hoed in the silent apartment. The sound sev

door until she hit the floor. She pulled her kn

b tore from her throat. The tears she had been fig

d on a loop in her br

person in the Payne family who had ever looked at her with love. If her father fol

d knees. She grabbed her phone from the sofa, he

her fathe

f a high-end engine and the rhythmic thrum of tires against asphalt filtere

d, please tell me you're not already there.

t the morning trying to contain the media blackout, but the board is breathing down my neck. If you don't want to be the r

ne wen

s a weapon to protect his company, racing toward the Hamptons with the lethal truth

paced the living room, her chest heaving

She couldn't go to the press

d dropped during the fight lay in a heap on the rug. Sticki

w Spe

fe. The man who could crush the Pa

mind: When you realize you can't fight

d. She rubbed her thumb over the gold foil let

to a monster. But if she didn't, her gran

d down her cheek. She picked up her phone

green call button, her phone

the quiet room. The scree

reen in pure terror. Had her father already

throat, and pressed answer. She forced the

Gra

red, his breath hitching slightly. "I've been isolated out here all morning... my staff keeps trying to hide the

out the scandal, or at least enough of it to be dis

faint, sharp authority. "Your father is on his way here. He sounded frantic on the phone, muttering about

to muffle a sob. He hadn't seen th

explain everything," Alen

you can beat him to the front gate. I

tervention and the traffic had bought her a narrow window. She

' worth of clothes inside. She ran to the bathroom and splashed freez

. She threw her bag into the passenger seat of her beat-up Chevrolet, jam

ming, and she