from the hallway, stopping dead in

sed her arms over her chest, acting like a startl

xposed legs and the deep V of his own shirt against her skin. A dark, unmistakable flush o

iggs Group turn into a flustered schoolboy

more shame than you," Chloe said, a faint, mocking smile playing on her l

's voice boomed as he pushed the door open again, h

la

Isabella and slammed the living room doors shut

t there and fume.

rash can into the center of her sparse bedroom. From the ba

them during the darkest year of his life, when a severe accident had left him temporarily blind. She had been the one to sit by his bed, to feed

tossed them into

match and d

the stark walls of her room, turning twelve years of unrequited

acrid smell of smoke hit him. He saw the flames and didn't hesitate, grab

, tossing the ruined blanket aside. "Are you t

h to end it with you," Chloe said coolly, stirri

d saw the half-burned edge of a sketch. It was his own profile, drawn

ts so much!" Isabella's dramatic

ut of the room like a man possessed. A few minutes later, Chloe heard the roar of

ht, finally lying down on he

.

hloe moved with mec

ansive home office. On his mahogany desk sat a stack of subsidi

igning the edges perfectly. Since he refused to face it directly, she would use

walked down the hall

f her stomach ailment, was asleep in the massive

today," Daisy whined, shaking Isabella's shoulder. "I d

weetie," Isabella mumbled,

girl had suddenly demanded to sleep in her own room, claiming she wanted to

t, but she swallowed it down. She quietl

generous cash bonus, asking her to keep an eye on the doc

was waiting in the drivewa

sure there wasn't a mix-up at the hospital? She acts exactly like Isabella. Maybe you sh

out the window. "The doctor who delivered h

daughter. You literally nursed him back from blindness, and now he's treating you like garbage for

id softly. "I just

efore her marriage, her phone rang. It was Leo Marino, a brill

by's this afternoon at three. One of the items is the 'Duport' Stradivarius cello.

n hesitate. "Yes