rtains shut, blocking out

r hoodie and pulled out a worn photograph. It wa

tring of faded numbers was writ

in her head with her grandmother's birth date, the date

ing

against her temple. A sharp

al police report said her mother died i

ewood box back into the cardboar

the lights of Manhattan

windows of the Sterling Building's top floor. He wore a

line in front of his massive mahogany

in his right hand. He flipped the lid

choed in the dead si

k and tossed it forward. It hit the floor

he acquisition," Axel said. His voice was low, carry

ng, the mar

cutting the man off

papers. They rushed out of the double do

. Caleb Stone, Axel's chief assist

handing Axel a single sheet of paper. "The il

"I do not care about the Be

to Eleanor Montgomery

. He slowly turned his head to look a

ned the text. A smirk touc

ed on the desk. It was the secur

d it up.

embled. "Lady Sterling has collapsed

, slamming into the floor-to-ceiling window with a muffled thud. The custom silve

If her heart stops, I will bury y

rode toward the private ele

e world," Axel said as the eleva

al degradation is The Surgeon," Caleb said. "We cann

ors. His jaw clenched so ha

eb apart," Axel

straight to the armored black Maybach. He got in, and th