he bright light hit Bartholomew directly in the eyes. He groaned and roll

his hand to hit Casey's warm shoulder. He expecte

pace. The bedsheets

es and pushed himself up onto his elb

His voice was thick an

. The penthouse

or. He stood up and rubbed his temples. As he turned toward the bathr

ped bre

y centered on the table. Underneath the

the table. The metal bit into his palm. He turned and marched straight into the w

er bags were untouched. But the bottom corner of the shelf was

bedroom. She kept her head bowed and he

ling. "Mrs. Hendricks left at two in

w the diamond ring onto the vanity table. It bounce

He clenched his jaw. He was convinced this was just an escalat

e found her contact and pressed call. He

mmediately answered. "The number

d bloc

pped the phone so hard his knuckles popped

t to stop this childish game and come home. If you do not walk through that door by eight

bed. He ripped his bathrobe off and walked in

owded coffee shop smelled like roasted beans and burnt toa

ay hoodie and her faded jeans. She took a massive bite out o

Paige slid a tall iced oat

e gilded prison," Paige

offee. Before she could take a sip, her phone lit up on the tab

She tapped the screen and

e small space between them. He threatened to

bright red with anger. She opened her

delete icon. The voicemail vanished. She went into h

laptop and logged i

ood production company. They were offering to double their previous bi

ve reply. She refused the buyout. She demanded to be named the Execu

n. She saw the dollar amount in the email chain. Paig

ing at Casey in pure shock. "You have been p

picked up her bagel and took another bite. The

icks Group building in Manhattan, Cash Bass kno

ugh his suit. Bartholomew was sitting behind hi

ccounts. Mrs. Hendricks has not swiped

pensive fountain pen into the document he was signing. Th

?" Bartholome

three blocks away. We've lost the trail for now. She paid in cash and got out at a crowded subway station in Brooklyn, intentionally mixing i

liar sensation crawled up his spine. It was the feeling of total loss of contro