ene

s pretending the w

s that tasted like cardboard, and dodging concerned looks from my roommate Jessica.

, I'd almost convinc

lm

med my usual corner table, spreading my marketing textbooks across the scarred wood surface like armor. If I buried myself deep enough in c

You have a prese

aughed too loud or a chair scraped against the floor, I jumped like a start

about target demographics when

Marce

shouldered, with silver hair slicked back and eyes the color of winter. Everything about him screamed

n't belong in a co

was a small miracle considering the way he was looking

onally polite, but there was something underneath it that

y very aware that I was alone in a crowded room with a c

o speak with you. About a

pped in silk. "I think you have the wrong person. I don't h

erns Dari

apartment, and now somehow Dario's people were tracking me down. Had he sen

rio told you, whate

lus." The man's smile was thin and sharp as

s. "I'm not going anywhere with you. I don

I thought he was going for a weapon. Instead, he pulled out a business card-he

d. Couldn't. My hands

hating how small my voice sounded. "You

brother Marcus has soccer practice until six. Your re

ame out sharp and p

ide. Black sedan, license plate 7GTH-429.

if I d

our mother's workplace instead. I imagin

ull weight of it to hit me. They knew where my mother worked. They knew about Marcu

ers. This was somet

ed patiently, like he had all the time in the world, but I could f

like a predator waiting to strike. The windows were tinted dark enough that I

slid across leather seats that proba

the driver didn't acknowledge either of us. Professional. Silent.

nything that might help me later, but my brain felt fuzzy with fear. This was really happening. I was in a car with stra

would Dario's family want to see me? What could they

an I made in a week. Cristallo, according to the discreet gold lettering on the windows. Through the glass,

he held the door open for me. "Pr

mportant enough to send professional muscle t

the back of the restaurant. My sneakers squeaked against marble floors, a

came from old money and older power. A single table sat in the center, set for two

ile he gazed out the window at the city bel

dangerous once and might still be. His suit was perfectly tailored, charcoal wool that made Vincent's expensiv

around, but somehow my entrance ha

n't a r

against my chest like a shield. "I wan

ing into the coldest gray eyes I'd ever seen. Eyes that belonge

ust destroyed my heart was standing across from me like a ki

n," he said, as casually as h

me like a physi

s are being made." He moved to the table, pulling out a c

ld stop them. "Dario and I broke up. We're done. Fin

dn't rise, but something in it made me take a step backwa

rp and bitter. "Your son is gay. He's been lyin

n, gesturing again to the empty chair across from him

ade anger flare hot in my chest. "Maybe in your world, but not in mi

blade. "My dear girl, you don't have a world

ce made my skin crawl. "You

an'

of my mother's workplace, my brother's schedule, our financial situation. These people knew things ab

were they

. "Why does it matter? Why do you

stablished." Caspian's fingers drummed against the white tablecloth.

t pur

not your

it was a business transaction, like I was a commodity to be traded. The reasonable part of my brain was scream

prised by how steady my voice

bills," he said, sliding it across the table. "Quite substantial, aren't they? And your brother's scholarship app

it to know what was inside proof that they had reached into every co

hreatening

amily's financial difficulties disappear. Your brother gets the education he deserves. Y

if I r

ctic. "Complications have a way of multiplying, pa

was screaming at me to run, but where could I go? He'd already prove

my chair scraping against the

o stop me. "You have until tomorrow evening to

he door when his vo

made something shiver down my spine. "Your

heart hammering against my

le was all tee

s h