleashed. "We have to move," he rasped, his voice pitched low and laced with urgency. "Now, Charlotte...before they--" She cut him off by seizing him in a fierce, searing kiss - a desperate affirmation of their bond, their union in the face of this darkness spiraling in around them. When at last they broke apart, his expression had regained a semblance of calm resolution. "Together," she whispered, twining her fingers through his with a grip forged in the crucible of their shared torment. "To whatever end, my love." Julian's jaw set in that familiar line of iron determination as he gave a terse nod. Then, with one last look of mingled anguish and unyielding defiance, he turned and they ran deeper into the night. The penthouse reeked of copper and dread. Marcus Montgomery's lifeless body lay in a pool of cong