packed a small overnight bag with numb, mechanical

urmured against her hair, his lips brushing her temple. "Call me." The k

the sleek glass tower of his apartment building grew smaller and smaller,

going to

forward. "Could you please pull over here? I ne

without question. She got out, gave him a tight sm

she pulled out her pho

er asked as she slid

im Damian'

he had a board meeting at Knight Industries that ran from

miliar canopy. She walked into the lobby, her face a mask of calm c

, a knot of ice

Her hand trembled as she held the spare key card Damian had g

to mock the darkness of her mission. The air still smelled

traight to

up, her fingers slick with sweat. The lock scree

. It

gh almost escaped her. T

es, his messages. Nothing. Not a single suspicious image, n

esult. She ran searches for every keyword she could

ticulous to leave something so incrim

ing a two-factor authentication code. A code that would be sent dire

ead

e up inside her. Time was running ou

r own phone vibrated in her pocket.

a Whi

ad he found out? Was

hovered ove

is?" she t

us. "Isabelle Vance. We n

d heard it whispered at parties,

ing brunette, her head resting intimately on Damian's shoulder. Julia recogn

as a punch to the gut. White

've won. The Palm Court at the Plaza. 3

n the MacBook. It was almost

failure. But it had f

laptop and deleted the messages from Isabelle on her own phone. She

led with a bitter taste of

e needed to know exactly what part this