didn't start as a knoc

t her ribs. Sunlight was trying to push through the grime of

know you'r

e

ragged. He was drunk

d her shoulders. Debbi was already in the hallway,

bbi shouted. "I'm

uddered under another blow. "Elsie, ch

nds trembled as she picked up h

text from Je

om. She was sleeping, the sheet slipped down to her wai

etter ones. Pornhub pays well for amateur content

hitting the wall. The room spun. This wasn't

ie whispered. "He

ay," Debbi said, her v

op him from posting it," Elsie sai

d a me

time to be a v

re escape clear

t her. "You're

e felt a cold, hard resolve settling over her skin like armor. "I

the alleyway. She could still hear Jed screaming at the front

The window rolled down. A driver in a

Wat

ed, breath

. He thought you m

e could hear sirens in the distance. She looked at

the door

reet was a glass box in the sky.

clothes, though she had managed to wash h

. He looked tired. Defeated. But w

nerve showing u

lsie said. She looked at

d it. He was tall, with broad shoulders and a suit that cost more than Mitch's c

't offer a hand. He gestured to th

ents sat in the center

e why?" Elsie ask

ly," Silas said smoothly. "And because Mr. Watkins was eager to fa

t her father.

uined the merger with Jed. You owed me a

airline fracture that severed the la

his over wit

las slid the doc

EEMENT AND MAR

h the pages. The c

ummated unless directed by medical profess

ll reside at the Hunte

transferred to the Wife unti

dies," Els

hort-term arrangement," Silas said.

ths," El

wants a wife who can handle the social optics, keep hi

n. Her hand hovered ov

nother text from Jed. I'm uploadi

at it. She loo

ondition,"

ow. "You're not in a

ne million dollars. Today. Wired to a s

hand on the desk.

was soft, but it silenced the room

But mostly, she needed "fuck off" money. She needed to buy silence. She n

long moment. It felt lik

ulled out his phone and

e ink looked bla

ugly expression. "Excelle

back. "Mr. Hunter wants privacy. Ms. Watkin

stop first," Elsie

he

t a ha

her long, blon

. She paused, her hand o

this hair was weak," she

n Tribeca and told th

eck. Her hair was a sharp, angled bob that framed

ught the strongest pepper spray legal in New York State.

went to

d cleared. One million dollars. The n

er screen refreshed before she could dial. A notification popped up from her service provider: Messa

er spine that had nothing to do with the air condi

It ha

g a clean slate. They had scrubbed Jed from her digital

ked two suitcases. She took her mother's photo, her favorite swea

her phone pinged. A notificatio

n 10 minutes. Destin

e looked at the stranger staring back at her.

whispered. "He's just

en that she was wr