h her good arm. She stood in front of Landon's desk, feelin

gany desk. He looked incredib

is tone dripping with fake magnanimity. "Once the

ll move you into a nicer apartment in Back

e in her throat, but she forced herse

y tired of this arrangement in a few years, I'll make sure you're taken care of. The

physical blow to the head. The blood

ng. She was a depreciating asset. A toy he co

nants of her grief. A strange, absolute numbness washe

n. She didn't argue

tonight," Vivian said. Her voice was comp

looked at her with the cold, detached satisfaction of an owner admiring a caged animal. He

back faced him, the deadness in her e

ushed into the women's restroom. She l

toilet lid. She pulled out her ph

ed on the first

tonight?" Vivian asked, her

you at nine o'clock at the Ritz-Carlto

four in the afternoon. Five hours

g the phone tight. "I need Julian's legal team to take ove

ne-second pau

one," Alex rep

ng, shuddering breath. She looke

own with a completely open back. It was designed to make her look

as the fabric caught on her fiberglass ca

lipstick, turning herself into th

waiting by the elevators, his eyes swe

ed into the elevator, the countdo