d Havana Room in Beverly Hills

lcohol scorched his ulcerated stomach. Across the low marble t

private Gulfstream touched down at LAX three hours ago. The moment he takes his seat at the gala, he's go

he crystal glass. "The concession belon

t a piece worthy of Master Humble-the legendary gemstone sculpting prodigy who vanished three years ago. The E

ss Armond's pale lips. "Nobody exce

it?! If anyone realizes she's the lost Kensington heiress-the real Master Humble

t of a truck to push me out of the way. She took the impact, lost her memory, and went blind! I hid her! I saved h

he apartment. Her muscle memory is still intact. By the time she finishes The S

isper. "...I'll have her transferred to a

mby Hills, Chelsi Evans was screaming into her phone

uffy man in a trench coat, stoo

shattered Baccarat crystal. "I want her gone! Five million dollars! Armond handed

er a surveillance photograph. "She hasn't left the building since she returned f

elicate, ethereal beauty of Brynn's face. P

a bottle of concentrated industrial sulfuric acid and a couple of baseball bats. Let's

artment, the hours tick

yellow glow of the streetlamp, her fingers dance

r had faded, leaving only a slight halo aroun

of muscle memory flooded her hands. Her wrists moved with microscopic, sublim

. Tap.

om the core was the miniature silhouette of a peregrine falcon-its wings flared against an i

g. It was the work

violent, blinding pain suddenly st

ilver hair holding her hands over a block of white jade... 'Breathe through t

r temples as cold sweat soaked her collar. "W

e memory, the heavy deadbol

n and her chisel under the mattress, dropped onto the b

rying a heavy, velvet

an oval boulder of raw, translucent emerald-green jadeite the size of a hum

softly, walking over to sha

ing up and rubbing her eyes.

to the cold, glassy surface of the raw jadeite. "I need you to do something fo

ngers brushed the sto

l Lotus

worth at least fifteen million dollars in its

ispered, keeping her expression bl

con rising over a frozen bay. You've carved birds before. Use your touch. Finish i

ee

smell the cheap zinc on the key in his pocket-the key to the n

eed absolute silence. Don't let anyone come in while I'

promised, kissing her forehead. "I

locking the heavy ch

falling upon the fifteen-million-dollar boul

lcon? She woul

ow heart, waiting to