k sticking to her dark lipstick. She stood on the sidewalk, the marriage certificate clutched ti

the insanity of the last hour. "Archer," he said, turning to his assistant, who was

sider it a condition of our arrangement. A non disclosure agreement. A silent

dollar IOU, but her silence, legally weaponized and turned against her. It was a cage of a different

commanding presence. "We need to have a co

from Harper, her stepsister. An image loaded on the screen. It was a photo of a silver Zippo lighter, the flame lit,

ns. They were threatening the only thing that mattere

into the pocket of her jeans, pulling out two crumpled twenty-dollar bills. It was all the cash she had on her. She grabbed Carlisle's hand, slapping the bills into his warm pa

n stared back at him, wrinkled and sad. Forty dolla

es app. "Cab fare. I am sorry for using you. The million dollars

A muscle feathered in his cheek. "You are tip

re he could react, she spun around and flagged down a passing ye

shouted, ste

rtificate copy she had left behind in her haste. He watched the taxi merge into traffic. A laugh escaped

lions, a man whose hourly asset fluctuations amounted to more than most people earned in a lifetime. And yet, he had just been dismissed with forty do

r, looking like he was about to have a stroke. "Sir," A

st. "Investigate my special new wife," Carlisle said. He tossed the forty dollars onto the le

ir. I pulled the security footage from the Obs

ents before she burst into his room. She was leaning over the sink, splashing water on h

th. Her bone structure was delicate. Her nose was straight, her jawline soft but defined. But i

omething from a long time ago. Something buried under years of

a spy," Archer ventur

e snapped. He handed the tablet back

ched. She delusionally hoped that this bizarre, dark look would scare off the impending d

leverage worked. And now, she had leverage. She touched her chest, fe

mpletely taken over by her father and stepmother. Everything her father owned, every business deal he made, was built on her mother's fortune. Yet, the moment her mother died, her father i

s. A party. Of course. They were hosting a gala

stepped out onto the gravel driveway. The cold air hit her face. She

recognized her. He sneered. "La

on the stones. She could hear the music coming from the main house.

wasn't going to walk in the front door. Not

tanding in the center of the room. He was laughing, holding a glass of champagne

ed back at her. Pale. Determined. She wasn't the scared girl

with her, extinguishing a nearby candle. Emil