certain kind of madness

e too expensive for men who needed a place like this

ut watching half-naked women pretend they were enjoying the gaze of str

, Ethan, you need them on your

are" was a high-end strip cl

want, drowning out the bass thumping from below. My gaze st

a Gr

e looked like she didn't belong there but owned the room anyway. Her body swayed, deliber

word. She had that quiet sort of beauty that felt accidental. As if she had n

ce, when she looked my way. Then I turned my head like I wasn't

oise. Something about board votes, about legal prep, about Luci

ked out of the cl

o Derek and two hours

fter that, I

tion. No fallback plan. I'd seen people in worse positions,

lf it was j

solution to a very permanent problem: Thoma

lf to the board. A wife-even a fake one-would do the trick. But not just any woman. She had t

fit th

t too

de her d

y, but necessity. I needed to know where she wen

ds. Didn't take calls

e wasn't just fighting for herself. She was fighting for s

gs he likely couldn't hear. Stared at nothing for twent

idn't

t... en

lf again: S

o inward. Too

. But every time I sat down with another candidate-some h

e-half-angry, half-exhausted-like she already kn

yself. And that scar

ng my phone vibra

ge from

Lucian is prepping an

d go to take everything from me. Everything he thinks I

take this From me, I'll even say he had the right reason

already pla

g outside a hospital room,

ffice, the city bleeding orange

let Thomas have it. But that's just a thought. I do

pewed the word " bastard" at me. No one

into, even if it's just for some

wasn't ready to

give her that much of