Harlow and Clementine thr

m. The freezing November wind instantly swal

o her knees on the icy concrete. Her hands shook violently as

and carefully hooked it back

Harlow's neck and buried her face in her shoulder. The little girl raised her

back of her eyes. She wrapped her arms around he

onight, she would die in a few months, and Clementine would

eek until she tasted blood. She

own a battered yellow taxi with the

ver, giving him the address she had

he cash and sped

ving Harlow and Clementine standing in f

g air blowing off the Atlantic Ocean felt like phy

he stone pillar and pressed

chanical voice of the estate'

e butler said. "No one with the last na

e camera lens. "Just five minut

off. The red light on

pped it tightly around Clementine, swaddling the shivering girl until onl

tone steps outside the gate, p

ezing. By 2:00 AM, Harlow's lungs

s over her mouth, muffling the agonizing coughs. She tasted fre

that Clementine stirred in

. Her vision started to tunnel. She thought the

ghts pierced

in front of the gates. The tint

His face was a mask of dark, brooding a

over the two figures

r, his eyes locked on Harlow. He searched her face, looking

her blue lips, and the way her frozen arms

his black bowtie off and threw it ont

against the frost-covered pavement.

udged the edge of her wo

ng with contempt. "A cheap sympathy stunt so you ca

elids open. She looked up

so damaged from the cold she could barely

e sight of her didn't bring him satisfaction.

o the keypad on the stone pi

n gates slowl

mud onto my floors," he warned over h

her dying body. She picked up the sleeping Clementine and stumbled through t

like a physical blow. The extreme temperature change

e down on a plush velvet sof

private study. The scent of expensive cigars and cedar

tation to her

loor. She took a deep breath, ignoring the stabb

wood, his fingers steepled beneath his chin. His dark eyes scanned

ssion. "You ran off with Atticus Duffy's bastard five years ago. Now

word 'bastard', drained the last

he skin broke. The metallic taste of

second. She swallowed all he

straight into Ezra's hosti

e is your