at the top of the Vaughan Gro
the massive circular mahogany table.
the table sat
ng, pale fingers pressing brutally hard i
weight crushing his skull. The chronic nerve damage felt like
e projector, his voice shaking as h
n's voice sounded like a d
ter glass in front of him. He slam
ter and sharp shards ex
n unison, pulling their h
, gravelly rasp, barely above a whisper, but it
He gathered his folders with trembling han
ive assistant, stepped forward fro
d wet wipe from a foil p
ingers, his face twisted in deep disgust at the
, a private encrypted phone beg
. The caller ID rea
up, towering over the table, and walked toward the
o answer. "
h the speaker, old but full of iron authority. "The girl
other wave of agony ripped through
fe. I want her found, and I want the engagement announc
a forced marriage. He hated being tied down. But his
ended the call and shoved th
Long Island. The Sanders hou
s face impassive.
h tinted windows rolled to a stop
stom-tailored suit jacket and walked u
ecause her credit card had just been decl
front door and yanked it open, ready to ye
died in
able suit, the expensive watch on his wrist,
htened her spine, smoothed her hair, and
nelia asked, her voic
ty still from that night-a blurry profile of a girl covered in ash and soot
his residence," Julian probed smoothly, his eyes narrowing sli
rt slammed aga
Eleanora had gone to that estate. Eleanora
he gold pin on Julian's lap
r veins. Eleanora was gone. Kick
would be me," she lied smoothly. "I'm the onl
ess enough to pass his initial scrutiny. He reached into his breast pock
ct. "On behalf of the Vaughan family, I am here to formally invite
ok as she reached out and took the envelop
ed, fighting to keep the
htly, turned around, and w
lutching the envelope to her che
/1/115848/coverbig.jpg?v=7021b3163b1b347e83bfe1b93dd64f2e&imageMogr2/format/webp)