vines. The dream had been vivid-Paris rain turning into black ink,

ight filtered through the grime of the window, illuminating the dust mo

asn't

opened it. Her fingers trembled as she typ

d Woo

ulated in 0.34 seconds

st month: "The Ice King of Media: How Armond

There he was, cutting a ribbon in Tokyo. He looked older than the boy she had lov

Family Trust Crisis. The clock

dn't look at him. Seeing him in pixels

en. She was holding a cardboard carrier with three St

felt like the skin on her fac

aming with gossip. "Sophie said Miles Sterling brought

the coffee. The heat of the cup burned

" Liz took a sip of her latte. "You know he's worth, like, nine figures, r

ugh the thought of her student loan balance flashed in

n the nightstand.

red at it

window," Miles'

rambled to the window and peere

on Martin. Miles was leaning against it, wearing sunglasses,

over Abbey's shoulder. "He is liter

rifted past th

Escalade. The windows were tinted so dark they looked like voids. The engi

e car didn't belong on this block

o!" Liz s

er body, hiding herself. She walked down the thre

shed off his car and grinned. "Morning, sunsh

at her. The thorns s

flowers because she didn't know w

n." He opened th

ar window of the Escalade

iver of open glass, she saw

r seat creaked softly as he shifted his weight. He watched the scene

the front seat. He held out a blue

ithout looking away from

g legal debts: $450,000. Law school tuition arr

as dr

ith Mr. Sterling?" Ken asked,

Abbey. He saw Abbey flinch, a microscopic movement that on

. "Let him play. I want to see how much t

ey stepped back fr

I take the subw

s wrinkled his nos

e ridiculous roses to her ches

nce. She could feel the gaze from the black SUV burning

into the underground, her ph

$12,000 is due in 48 hours. Please r

ushed past her. She looked at the roses in her hand. Miles S

it. She could be the girl Miles wanted. Sh

ight before flashed in her mi

stayed on her own, she was prey. But Armond... Armond was

nto a trash can overfl