red at that sca

light caught them. Hand-rolled edges that spoke of craftsmanship I couldn't even name. I didn't know designer labels-couldn't afford to-but

e plane

undredth time. *An apology for last night's

an a scratch. Nothing that needed worrying about. Nothing that required a gift

ld he d

to see straight through every defense I had. The warmth of his fingers against my

ly. *Rich people do things like this. They

And the fact that he'd remembered my name, found my address, an

edroom made me jum

ack of my closet like evidence of a crime I hadn't committed. Then I took

-

ers, her eyes bright despite the illness that had been slowly stealing her strength for years. She sm

sweetheart. Y

er forehead, feeling the slight warmth that

he patted my hand. "Did I hear

d. "Just a delive

told my mother in years

billionaire I met for thirty seconds last night. He sent m

ays worried. And worry m

And hated m

eyebrows rose. "Wh

aightening her blankets. "How about some brea

ything I tried to hide. But she let it go. She always let thing

und lovely,

-

llowed was ordin

t and woke up to do it all over again. The scarf stayed in my closet, hidden beneath old sweaters I hadn't worn

about green eyes or cold smiles or the most powerful man

y night before sleep. *He's forgotten

most bel

he seve

-

ood in line with Mom's prescription, mentally calculating whether I could afford the full amount this mont

ex

the prescription across. "Hi, I ne

t who'd helped us countless times-typed somethi

been a... an adjust

stment? Did the insurance change again

s month's medication has already been paid. In fact..." She scrolled through her screen. "All of your moth

's not possible. There

rward, lowering her voice conspiratorially. "Between you and me, whoever it was didn't e

ter. The world tilted sli

didn't leave a name. Just said

t me like a

et ad

ingers. I thought of a man who could spend forty-seven billion dollars without noti

mirer," I re

y charmed by the romance of it all. "You must

swer. I cou

exactly thirty seconds and somehow decided I was worth noticing. Worth tracking down. Worth spending mone

feet. I stood in the hospital corridor, surrounded by sick people and worried fa

thought wildly. *W

tice women like me. Men like Xander Black didn't pay off strangers' medical debts out of the

of entertainment for a man so rich and so bored that

But I was goi

rch bar. Typed the three letters that

A.

g tower in midtown Manhattan. Forty-seven floors of power and

it for a l

started