s in the cage dragged by l

chest. She hadn't moved. When Maria entered silently to place a silver tr

eturned and carried th

. She couldn't stop crying. The tears were a physical reaction to the crushing

at his mahogany desk. A live video feed from the London branch played on h

sn't li

directly to the hidden microphones in the top-floor suite. Elin

e reached up and aggressively twisted

ervously through the screen. "Do yo

d. "Pause for ten minutes," he snapped. He hit a butt

tercom button on

tone's voice came

led, ripping the earpiece out

sted apartment in Queens, Deshaun Campb

ght to voicemail. He had dragged his bad leg all the way to the NYU

white under his dark skin. He suffered from selective mutism; his vocal cords

prepaid phone. Elinor, are

th

ut Boyd Walker. He knew the kind of shadow that man cast ov

out of the apartment and took the subway to Ma

by of the Walker Group building. The securi

marker from his backpack. He wrote in large, jagged letters: I N

," the guard said, reac

marble floor, creating a sharp, echoing crack. He held th

crippled boy waiting for Elinor outside the universit

ed in. "Sir, the Campbell boy is in the lob

rk. A dark, dangerous shadow cr

pened. Deshaun was shoved into the priva

und. The sheer physical presence of the billionaire made the air in the room feel thin. D

eboard. Where is E

ng at the boy's cheap clothes and the heavy wooden cane. "She is pe

he board and wrote again. It's my fault! She c

d, studying Deshaun like a scientist observing

pocket and pressed a b

television mounted on the wall suddenly clic

e security feed of the reception room. Elin

the screen. She slammed her hands against

ophone. Her voice bounced

at Deshaun. "Very well

bodyguards standing by the door. "Break his other leg. Teach hi

e bodyguards lunged. One grabbed Deshaun from behin

She pounded her bloody fists against the sc

l-toed boot. He brought it down with sicken

echoed through t

ack in his head as the agony ripped through his nervous syst

d directly up to the security camera mounted in the

. His eyes bored into Elinor's soul. He

what happens

arrying perfectly to the microphone hidden in the room, "will be added directly to your adoptive father's debt, Elinor. Ever

he cage went co

. Her vision tunneled. She collapsed onto the floor, her body shaking so v