brief flicker of concern for Aleah replaced by a renewed wave of disgust for his wife. Aleah's whispers had wor

ed his deeply ingrained code of protecting t

ybe you should go to her..." she began, her fingers subtly tightenin

ic play. She turned and pushed through the revolv

Corb

man with kind eyes and a career built on observing the quiet dramas of the rich. He

he hotel's first-class service-and an umbrella, th

e," he said, his tone respectful and devoid of

owed him to drape the coat over her shoulders. The warmth of the fabr

at the passing city lights. The towers of Manhattan, usually a symbol of power and ambition, seemed like colossal, glitt

with priceless objects she had curated but never truly owned. She walked past the living room, past the ma

the door

nd the borrowed cashmere coat, leaving them in a heap on the fl

o

e deluge, her head bowed, letting the water wash over her. She wanted to scrub away the feel of the hotel sheets, the phant

deep exhaustion. She slid down the tiled wall, collapsing onto the floor of the shower, the cold water still p

ss town, Euan w

th the smell of expensive whiskey and cigar smoke. He stared into his glass of Macallan 25

r Sterling and Kian Knight, wa

e. "You keep drinking like that, you'll burn a h

n his snifter. He took a slow drag from his cigar, the

tively casual. "The gossip lines are already bu

ve voice to the ugly scene, to the image of Cornelia in that bed. The words were lod

hing," he

mes to you and your charity case. I've been telling you for years, the way you co

ened his tie, the knot suddenly feeling like a noose. "I have a fiduc

. "Cornelia isn't a fool, Euan," he said softly. "And she's not the ty

ng face down on the table, lit

ure you're okay. I'm

his irritation. He shoved the phone into his pocket, the gest

er-framed photo on the nightstand. It was from their honeymoon in Italy. Both of them smiling, squinting in t

cohol finally broke thro

s mouth. He laughed, a bitter, broken sound. "Five years of marriage. Five fucking years,

he didn't understand. "And all this time, she's be

ing the life out of the booth. Jaspe

frantic, artificial heartbeat. Miles away, in the dead silence of the

ate, soundproof worlds of their own making, drifting