seconds, n

hing happen

r slammed open, cold rain blew into the hall, and the first bodyguard, a broad

ominic said, without turning.

ne, swallowed

fist. Behind her, Camille was sobbing into her mother's shoulder. Diane was whispering something sharp an

mind was runn

e texted him at the exact moment the figure a

h

ater, the front d

s black hair, his jaw hard as stone. Ree

he back wall. We found footprints,

mer

ix. Cut from

the i

deep water. Every person in the living room went

Harold, Diane, Camille, Mr. Grant. Then it

finished rea

N

ve ten

"Sir, with respect, considering what

her r

wyer s

er, crossed one leg over the other, and wai

was thirty-on

loud in the silence. Camille kept sighing dramati

five. Dates, pay

d page seven, a

ny member of her family, including siblings, wi

once. Twice.

he loo

seven,"

t it?" Dom

ee my brother witho

n it, Sienna. Do you think anyone in th

Dominic said evenly. "Your family has a

ital bed with a sickness that could kill him. He has no one but me

Your brother's tr

ke it

oom f

g noise. Diane's eyes widened

t move. "I beg

every single day. No approval, no permission, no one watching, no one repo

osition to negot

in the morning. Prison for him, a hunt for a new bride for you.

le

pping at the windows, the clock in the hall,

ng astonishi

as far too small for that. But for a single second, the Devil of Wall Street

e like that," he said s

ou are

oked as if h

d out his h

page seven, and drew a single hard black line through Clause 7. He init

hout restriction. One security officer wil

t back acro

ll gamble with," he said. "Whoever was in th

It was a compromise, but it wa

ook t

e looked sma

na H

rwards, when she set the pen down, that

aid Mr. Grant,

murmured, to no o

simply looked at the signed contract, and S

d quietly. "Which means you also be

at a w

s a f

. Reed came in alone, rain streaming from his should

on the front step. It was

expensive. There was no stamp, no address, just two

Black

stomach

he whispered. "I signed

very softly. "That

A single photograph slid

the dark. Through the glass, small and clear,

o

hout looking at her, his eyes still locked on the note folde

saw his f

it. His jaw tightened, and his fin

na's voice cracked. "Dom

staring at the handwriting

night, the Devil of Wa