r thick with the smell of rubber and gasoline. Anona walked

pt

te. She pulled out her phone. A notification from

business travel is not reimbursab

pain that made her gasp. She leaned against a concrete pillar, clos

pillar and walked t

ential New York downpour hammered the pa

f the parking garage exit. She opened

ncision site. She wrapped her arms around herself

wasn't a town car. It was a Maybach 62S, a sleek predator of

dow rolled d

back, water splash

Mrs. C

resonant, and comman

he backseat. Harrison Sterling s

ncle. The man Alexander fear

then at the open door. S

limbe

elled of expensive leather and

He was reading a financial

her voice steady despite the shiverin

the subway? Alexander's stock would dip thr

l, bitter laugh. May

were the color of steel, sharp and assessing. He took in her wet hair, the pale ex

ingered on

stigators about the lab breach. They were scouring the city for the woman who h

ar as he knew, an anonymous donor's child. His gaze dropped to her hand, and a cold, possessive fury coiled in h

Estate, Harrison

him, startled. H

Harrison said, his voice devoid of sympathy but heavy with s

head to look out the window, wat

Mr. Sterling. I

cry. She didn't complain about her husban

definition,

the heated seat began to seep into Anona's back. The a

ed out. Her head lolled to the sid

saw her hand twitch in her la

hed over and tapped the climate control, raising the temperature two degrees