THE WOMAN I
lights of Manhattan. Inside a sleek black limousine parked across from the towering Blackwood Cor
was old, slightly worn, but warm enough. Her hands trembled-not fro
. Five yea
reminder of how long she had stayed hidden, silent,
had once cal
und should've healed. She hadn't stepped foot in New York since she left, hadn't dared breathe the same air as
t here to
at she to
here for
ure, noth
ked gently, glancing at her through the rearview mirror. He wa
t smile. "No, Mr. Gre
r in the glass of the towering skyscraper: a woman changed. Her dark hair was tucked beneath a modest beret,
the morning rush. Security guards stood at
a'am. Do you hav
. I'm here for the secretary pos
ears, the identity she'd built from the ashes of her former self. She clut
er in the tabloids. Ad
financial world before he turned thirty. But they didn't know him the way she did-not the way he looked when the
is family
ing in the shadows of his empire,
she wa
-ceiling windows, a crystal tumbler of whiskey in one hand though it was barely 9 a
today. Something gnawed at him-an ache he couldn't n
that date
mber
anyone else. But to
she va
el
himself she didn't matter, not anymore. She left. She chose to
t made headlines, trying to forget her. But the truth
stopped s
stopped m
houghts. His assistant, Mara, st
of vulnerability behind his
front office secretary role. We pulled her f
an f
it him lik
. Her trail had gone cold years ago. Still,
yself," he said
linked
heard
l. The office was pristine, modern, everything she remembered it to be. The scent
loudly she feared the wh
e door
walke
n Bla
an the world worshipped. Charcoal suit, black tie, th
second, ti
es met
ing fl
ion? Dou
owering her gaze, afraid the t
trolled, neutral, but she felt
ded. "Y
pped c
too
mething didn't sit right. But she kept h
r with high-level discr
m, s
at will b
ed hard. "U
them. The air throbbed with un
ly. "Welcome to
ving Amelia staring at the door th
ocks away, the city noise filtering through the cracked window
in a simple dress, him in a tuxedo, smi
picture felt l
rent li
couldn't afford to break. Not yet. She had a reason fo
ld him everyt
dn't
know about
kept circling back to the woman at the office. Amelia Grey. There was something... familiar
believe
ht, he fe
h
choices
he never da
ut the woman he had once
nothing would e