ather than house a family. Carly entered and immediately shed the cold armor of the outside

ic abstract painting. She didn't need the combination; sh

pliance forms for the Cayman accounts. Hundr

ent. She slid it into the middle of the stack, page 142. She carefully folded the top corner of th

oor slammed

ntrolled her breathing, forcing a rhyth

the faint, cloying scent of Lola's floral perfume.

ttered, not looking at her. "They're pan

y, neat. Just the way he liked it. He took it with

he desk. "What

t them over. IRS audit compliance. Th

xman was the only predator he truly feared. He groaned

s get this

was too arrogant to think he needed to read anything his mute wi

on speaker, barking at his VP o

you have to! I don't care!"

pt moving.

fold. The Separ

aused. His eyes narrowed slightly, focusing on a para

y crystal inkwell off

floor, shattering. Black in

across the paper. "For God's sa

ue, looking up at him with wide, terrified

snapped, annoyed by the interruption. He

the paragraph again. He just wanted to fin

e Sa

tened, a painful s

the page. A

the stack away. "Take these t

d against the signed agreement, feeling the i

" Bric

od with her back to

her waist. He sniffed her hair, checking for the sce

our ring?"

d up her bare hand, t

est. "Good. It's an import

eping in the guest room

tching the papers to her chest. She didn't smile. She slid down the wall until she was sitting on t