oe

heart hammering against my

's leering face, my adoptive mother Sharon's icy stare, the

hing hard, and blinked, t

asn't

on a marble-topped dresser. Sunlight streamed through a floor-to-ceiling window that offered a breathtak

a soft, black silk nightgown that felt sinfully expensive against my s

The chase, the rain, the Aston Martin. T

no

sense of dislocation, as if I had woken up in someone else's life. I walked t

on the door

in. He was in his fifties, with sharp, intelligent eyes and a stern express

ion didn't soften. "You're up. Tak

nstantly. "Who are

said, placing the items on the bedside table. His tone

e again sent a small wave of reli

h the water, my throat dry. "Thank you,

alytical and cold. It felt like h

that made my skin crawl, "I don't know what game you're pla

h heat. I bit down

ed, his words precise and cruel. "The politics of the Sterling Pack are comp

erable points. Disgraced. Omega. He made me sound like a piece

e in my mouth. But beneath

poke, was steadier than I felt. "I'm not trying to entangle anyone

flicker of something-maybe respect,

photographs. Your best course of action is to disappear. Leav

Disappearing was what they wanted.

ive them the

"But first, I need to borrow a phone. As soon as

by my refusal to crumble. He reached into his coat p

," he said, handing it

fingers closing aro

ideas about what you can get from Mr. Sterling," he warned,

leaving me alone in the

nsing fire. It burned away the last of my

. I would not be a victim.

dialed the number I knew by heart.

el

I swallowed, forcing

. "It's me. I'