a P

carded clothes and financial reports. My side was neat, sterile, untouched. A c

ot the designer luggage he'd bought me. I moved with an efficient

dden sheath. I left everything else. The jewelry, the designer dresses, the life

manila folder. I pulled it out. The paper was crisp, well-preserved. It was my copy of th

r in the duffel bag's inner

ill contact y

leaning against the frame, arms crossed, wat

on dollars. It should be more than enough

redible act of generosity. A million dollars. To him, it was pocke

s I pulled it shut. I straightened up and finall

with a contempt I no longer bothered to hi

rrowing in genuine conf

tossed it onto the bed between us. It slid across

t," he read the title al

document, his hands fumbling as he flipped it ope

rge of a hostile takeover. The banks had cut him off. The

d of a private equity fund looking to short his stock into oblivion. Using my own n

had told him across that ma

for a five-hundred-million-dollar wire transfer that appeared in the company's accounts less than an hour later. He never asked where the

diamond, "is now worth one and a half billion dollars, t

that s

perty, Gavin. N

ed in a furious, blotchy red. He was cornere

"You conniving bitch! You think you can just take that kind

ards the door, towards him. I didn't flinch as I passed, my sho

thout looking back. "Not a penny le

aled his fate. For the first time since I'd known him,

the massive front doors, pulled out my phone, and called a standard taxi. As the simple yello

I disappeared into the n

in

driveway. My hands trembled with rage. I crumpled the agreemen

a half

She was a rogue. Where would a rog

ustration. He hated her defiance, her coldness. He

and slammed the door. I needed

reen. She answered on the second ring, her voice

everything alright?

the length of the room. "

ooed. "That must have been

s a dull throb in my soul. "But she's not making this easy.

ath on the other end of the lin

vestment, the 4% equity. I told her

t, and I could almost hear the w

it. She's a rogue. She appeared out of nowhere with no pack, no family, no his

t my head felt clearer when I focused on her voice-and heavier when her perfume linger

o be questionable. It could be dirty money, Gavin. Laundered, maybe. No legitima

right. I had been too blind, too d

dropped to a conspiratorial whisper, "then the contract is

my face. My anger began to cool, rep

ind out where that money came from. Don't you worry, my

athed, a wave of relief washi

mured. "She's been a shadow over your life for

, the crumpled agreement still in my hand. Kyla thought sh

We would dig into her past. We wo

ld get