ny

er. Just hanging there, three syllab

rry

d photo in my hands - Mom, Dad, David, and me, grinning on Coney Island, cotton candy smeared a

ll. The way he stands there, pristine in his thousand-dollar su

lic. Legal. You get access to my resources. Security, investigators, everything you need to ke

runching under my boot

lexes. "A

e eyes that cold. Partners don't show up uninvited, trailin

" I s

Then it's gone. "Because it's the only way to keep them safe." He nods at the chaos. "And the on

's voice whispers in my head: Truth is

"You think I

of a smile. "But you'll use

tar

he hospital bed in my memory: "You're gonna say yes, aren't

in. Dad's face, half-rip

ong?"

kes. Then we diss

f I sa

blink. "Y

t that isn't the woman Mom and Dad raised. This shel

hin. "One c

me

lie to me.

barely a br

ar

nod an

*

n, the contract sprawling across the table; prenup, NDAs, clauses about "public appearances"

ding day,"

ingers keep tugging at the knot. "We'll file the paperwor

't w

windows, a view of the city that feels like a threat. He shows me to a gu

s at six," he says. "Do

one? Isn't that

e doorway. "This i

st a gild

's old press pass like a talisman. You'd hate this, wouldn

one b

When's th

. Divorcing h

. bet he sleep

ades fleeting, li

to happen swiftly. It would still be extr

he wedding c

gher than heaven. Faces I've only seen on Forbes covers smirk from pews. My reflecti

"You look..." Her voice cracks. David, in a tux that costs more th

t y

swells. Al

i

lethal angle. His hair swept back, jaw sharp enough to dra

offers h

umb brushes my knuckles, a flicker of somethin

re smoke.

nger, cold and heavy. Mine

ride," the

ng. Then he leans in, lips grazing

s clinking, cameras flashing. But his bre

ar

tions of CEOs and heiresses, their congratulations like b

k, branding through lace. Every touch

rs as a reporter

ke

rokes my spi

cu

rums. His cologne fills

the part wel

re the

black and bottomle

autiful. Don

horou

. But as the city blurs past, his knee brushes m