yleen's hand was steady. The familiar, heavy click of the deadbolt retracting no

what the cat

nd staircase. It was Don's aunt, Jeraldine Bradley, a woman

for her late return. Tonight, she looked up. She met Jeraldine's con

nt defiance. She muttered something under h

rs and pushed open the do

erie and designer dresses. He jumped when he saw her, a flash of guilt

erly cheerful. "Alessandra just stopped b

Stop it, Don," she said, her voice flat and dev

erything? What are you talki

ed at the clinic. "Friends? The kind of frie

ward her, reaching for her hand. "Ayleen, listen to me. You

he were on fire, wiping the spot

ed them against his chest. The printed heading was s

hock and disbelief. He had expected tears. He h

e between them. "Sign it, and I will walk out of your

ctics. "You'll get nothing, Ayleen. My lawyers will bury

ut the emergency checkbook he let her use, wrote a check for a paltry sum, and

room. She saw the torn check and gasped. "You u

e. I don't want a single penny of your preci

e. This was not the woman he had married. This was not the quiet,

suitcase, and began throwing her clothes insid

k, his voice cracking with a strange mix of anger and

around. "I wish you both a lifetime of happi

block her path, but Ayleen fixed her with a look so c

her suitcase

He was losing something. Something he hadn't even re

edge of desperation in his voice.

turn back. "Have your lawyer contac

nsion, leaving the key w

country, Burdette Guerrero's ph

ficially filed for di

hing his lips. She moves fast, he thought. Clearing

ck a single,

e desperate she gets, the