black Phantom pulled back into the

He rarely drank past a single glass, and his temples throbbed. When Nate opened the door, Lucian d

ator bank. "Sir, Ms. Quinn is pro

job," Lucian said, his voice rough with alcohol and

and hurried int

ack down at a run, his face pa

the penthouse. Every light was on now. The housekeep

empty. Stella wasn

ago, a wide pool of dark red blood had dried against the white marble. Above it,

t the edge of the rug

eathed. Then a low, grating

ed crimson stain. "To force the wedding. She think

ng horrified, before Nate qu

way from the ta

days p

h board meetings without a break, and slept zero hours. Nobody dared mention the empty desk outside

er thought I'd see our residen

erly report. "Nate. Transfer him to

ce room went

e marble now dark brown because he had forbidden Lena to touch it. His phone buzzed. It

body scrubbed her. Flights, bank cards, tra

from four days withou

A ghost called Q. If Q wiped her trail, you could flip th

now a hacker," Lu

ort laugh. "Famous

t like a live grenade. "Sir... maybe Ms. Quinn really did have an ac

pressure was spreading behind his sternum. "Send a team upst

of his private urology office, staring at the fresh lab work in hi

ng over the sheet. "Recanalization occurs in less than one in a thousan

paper didn't shake in his hand, becaus

voice. "Sir. Our people pulled the records from Mount Sinai. Five days ago,

rted in. The address on Ms. Quinn's HR file is an empty lot

ess in the center of

got the lab repor

d to love me and ob

into his skull. She hadn't been lying. She had been carrying his chil

ho had slept in his bed for thr

Lucian stopped g

en in forty-eight hours. When his hands began to tremor, he pulled open the sideboard drawer, too

, his phone

r ID read

not quite steady, and pressed it a

ker. Not soft. Not warm. Cold enough to c

ne wen

d stood up, his eyes dropping to t

ut, his voice hoars