UR

kin. Rain poured down in sheets. Ever

a voic

ighed nothing. I blinked up at him-his face shad

I whispere

e were in his car, rain

eled away from the cemetery. "You saved

at him.

ll fixed on the road. "I didn

did

ightened, the muscles i

eat. "That woman never had the

sness. My body was wrecked-bruised ribs, fractur

was

side the city, tucked between forest and se

name was never mentioned on d

ng me?" I asked on

"You once took the fall for something your ex

as year

S

g me out o

soften. "No one e

bout Raymond or Samantha. He just gave me tasks-simple at f

m businessman. He ran Weston & Locke, a major inve

ying in his house-I w

id one night as I poured ove

ected. "You were always capab

p at him.

d, "you're mine

& Locke's board floor, hidden behind one-way glass, watching

ice, but not in ti

fragile, disposable wife of Raymond. Th

ive worked

curity, even the hospital archives. Only a few people inside hi

ial media. N

had

I vetted takeovers. And I became Ryan

I studied everythi

d. Sam

tution after "hallucinations" and emotional i

tartup with a tech firm built on

wife was alive and lay

staring down at the city skyline-so

the sliding

dn't

ys. He didn't crowd me. Just leaned on

onight," he sai

ways qu

"Because the o

. "She died the moment

me for a mo

identity. New name. N

said s

ed an e

iding. Not

But his silence de

hide behind paperwork and fake names. When I come for them, it'll be as me-the w

keep your name off the radar. But when you strik

faintly.

n's private office. Vanessa Trent-one of his top

ld without raising alarm," sh

thunderclap," I corrected.

yers of silence until then. Proxy f

you to ha

. "I like her,"

e to be liked,

"She's here to di

folding my hands calmly on the table, my

," I said, looking between

lled, her p

ak-" I paused, my gaze locking with Ryan's, "-to choke on their own shoc

, but his eyes burned with som

d, each wo

ha drugged and forgotten until she no longer knows if she imagined me or

, my voice dropping

them t

urved her lips. "Shit," she sa

ared," I