irs and high-stakes business deals. Haleigh sat in a high-backed ve

private investigator she'd hired three hours ago. The speed at

Gray and Brylee. The lease on an apartment in the Upper East Sid

file that made Hale

er AirPods and

Sharp, nasal, and dripping

e been gone years ago. Make sure the lawyers have the evicti

liquid. She gripped the glass so hard she feared it might shatter, slicing her palm open. She

fell over

man in a dark suit with an earpiece. He didn't look like

wasn't a question. "Mr.

n the table. A local num

then picked i

d was old, gravelly, and commanded inst

d money. The kind of wealth that made the Cooleys look like lott

managed to say. "

devoid of sympathy but full of purpose. "In fact, I know

e window. A black Rolls-Royce Phantom was idling

lie, her home was about to be taken, and her care

ming,"

ed-down whiskey in o

lled of rich leather and expensive cologne. The city blu

security guard escorted her to a private elevato

ed from the hull of a galleon. He was older than his photos, his fa

t. He slid a thick dossie

en

orward and flippe

m opus. The architectural design she had spent th

cument didn't say Lead A

Architect: Br

ject was structured to funnel assets out of Ha

e erasing your professional existence. They will claim you were merely an assistant, that you

Gray's signature was at the b

" Haleigh asked, looking up.

," Hjalmer said simply. "An

linked. "

almer said. "You'v

ds called him a recluse, a monster. They said he was disfigured, that he

me to... m

lmer said. "Kane needs a wife to settle the board's nerves. T

eigh asked, her heart ha

. I give you the resources of Barrett Holdings. We crush the

ocument forward. A p

The allowance alone was more

"Kane has no interest in... romance. You will

window. Far below, the Cooley Tower look

. A divorced, barren woman who got p

nster's bride. But she would

ain pen from the desk. The me

ow?" she as

cessary for the fam

en. The nib hovered ov

r voice hard. "A ceremony. Bigge

odded onc

atch of the pen on the paper sou

up and looked H

g business wit