Aria didn't even turn on the lights when she entered the guest suite.
She dropped her bag onto the plush carpet. She didn't look at the sprawling, imported canopy bed or the floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the glittering Manhattan skyline.
She just kept walking until her bare feet hit the cold marble tiles of the en-suite bathroom.
Her hands were shaking as she hurriedly undressed. She stepped into the glass-enclosed rainfall shower and blindly smacked the chrome lever all the way to the hottest setting.
The water crashed down on her instantly.
It was scalding. It hit her skin like liquid fire, turning her shoulders a violent, stinging shade of pink, but Aria couldn't feel the burn. She stood perfectly still under the torrential spray, watching the water swirl down the stainless-steel drain.
Aria's knees buckled.
