at the bus stop

ons, with a garment bag over one

. He thought you might prefer not t

gone still

her dizzy. Inside the envelope: a single sheet of St. Luke's letterhead, stamped PAID IN FULL

n Mont

badly she'd had to sit d

estate in the Hamptons with that dress buttoned to her throat, hiding

eps in a cream linen sui

s. "You vanished last night. I was

know something had gone wrong with his plan, and she needed to

l," she said.

r down a drain. "Drop the performance, Darlene. The whole family is inside. You smile, you hold my arm, and you say yes when I ann

e it

r palms and let him steer

dge-fund titans. Shipping heirs. Old women with diamonds th

head of the famil

t in this house sin

through the string

Montgomery

room

pines and moved aside, and a wide, empty aisle opened down th

ne tu

security men in black, and Darlene Gilmore

d those eyes - slate-blue, cold, entirely without mercy - sweeping the room

was

k she had clawed. The man she had left three hundred

sh. She caught the edge of a crede

rward, bowing his head with a defer

. Rare to see you away

pped three

lf-brother were a pane of dirty glass. His gaze dropped to Darlene, to the collar

ho is

oprietorial on her shoulder. "Darlene G

e word around in his mouth a

one step

reached her, and her traitorous body remembered it perfectly - the weight of that hand on the bac

now he would reach into his pocket, pull out three crumpled hundr

ton said, cool and carrying, "has no one ta

a porcelain cup of Ear

away from her face. "That's the custom. The wom

he was surprised the cup didn't shatter

y," she whispe

closed deliberately over the back of he

rim. Around them, matrons e

own with a precise ring

And your hands are shaking, Miss Gilmo

e inside of her cheek

tgomery. Thank you

ir ch

ng her eyes the entire time, he drew out a folde

s heart

s hand was champ

gown she had been wearing the night before - the