nic's footsteps w

r. Cl

t scent of whiskey on him now, mixed with the cold night air. She clutched the bracelet so

ed for the clo

hallway. A soft, hesitant

oice, gentle and unassuming. "I have a q

from the handle. His postur

adopted younger brother

, the release so sudden it made her dizzy. Saved. By a therm

noyance palpable even from a distance. He s

now, Ethan," he said, his

his brother's coldness. "Mom just asked me to give you t

hear the rus

glance around the room. It lingered for a fraction of a second on the slightly ajar terrace door

thud. Whatever mood he had been in, the interruption seemed to have soured it comple

rning on was the most beautif

chance. Her

ing spot, she slipped out of the closet, a wraith in the dimly lit room.

ck into the cool, damp air of

s locked, the engine humming. Only then did she allow herself to collapse ag

ts soft pink glow a beacon in the darkness. She had done it. She

nd locked doors, Avery didn't s

le. Now, she had to destroy it. Not the object

the high-resolution photos she had taken of the bracelet years ago, the ones

One hundred perfect r

Inside, a hundred rose quartz bracelets gl

al media profile. She concocted a story about celebrating a friend'

of Port Sterling"

eeper accounts to generate buzz. She sent DMs to a dozen local fashi

minent families, aspiring models, college students-all posi

-trend. A fleetin

unique, damning piece of evidence and turned it into a cheap, common trinket. If Dominic or

d given her, and locked it away in the back of her pe

e threat was

eal war co

wser window and type

ilicon acquis

ics semicondu

acquired a small, struggling semiconductor factory and, with it, a portfolio of patents that became t

he would get

would be the on