ed through the thick

e of his nose to ward off a looming headache. He had just fi

leather backsea

e ordered the driver, his

d, dead look in Arianna's eyes last night. The stinging heat of her slap still l

ound garage of his building. He took the e

the front

e usual rich smell of freshly bre

s silk tie, loo

d she was locked in the bedroom, st

e ans

oing as he strode down the hall and

ck of his neck stood up. The room was too clean.

quickly to

. Her expensive skincare bottles, her

open the double doors of t

eath h

oset was empty. The wooden hang

ilver Rimowa suitcases were

erced the chest of the man who c

from his pocket an

unavailable. The cold, robotic

nd quickly typed a m

clamation mark instantly po

oc

ead, his face flushing wi

e room. It bounced off the he

rging temper, he strode over to the bed, snatched

edroom and roared down

rried out of the kitch

ir

is demanded, his voic

gs show the Madam left the premises at 3:

ht to stop her?"

his head, stari

office. He grabbed the heavy landline receiver f

ine opened. "Track every credit card under

e office, his jaw clenche

, the phone buzzed

have been manually deactivated. There are no new charges. And he

on the wet bar. He poured three fingers of

throat, but it did nothing to stop the sic

le vine that needed his money and powe

sight of a thick, brown courier envelope

ard and ripped

stack of crisp,

e Agre

iolently to

lack ink, was her name. Arianna Barr

re. The veins in his han

stack of papers and his empty whiskey glass, hurlin

tered into a t