ned against the marble balustrade, her fingers tracing the cold facets of the Thorne Heart diamond. Below, the city lig

e didn't need to turn around to know the scent, san

an said, his voice a low rumble that vibrated against her spine. He draped his cha

s than this, Ethan. In a basement on 4th Street, the wind used to whist

he looked at her. "You shouldn't have had to survive that. If I had known where you were hiding thr

than? We barely knew each other back then. We were

aw you. While Mark Woods was busy looking at your father's bank account, I was looking at the woman who could outmaneuver me in a negotiation without b

art skip but not out of fear, but out of a sudden, terrifying realization. For three ye

ked, trying to regain her professional composure

horne shipping lanes are already mine by

s was a fool who held a diamond and complained it wasn't

in her evening bag. It was an encrypted mess

ed at The Grey Hook. Meet

ic haze evaporated, replaced by

f the girl I humiliated at the boutique today.

His steel company is failing because of the new Thorne tariffs. A de

rous glint in her eyes. "They think because I spent t

ce his fingers with hers. "But they'll find that when you mo

Alliance: T

tale beer and desperation, Mark Woods sat in a corner booth. H

a man with a face like etched stone a

g a fist onto the table. "Chloe hasn't stopped crying since she got home. And now, Tho

She thinks she's untouchable now, but I know her secrets. I know the passwords to her personal accounts. I

re saying you can get us into the

e took my company. I'm going to take her legacy. But I need reso

Fine. I'll give you what you need. But if you fail, Woods... I

e image of Aria and Ethan on that balcony. "I'm not going

figure in the corner of the bar lowered their n

de contact. Th