His Unwanted Wife, The Nation's Hero

e Manhattan penthouse door f

oor open, steppi

ntire afternoon preparing, convincing herself that the

oat, the sound of bright, ringing la

a woman

d. The muscles in her

ck with slow, deliberate movements. She took a

nning. The vintage cut is so u

s Car

She walked briskly down the hallway, her low hee

room. Her eyes immediately

silver pendant, shaped like a teardrop with

d. Her lungs forgot

only thing recovered from the expl

xed smile on his face. He popped the cork on a bottl

k up to acknowledg

tance between them i

aid. Her voice was fla

perfectly practiced gesture of shock. "Oh! Cilla

nd. His smile vanished,

champagne bottle down hard. "You walk in here and i

t Carolyn's chest. "I said, ta

Her lower lip trembled as she looked up at Ja

it was hers," Carolyn whis

of Carolyn, using his broad s

escension. "It was just sitting in a dusty box in the guest room.

h scraped its way ou

into her own palms until the skin nearly broke. "That is the re

hat CIA card, Cilla. It was a tragic accident, not some movie plot. That was years ago. Don't be dramatic

om the counter and

g it out to her. "Buy yourself a new one. Buy ten. J

aper. The sheer disrespect mad

and upward, strik

he loose check fluttered through the

shriek and scrambled to hide

ond of chaos, Cil

reached out, his large hand aiming to

o the sudden aggression. She stumbled back a half-step, her shoulder d

and grabbed the silver chai

, violent yank

p snapped with

nd the pendant, the cold m

ting out a dramatic sob. "She

ous red. "You are an unreasonab

nd. She looked at th

rted, the man whose company s

for him evaporated, leaving nothing bu

dered, pointing a finger at

e turned on her heel and wa

n, measured, and c

ect a single cent for your living exp

ith her hand o

her lips curling into a smil

r open and slammed

ud echoed in

ivate elevator and presse

looked at the silver tea

nd fell in a dee

, useless wife. It was time to