e, the endless stream of traffic a blur. For the

. Friends? After five years of marriage to Jace, her world had

of was her childhood home. A pl

e the driver the address

ultra-rich to a modest, middle-class neighborh

er stepmother, Pamela Stephens. Dressed in a tasteful lounge set, her face regis

ou have a fight with Jace?"

ry couple fights. You can't just run out like thi

ce heavy with exhaustion. "We're getting a

ith panic. "Are you insane? Do you have any

is glasses. He frowned at her. "Pamela is right, Ellery. Don't be so i

ed to be her family. They weren't worried about

. "I just need a place to stay for a few

put you? Your brother's old room is full of junk. You

point in arguing. She sim

d away, dragging her

er as she walked down the unfamil

ugging Lily's teddy bear to her chest.

hat she had left. A few changes of clot

vely went to her w

lummeted. T

se Hawthorne, that b

her daughter's bear, that held any real

sliver of strength. She had to get it back

the deposit slip from her pocket. The bank

orne

a business rival of Jace's. He was the infamous second son of the Hawthorne family, one of Chicago's

is company, but she knew calling

darkening. She was cold and hungry. Was she

room, Blaise had tossed a card onto the nightstand. In he

coat. Deep in an inner pocket, her fingers

lack card. On it, a single name, "Blaise

her las

e man who had humiliated her, who had sto

eed to retrieve her bracelet won out over her pride. S

felt like an eternity

e rasped, laced with