Too Late For Regret, Mr. Mckinney

amonds and designer gowns. They were just noise. Her targets were the men in tailor

thick with perfume and power

was a legend in the tech venture capital world, the kind of investo

of champagne, was steady. It had to be. She smoothed the fabric of her simple black dr

a polite nod here, a small smile there

s face as he listened to another guest. She raised her glass, ready to ca

hand closed ar

flesh and bone. The champagne flute was plucked from he

terrifyingly familiar, spo

ce for alcohol was never

kin. A name she hadn't used, hadn't

est. She didn't have to turn to know who it was. The scent of cedar

Mcki

husb

the same chilling intensity, the same unwavering look of ownership that had suffocated her for years. He had

a respectful, almost imperceptible nod to the man holding her arm, th

ty vanished.

through her shock. She kept her

't believe we have a

on the hollows beneath her cheekbones. His grip on her wrist tigh

nd you've bec

, his long strides forcing her into a clumsy half-jog to keep up. The polite sm

to wrench her arm free. The effort was use

race. The cool night air hit her skin, a welcome shock after the stuffy heat of the gala.

released her. A raw, red mark was already fo

She reached into her small clutch, her movements p

o him. She slapped i

rce papers. I've al

fluttered from his tailored suit, landing silently on

me a r

t a question. The CEO demanding a

ps. "We were never in love. I

vely took one back. He was a predator clo

leigh. A binding agreement. Y

was nowhere left to retreat. The city lights glittered behind h

forming you." She lifted her chin,

atek Philippe watch she had given him on their wedding day. The

er lips. She pushed off the rai

rlei

arning that vibrated through t

e me to mak

he glass doors, her back straight, and disappeared into the

gged at his black tie. He finally looked down at the divorce papers l

gnature, elegant and decisive, w

iping across the screen. He found the contact and

am

city skyline, at th

's b

ne was absolute. Jamey Beasley, his ch

emotion, a flat, chilling command. "I want to know where she's

ckles white as he

a full report on my