e night spent preparing, rehearsing answers, and steeling herself for the day ahead. Her first instinct was t

lity. It rang and rang, unanswered. A knot of unease tigh

adows, this i

r's daughter. I can't seem to reac

"Oh. Ms. Collins. Your stepfather, Mr. Tu

hat's impossible. She's not well enough t

h professional detachment. "He signed all the paperwork.

g goodbye, her hand shaking as she dialed Rick's num

ded to call y

e's voice was dangerously

, that little deal you made with the Carlisle boy? It wasn't nearly eno

as falling away beneath

eed of a cornered animal. "Three million dollars. You have three days to get it. If I d

it was laughable. He had found her one weakness, the only thin

to scream, to curse him, to threaten him. But she knew it would be use

breathe. In. Out. Calm

, her voice a hollow echo of i

loe," he repeat

Utterly and completely. Calling the police was too risky; it would spook him, and h

ept

It was a sliver of a chance, a one-in-a-million shot, but it was the only shot she had. If s

e fear was there, a raw, primal terror in her eyes. But beneath it, somet

fortress of power, and fight. For her mother. For herself. She carefully put on t