ena

oon, my phon

department of the

ousand-dollar fee must be paid in full by five o'clock today. If the b

" I say, affecting a co

rom the Marcello estate cleared this morning, bringing m

housand do

world. Every single person either does not answer my calls or politely declines my requests for a loan. The scandal of my father's

ut seeing out the massive window at the estate's private lake. The pressure in my

s Se

iere is walking toward me,

e on your salary," the Consigliere says. "The

ands and open the app. A bank notification sits

my vision swimming. I

ur probationary period,"

ly. "Please relay my deepest gratitude to

t tha

s from the shadows

is dress shirt undone. The sliver of exposed skin at his collarbone draws my eye before I can stop myse

es, taut as a wire, and I feel something pass between us-not warmth, not kind

of Nico," Luci

rds require, and there is something in those frozen depths-

. He turns and ascends the stai

h escaping my lips. The crushing weight

und clinic. I go straight to the front desk and hand the

looks so frail against the white sheets, as if she might

y come from, Serena

moothly, brushing a stray lock of hair from her foreh

"He said you should accept the bridesmaid

texture of iron filings pressing into the quick of my nails, the

irmly. "We do not need their tai

falls asleep, her breathin

linic and step onto

look wh

nce, draped in a designer coat. Zane is standing r

sks, her smile a venomous curve. "Just agree to be my brid

sickening certainty dawning on me. I

ity," I say flatly. "Th

le falters, a

stepping forward. "You don'

g to yield an inch. I look Sab

olen relationship," I say, my voice barely a whisper. "Because de

iliation. He takes a step toward me,

contempt, turn my back on the

world knows you are a discarded, pathetic stra

my hand, and hail a yellow cab. I open

miss?" the

ello Esta

irror. His face pales, and he visibly sw

re?" he ask

y settle over me. Somewhere inside that fortress, a man with ice-blue eyes just saved m