melled of clean leather and

tightly in her lap. The car was nice-too nice for her own budget, but it fe

n the wet asphalt and the rhythmic swish of the windshield wipers. The

ond closer to making the biggest mistake of her life. She thought about the washing ma

knew her secrets and used them against her. She cou

, stop

t glanced at her in the rea

oice trembling. "I'm sorry, but I'

aten her, to remind her of the dea

," he

blinked

eyes on the road. "I'm sorry for how I acted this morning.

mouth slightly open.

washing machine thing, that's just a habit. I can be neater. And the investigati

le. The hard edge was gone from his voice, rep

unning a fever and still showed up to take care of her. Maybe she had been too harsh. Ma

mur. "I need this marriage. I really do. But I want it t

ehind a hollow exhaustion. He was right. She needed this too

t..." she started,

replaced by a cold, hard edge that cut through the air like a blade. "I would prefer if our partners

out his phone. He tapped the screen a few time

said, holding the phone out to h

he screen. Her blood tu

e. She was standing in the center of the frame, her face clearly visible. Across from her was a man she didn't recogniz

ed. She couldn't breathe.

piece of her soul to pay off Gerry's first demand. It was the one secret s

?" she choked out, her

phone back and tucked it into his shirt pocket. "I was worried about what he might force you

ht. Graham turned to look at her. His

our university's ethics board, or to the FDA, your PhD wouldn

ht. Graham turned to look at her. His

we have a mutual understanding now, Jaimie?

green. The car

the road ahead, the image of that photograph seared into her brain. The t