ng," Carter

her tears were not proof of pain.

ntinued. "I knew y

s dried, replaced by cold disgust. She looked at him a

n with the Beaumonts and get control of my family's fund. Then I

smug and

t necklace. This is how you were supposed to look

end

ved the image of her as an

said n

s clutch and swung i

r staggered back, blood beg

If you come near me again, I will

urned i

hink you're better than me now because you're with that broken cri

ped tow

o can make you happy,

d with a granite expression. A young female assistant in the front

d not ne

el of her Louboutin dire

tumbled back, c

tood st

es the man you will ever be. H

he gravel, face twisted

ying that to ma

it so you lea

toward th

Carter lunged for t

r reach

his path. The doors opened before it fully stopped. Two men in black suits stepped out,

acket shifted just enough to

door of the

nnington s

t in a wh

lored black suit, one hand resting on a bla

cripple. He w

at the heigh

yes settle

k to Carter at once. The stories of competitors ruined, companies disma

d come in person for

underst

t only lo

e an enemy

ed fixed on Carter,

ror. The man before him was not crippled, not broken, and not defenseless.

m Atticus was almost physical, pressing into the air around

uards, lifted the hem of her Vera Wan

r shut with a h

veway, and the silent threat of violence disappeared at once. Inside t

ve leather filled her lungs. For the first time in days, she felt phy

her. The space was broad, but his presence filled it. Dim int

d the priva

ed away from the

ned towar

said evenly. "F

areful. Neutra

dark window. He adjusted his tie, then touched the

ignity," he said. "Having my wife assaulted

nt of his thumb over the ring was n

he turn

eceptively calm. "Did it satisf

wanted to know whether Carte

mptuous soun

peated. "Mr. Penningto

d forward

arter Chase ceased to exist for me the moment I heard his voice in that restroom. As far as I

the air in the

the slightest degree. The corn

," he

ity between them broke, but a

he asked. "The timing was too per

r around family members on hostile g

ible. It also so

usually include the boss tracking Mrs. Pennington's location, cancelin

pped out, entered the marble hall, and went upstairs wit

he floor-to-ceiling window and l

hone

PH

ugh her so sharpl

swered

he phone. "I've called you for twenty-four hours. The whole Upp

Amara said.

r. The restroom. The recording. Her voice stayed

went

tream of furi

ly snapped. "And Bella. I sw

that day, warmth to

andlin

y them." Sophia's voice dropped. "Carter has n

tened. "What

s telling Wall Street it was his team's breakthrough. But I was with

lab. Equations. The breakthrough she had ha

et," Amara said quietly. "I was s

algorithm is useless. Va

n Amara's mind,

n't ge

ell me about the new husban

Maybach. Dangerous. Controlled

said. "But for now, he

rtner is an upgrade," Sophia said. "L

be t

d. "Though she's been acting stra

d, and the way Jill had begun praising Bella on

about Jill,

. She did not open Aethelred's files. Instead

eports. Her designs. The collections

the subfolder of

ession h

not just

woul

alk into Beaumont Jew

would