Owned by the Ex

felt like a man standing on a trapdoor. He sat at the head of the obsidian table and watched his Chief Operating Officer, Julian Thorn

the screen. He told Silas that the foundational code for the entire operating system was never legally severed from his marriage to

reminded Silas that if this didn't get resolved immediately, the twenty-billion-dollar deal would collapse and the board would vote for

aven to get the signature. Julian's smile widened as he warned Silas that some debts couldn't be paid in cash. Silas did

shift from steel skyscrapers to the endless rows of pine trees that guarded the entrance to Oakhaven. By the time his driver p

ed. The fences were leaning at dangerous angles and the barn was

the girl Silas used to know had been sharpened by a decade of hard work. She wore heavy denim and a faded flann

his chest that he had spent ten years trying to ignore. June didn't look up until he was five feet away. She set the crate down with

his jacket and told her he was prepared to offer ten million dollars for

uld smell the apples and earth on her skin. She told him she didn't want his money. She said she had spent ten y

s had to live in the guest cottage and work the land like a common laborer. Most importantly

an, hopped out with a friendly wave. He was tall and rugged with an easy smile that Silas had never possessed. Miller walked over

lt the color drain from his face as the trap snapped shut. Miller shook Silas's hand with a gri

t of sight, but she didn't let him speak. She

ce "Bea" Ashby. She wiped her hands on her apron and stared at Silas with a look of pure, unadulterated judgm

try. But as the crickets began to chirp in the long grass, he realized he was exactly where June