an Thorne's presence beside me. He didn't look at me, but I could feel the intensity of his focus, like a physical weight. The air wa

The city looked like a toy set from this height. The room itself was stark and minimalist: a massive black desk, two leather chairs

r of his own chair sighing as he sat. He steepled his fingers, his glac

speech evaporated. The words just started

eft, the way he had charmed my father and stolen our company right out from under u

d his face. His expression was as unreadable as carved stone. He just liste

ragged whisper, the silence in the room was absolute.

a few clicks of his mouse, a complex corporate structure chart appeared. "A minor annoyance. I've been planning a hostile takeover

erced through my despair. "So you'll h

devoid of any warmth or pity. "I don't 'help' people, Miss H

ying a series of legal documents, dense with text and

t as a simple, undeniable fact. "He took out a series of high-risk loans over the past five yea

to the terms of this contract, which he signed without, I assume, reading the fine prin

ink in. "Your family's company

shed from my lungs. It wasn't just Mark. We had alread

"I'm collecting what's mine. Mark Sterling simply accelerated my time

powerful ally and had found an even more formidable enemy. I was a

t from me?" I whispered,

d into a drawer of his desk and pulled out a small, velvet box. He opened it

ed in the fashion of decades past. She had a gentle smile and kind eyes. And she was th

y eyes wide with conf

n a raw, intense quality that sent a shiver down my spine. "T

"I will help you destroy Mark Sterling and his family. I will see t

the weight of his o

ice low and deliberate, "you will

Marriage? To this cold, terrifying ma

ing pair she had made with her sister, who was lost to the family after a terrible argument. Your mother," he said, his