ollar. He glared at Darnell, his voice dripping with arrogance, and threaten

tapped the screen, holding it up slightly, and calmly stated, "Mr. Lewis, I recall your company is currently in the middle of a critical Series B funding round. I

round. A police scene and a public scandal involving their recently paroled daughter

warning, telling her she would beg on her knees for the mistake she mad

linoleum hallway until the sound was swa

t Karli standing vanished. Her legs turned to water. She slid down the c

Her shoulders shook as a raw, sup

eyes unreadable. He walked over to the small bedside table, pulled

ale and streaked with tears. She took the paper towels, wi

posite her. He crossed his long legs. Even in the steri

stated that since the immediate threat was gone, they n

She unzipped her damp canvas bag and pulled out a

the paper and wrote the first rule: Total financial independence. N

cating his agreement. He added his own condition: When necessary, she must

st escaped. Acting was a small price to p

rate bedrooms. Absolute respect for privacy. No ent

e corner of his mouth twitched upward for a fraction of a s

the notebook. She signed her name

wled his signature across the

spital was no longer secure and ordered her to sign

else to go. She gathered her bag and followe

exclusive high-rise apartment building in downtown Chicago-a place that looke

p floor. Darnell pulled out a ke

nted a cold gray, the furniture was black leather and steel, and there

closed door. He told her the guest room wa

room. She dropped her bag on the floor a

he prison gate, the marriage contract, the rain, the

linking, followed by the solid thud of the master bedr

pped in the strange safety of a stranger's home, she

cago skyline. He held his encrypted phone to his ear. Julian Croft, his executive assistant, answered on the firs