have refused to ride in, which was exactly why she had chosen it. The sea wind whipped through the open window, tangling in her hair, cold and sharp with

n the passenger se

m I

learning that anything Ivy sent was a weapon disguised

was intimately linked with Collin's arm - his monogrammed cufflink visible at the f

f condescension, delivered with the surgical precision of someon

s, tears still wet on her cheeks, typing out her victory with delicate fingers while their

den. By the time she looked away, her eyes had gone as cold as the dark ocean b

en she noti

urdled. All those dinners where Collin's eyes drifted across the table toward Ivy. All those gatherings where she smiled and performed the devote

urgent in her throat.

She killed the engine. For a long moment she sat gripping the steering wheel, kn

gown. She walked to the guardrail at the cliff's edge. Below, the Pacific churne

d meant everything twelve hours ago and now meant nothing at all. She drew her arm back and threw it with all her strength into

link wa

hing harder. Cleaner. The grief was still there, but i

to get back

fr

Her pulse, slow a moment before, shifted into readiness. Her senses - honed by years of training she had hidden from ev

pheral vision, scanning for movement, for shapes, for anything

two black SUVs materia

boxed her in from the front. The other sealed her fro

visible guns, but each carried a collapsible baton. They moved with the coordination

ssed into a small, contained space. What rushed in to fill the void was something older:

. Someone doesn't like you talking on the internet. She wants us

e a professional extraction team on the same night as the engagement party. Auro

r run through her body - her hands, her arms, her jaw - until her teeth practi

came out high and thin, quavering. "My fam

's fiancée, as the dismissed daughter - she had l

uckled, a dead, humorless sound. "We don't want you

gers brushed her shoulder, the

n its place was something that made the man's hand freeze mid-grasp, something

ethal focus

ng. Before he could process that his target was no longer where his hand re

es rolled back. He collapsed onto the gravel -

ozen. They had expected a

The metal was cool and heavy, familiar in her grip. With a sharp f

retreat. S

eapon whistled past close enough to stir her hair - and her own baton cracked against

as a shield, ducking one wild swing. Her baton lashed out, smashing into

shattered. He turne

back of his knee. As he pitched forward, she brought the b

a minute. Four trained

t from the adrenaline singing through her bloodstream, sharp and electric. Her gown was torn at the

with the toe of her boot. He groaned, his eyes

d tip of the baton

r voice was utterl

the eyes that held no anger because anger would have requi

oking at a D

oking at