She stepped inside, turned around, and immediately threw t

into the expansive, marble-clad en-suite bathroom. She

bulbs flared to life,

split open, the edges jagged and raw. The surrounding tissue was already swelling into an angry, purple mound, narrowing her r

hey were the eyes of a surgeon assessing a

ached past the expensive La Mer face creams and Chanel bath oils, pushi

vy, professional-gra

been the top surgical resident at Johns Hopkins. She had hands that could stitch a torn artery in the dark. She had been weeks away from a

kit onto the marble c

rogen peroxide, a pack of sterile cotton swa

single moment of hesitation, she pressed the soaked

white foam bubbled up from the wound as the per

gainst her skull. Justine sucked in a sharp, hissing breath through her

t dragged a memory to the surface-a memory from three yea

older sister, Eleanor, lay in the hospital bed, her

ace as she begged. Justine, please. Carl's family is ruthless. Claire will eat Leo alive. She will bring in some sociali

like a grieving statesman. He had looked Justine in the eye and sworn a solemn oath.

ating guilt of family duty, Justine had nodded. She had thrown h

ack to the present. She looked at

sharp laugh that so

ing koi pond, locking her in a 55-degree cellar,

to protect. The boy had looked her dead in the eye,

into the trash can. She looked

tine whispered to the empty ro

fully, expertly applied it over the cleaned wound. It sealed the

t and shoved it back into the

the cellar was crashing. Her core temperature was still dangerously high. The r

stumbled out of the bathroom an

ine phone. She dialed the internal est

ing. "What is it?" Herta's voi

e completely devoid of emotion. "My face is severely injured. I will

cheap excuses to avoid your duties as the hostess

Carl's wife greeting them with a face covered in blood, you are we

reached down and violently yanked

ysically severed her communica

he antique writing desk in the corner of the room. She unlocked

er had drafted three weeks ago. She had kept it hidden, p

shment of Steppar

ument. She did not hesitate for a single second. She pressed the nib to the paper an

g boulder that had been sitting on her chest for

ed it dead center on the writing desk, right where anyone wa

omplete. Her body

collapsed onto the massive bed, her hands blindly grabbing

But as her eyes fluttered shut, the corners of her mouth l