no! Did you real

h, but she choked it back. Screaming like a banshee would only bring the "Red Witch" or the prying eyes of the staff to her door.

red to the empty, white room. "I'

es scanning the bullet points again as if the words might

ve Wilson for the duration of the five-year term, all debts owed t

ivate relations, provided they remain di

hing for a moment that she was pulling at her father's hair instead. Even f

bbed her phone and hit the fi

Is this a

hrough the line, breezy and br

you won't

u're returning my wedding gift? Because th

t me," Layla said, pacing the length of the room and biting the corn

tone shifted from playful to guarded. "N

ments Dave gave me in the alley?" Layla closed her eyes,

of the most ruthless men in Jacksonville, a man who eats CEOs for breakfast, without reading it? How is tha

shower threatening to return. "I felt like I was running out of time. My sister

between them, he

there?" Layl

words love" Kelly sighed. "Are you

's a five-year marriage, Kelly. I'm a lap dog. Open marriage, mandatory professional styling, a

of her encounter with Ingrid. Lay

that's not the

ould be

e year mark, I leave with nothing and I

t wh

o what we owe!" Layla's voi

u calculate the debt, the interest, the cost of taking care of you and your family, I hope.

pping through the pages with frant

erfect family for the cameras. In his

bout that. I won't think about that. I can't do this. K. Ever since I saw him with that woman earlier, it just feel

pity. "I wish I could tell you there's a secret exit, but a Wils

I thought I was being the hero, but I've just walked into a different kind of execution. I thou

used, the silence on the line feeling like a funeral. "Right now you just have to survive. Just be what he wants. I wish I could come there and tear

nce was an admission of pride

d your own brand on his dime. Suck him dry if you have

. "I see what you mean. But we are from t

't let me help you then, let me help you now.

emembered Kelly could not see her. "Su

est, okay? You've

eep into her burgundy bag, hiding them beneath her old

ing-sized bed, the white sheets

ut it didn't bring peace.

creditors. It was the "Red Witch," her eyes glowing with a predatory light, holding the five-year contract in on