lue plastic ballpoint the nurse had thrust at her, nothing

on the dotted line

band's name, standing in the fluorescent purgatory of the ER, she

pboard and disappeared bac

licking a rhythmic, maddening tempo on the linoleum. Every time she passed, Claudia sm

emerging at 3:00 AM. "He's in a coma,

to Claudia. She didn't cry. She reached into her He

nto the empty se

he said, her

It was a balance sheet for Valent

hours before the bank calls in the loans. If we don't pay, they seize everyth

t cold. "Wh

to look at her sister. Her eyes

lled a silver cigarette case from her bag, her hands trembli

quiel,"

ne, I can't. He gave me

nt still.

ws about the trouble.

ia. You do not sign those papers. You go to him. You beg. You cry. You use

king of Alexa, of the way he looke

ho cares about love? This is survival. If Daddy die

er skirt. "I have to go m

eaving Claudia alo

her father anymore. She was saving a future for this child. If she was divorced and desti

Mrs. Sanford a

resh lipstick to hide the blue tint of her lips. She dro

ky, a monument to Ezequiel's pow

with perfectly highlighted hai

e my husband,

th a look of barely concealed pity. "Mr. Sanford is in meet

it," Cla

ur passed. Then two. Her stomach cramped with hunger-sh

elevator door

and Mr. Sterling. He looked immaculate, fresh, po

he sa

. He stopped, causing the b

pt her, but Ezequiel raised a hand to stop him

lack spots danced in her vision, and the f

y her. His touch was electric. For a second, he held

e was doing, he released her

ed, his voice low and dangerous.

, tasting copper. "

watch, annoyed.

es, Ezequie

ce. He must have seen the desperation ther

offi

d the sky. She could smell him-the smoke from his morning cigarette,

th floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking Manhattan. He wa

k," h

nancial documents Imogene had given her. She place

" she said. "Two