the sudden quiet, the air conditioning hummed, a low, monotonous drone. Carlisle st

g cups of black coffee. Arthur moved with practiced silence, his eyes fixed strictly on the tray. He set a cup at

Mr. Bradford?" Arthur asked,

d made him a king, remembering a time when he had been a starving student

d. "Just close the

tly and left. The

uld satisfy the burning resentment he had carried for six years. It didn't. Seeing her looking so fragile, so cheap in that worn coat, only made the

her panic. Her medical records. Her bank statements. Carlisle fli

rges for a pediatrician, a preschool in the Upper East Side, and a long list of transactions at a local pharmacy. Carlis

d of the table, intending to pour it out. A

thless. Her face was pale, her eyes

own with a sharp clatt

ked to the chair where she had been sitting, searching the floor. "I ca

ch coat shifted, pulling tight across her shoulders. He crossed his arms, leaning

trapped between the seat cushions. She grabbed it, clutching

isdain. "You may have forgotten, Annemarie, but I know exactly how worthless your w

her voice shaking. She walked toward the door, p

to

er hand on t

you really think you could walk into my world, beg for my firm's help, and just walk away

pered, not turning around. "I didn't k

f cheap drugstore shampoo over the lingering smell of his own cologn

y dropped from her ear, gri

ound," h

ders hunched defensively. "Just let me go, Carli

e force of his grip was bruising, but he didn't care. He wanted to shake the truth out of

me," he

is. They were swimming in unsh

Maybe now you'll unde

nds planted on either side of her head. "You're going to stay on this case. You're going to take my

she sobbed, the dam finally breaking

ld have died before making her cry. Now, watching her fall apart only made hi

denly exhausted. "Before I change

isle watched her until she disappeared around the corner. Only then did he let out a ragge

under that coat. The hollow, hungry look in her eyes wasn't an act. Annemarie Nunez was drowning, and despit

rthur. Get me the Mcclain family prenuptial agreement. And fin