, scrubbing her skin until it was raw and pink. T

the mirror. There was a bruise on her nec

touching it tentat

aler, layer after layer, until

. She had left her mobile turned of

ed it up

he hell

Arvel Hamilton di

d," Elisa said,

d you had a fight. He sa

rrected, gripping the phone cor

rget dates. It's not a reason to jeopard

all this

. You know this. If Osborne pulls out, the gallery goe

said bitterly. "She'd love to

ey is trying to help. You're the one making things difficult. Fix th

e click

phone. Her hand wa

from a hidden compartment in her desk-a hardened, military-grade slate that operated on a clo

haos. The system that bloomed on the screen wasn't a brow

in the Caymans, shell companies in Singapore, high-fre

it was almost abstract, a figure capable of bringing

save Hamilton Holdings. She could buy

g rights to the family shares-the real power-only transferred to her

Arvel would sue for control. El

to be

en, her reflection gho

earth," sh

ld let the merger go through, let their finances entangle, and

orbell

e slate instantly, sliding

ough the peephole. A delivery man hol

ened t

the man said, hand

sorry. Stress at work.

re. Just a

pped the entire bouquet, vase and all, into the trash compa

plan. She nee

s a start. But she needed more. She needed proof o

the man from last night-th