elaxed, his sleeves still pristine. Across from him, the attacker-Frank Miller-was strapped to a similar chair. His face was a swollen, bruised mes

oft, conversational murmur. He didn'

he said

laptop around to face the attacker. The

gambling debts from three separate casinos in Vegas. One hundred and eighty

tellite image of a modest house, "is 3456 Maple Street, Queens. Your daughter's house. Sarah, isn't it? And her two

acade began to crack. Hi

My lawyers will foreclose on the house. Garnish her wages. Bankrupt her so completely her c

oat. His psychological armor shattered.

r," Gaston

of digits, the tail end of a

the digital breadcrumbs. The silence stretched, th

us V

A board member

suspected a traitor on the board, someone feedin

been aiming for the company. He'd been aiming for him. And his pathetic

backward and crashing against the concrete wall.

every shell corporation, every hidden trust. I want him financially eviscerated. Then get everything

emergency meeting. The TMZ story about Ms. Thorne is... causing significant

hat they implied. "Schedule the meeting for tomorrow afternoon. I'

ur grandmother's publicist is advis

aston's voice was ice. "I

s awake. He needed to hear her voice. But then the memory surfaced-her pale face, the spreading stain on her

ou nearly died in my place? Sorry the whole world now thinks I'm having

d burned down the world of the man who had hur

ips, antibiotics, and forced bedrest. The doctors had been reluctant to release her, but the readings on her monitor

he still needed help to sit up. But the clock Matilda

surfaced into full consciousness, her

The Carlyle. The photographer. The threat

inished, she turned her head and looked out the window at the darke

y place where she hadn't been a commodity, a tool, or a disappointment. She couldn't let M

ent minute, she m

up," she

ena,

. Me.

rm around her waist and a nurse's steadying hand on her shoulder. By the time she w

voice thick with tears. "You can bar

underneath it. "If I don't show up tonight, Matilda destroys the orphanage.

e IV line properly-not the violent yank of desperation she might have attempted days ago, but

k bandages beneath. It took both Chloe and the nurse to guide it over her head without pullin

he stared at her reflection. A ghost stared back-h

sk of foundation and concealer to hide the deathly pallor

"She shouldn't be walking more than ten steps," the nurse warned. "And she nee

e of it," Chlo

eturned-a cold, miserable drizzle that matched the state of Helena's soul. C

you," Chloe plea

Matilda will be watching. If she sees you, she'll know I told you

take the w

wheelchair? That's not the image Matilda want

d. She pressed a kiss to Helena's temple. "I'

neon. A strange heat was beginning to spread through her body, a feverish warmth that had nothing to do with the cab's heater. The exertion of lea