Caged in gold

weight of silence pr

s. His nearness. The way he made her feel thi

owly. No chai

sheets a

piece of pape

irs. You said you

. No lock o

it a

tr

a signal

t on the chair, hair brushed back, lips u

him as a woma

-

far end of the g

s. The table was long enough to seat

ook up as s

ber liquid into a crystal gl

ink?" h

ll su

hout smiling.

"Is this where you tel

"This is where I tell

her arms. "

dn't he

a syndicate called The Circle. A man who once r

That's not possi

when she patched his bullet wounds after a gunfigh

re ly

awer, pulling out a ph

version of her mot

n in a white thobe, d

ised her own

. "Why... Why did

you out of his world. But

ped. "He kept tab

. "So he didn't care e

is enemies woul

d n

he's d

a fr

made me promise-if anything h

y y

owe him a b

leane

ll armed. I was twenty-two and arrogant. I should've died. But

ou're his

'm the only one he t

ked. "And who prot

was a

at her, tr

"You don't need protection fr

. "You're a kidnappe

es

aying I shoul

owly toward her, "I'm say

, one hand on the

How I punish. How I never m

in defiantly. "And

es burned

re a detour. One that might

-

na was led into a room

oards. Weapons on display. Monitor

f the names on the s

. Infamou

wants you dead," Z

hy

nce betrayed him. And

illin

st piece of Rashi

pped bes

ight at the club-those weren't

arms around hers

he monitor. "Now

-

Amir came

ry, trying to process ever

whispering: You don't belong to th

memori

elling at strang

en m

box under

cr

ad been a lie wr

and opened the folder

s, photos, timel

she s

birth cer

e she didn'

itance of assets, holdings, and syndicate power

ood ra

-

d's private chamb

king her y

was s

you s

an we thought. She

lapped

And you know wh