he gun

e a surgeon's scalpel. She stopped just outside the circle of bod

nside tailored jackets. His eyes never left Gia's face. He was searchin

versized sunglasses, shielding her eyes. With a swift motion, sh

ointing a sticky

rminal, her voice clear as a bell, "thi

bout to have a heart attack. The bodyguards sta

bent slightly at the waist, brin

her," he said, his voice a low, rumbling bariton

ell she didn't understand. She forced herself to stay still, but her pulse quickened. There was no

pped and cold. She turned abruptly, her steps quic

e to follow her, to demand an explanation for the storm she ha

vate, insistent ringtone h

creen read: Seraphina. His exp

crowd, made his move. His fingers danced over his tablet. He sliced through the airport's firewall, isolated t

walked to catch up with his mother, casting one l

t?" Seraphina's voice was sweet, cloying

aid flatly. He ended the call wit

nished into the th

"Her flight informatio

ity footage from this area for the last

andom encounter. The mystery deepened, and with it, his

threw herself and the children inside, slamming the door shut. On

es. A fine sheen of cold

. "You will not run off like that aga

ut he wasn't a stranger. He w

with a dangerous man. She had survived worse. She pulled a file from her briefcase, the logo of New York-Presb

ense of style," he stated calmly, deliberately breaking

laugh. She forced the encounter from

flowing into Manhattan. The city rose around th

the broken pearl button in his palm. The image of a woman's lips, a defi

he commanded to the