use was eerily silent. It wasn't the quiet of a home

stomach. He pushed open the door to their bedroom. The room was nea

d his

rned to her vanity. The velvet tray was empty. Every piece of jewelry he had ever bought her was still there, glea

only what wa

He slammed his fist into the wall, the impact vibrating up his arm. A dull cr

ers stiff and clumsy. He called h

to the phone, his voice low a

ife. He paced the bedroom like a caged animal.

"Mrs. Carlisle-Vance... she checked into the Greenwich Hot

, icy panic through him. "Is she hurt?"

y. "She's there to see Mr. P

s mess on her own. Trying to cut him out completely. T

r. Mr. Price, a stern, unforgiving man, lounged on the hospital bed with a grimly satisfi

shed, Mrs. Vance," he said flatly. "Money w

She had no leverage here, no power. She was about t

re hospital. He was wearing a perfectly tailored dark suit, his presence

tough businessman vanished, replaced by a man

e and walked slowly toward Eleanor. He raised a han

m his touch, a small,

or a beat before he lowered

?" he murmured, low enou

e hissed back, her face flushing with

oesn't it?" He turned to the man on the b

man nodded eagerly. "

He only recognizes that name. Not Eleanor Vance." He was dismantling he

red, her voice trembling with the anger rising inside

to accept any private settlement," he conf

of his cologne, crisp and sharp, filled her senses. His voice dropped low

Vance. You will move back home. You will put your things back in th

g the weight of h

goes to priso