and here like none o

od at the window of the penthouse suite, watching rain sketch ghostly patterns on the gla

r, his tailored charcoal suit crisp against the clean lines of the room. But hi

folded tightly over her chest.

id quietly. "You jus

fight she needed. Not back then. Not wh

d calls, the bitter taste of goodbye scrawled in silence. Five years ago, she'd walked

ft behin

been packed, a blur of faces and champagne flutes. Weston had shown up lat

unveiled and left unnoticed. He'd kiss

et lies told in front of the press. The woman in red Isla Voss whose

heart pounding as hard as the rain. Her father's scandal had just broken in the news. Her

ew. Because h

on took a step toward her

she snapped. "You cared enough

muscle ticked. "That

ll me wh

ween them like a wou

m, waiting needi

You weren't the only o

ur idea of

ndlelight doing little to soften the edge in her tone. The private dining

of a man who controlled everything eve

y," Weston said smoot

se nothing says 'reconciliation' li

asefire meeting, forks and knives in hand instead of weap

curves, her makeup subtle but ruthless. The woman who'd left with a suitcase five years ago

id. "I want compliance. The contract, Georgi

from where I'm sitting, you're the one who

oice low. "You'

en'

h, something shifted. Weston hesitated. The bite in his gaze soft

er that night at the lake house? When we lit that fire in th

fro

sk slip. Just a li

that night?"

nswer. She d

ted by the ghosts of color and unfinished promises. Georgia walked t

rpentine and var

done just before everything collapsed. It was of a storm

wn to chao

opped her br

k like the devil come to collect. She hadn't heard the d

stalkin

abit." He looked around. "This p

to rem

nd

embered wh

and dangerous. "

rms. "Did you fo

f the girl who painted fire was still aliv

d sharply. Tha

missed this. The fir

en as the space between

e here for ga

her d

s a paus

collision, not a choice. Mouths crashing, breath stolen, a

ck. She clutched his la

e pull

t. Br

ked, bre

ne that," Weston sai

door he disappeared th

y echoed w

night swallowed