not take the

the shoulders of his coat, staring at the velvet box as though

d enough to hurt, but she

ng from you,"

illed the s

he arrived, Lucas looked

e vibrat

ocket and glanced at the screen. W

to go,"

ss laugh. "That seems

snapped

al regret. But it disappeared before she

tion is not ov

from my

nted to argue. Then he se

ox from her desk, his finger

s breat

ocket. Instead, he set it

" he said

old

led, but something raw moved beneath it. "I

d respond, he turn

he office doorway

he g

es

ption area, then back at Amelia.

remained on th

id after a mo

ask any mor

tched off the front lights, and retu

continued falling

mach and tried not to think about the look in Lucas Ha

ad me

d to m

ould be far more dang

e curb, but Lucas did not g

apping against the metal frame overhead. Through the second-fl

somewhere

gna

his mind with cold,

arrying h

had watched her face change when he implied she had plan

Every request had a hidden price. Every kindness had an expectation beneath

m as though he had become s

ps he

began ring

thout looking at

to you too," T

t his eye

a decade. He was one of the few people in Lucas's

it?" Lu

s requested your pre

n requ

he hour, he will come to Hartwell Tower tomorrow

d. "There is no board meeti

e is

rse th

ence, discipline, and the ability to make e

he want?" L

id no

ever

"But Adrian Hart

ed toward the rai

hanged

inners unless there was an aud

there," L

he

es

acted the clinic a

se fo

Lucas, that could be viewed

ppened. I want

erst

and finally stepped

from Westbridge, h

vanished beh

front and shining office towers. The estate had belonged to the Hart family for gen

d grown

of his adult life findi

a storm. Wind rattled against the tall windows. A fire bu

ime housekeeper, met h

r is in the west

ian wit

Mr.

urse

dead Harts watched from the walls: men with hard eyes, women with perfect posture, generatio

d before the

nt, he saw Amelia

shaking at

despite the hur

othing f

d the do

the house itself. At seventy-four, Lucas's grandfather still carried himself with military precision. He wore

the window, holdin

d up and

o think you had found somew

ignore

s about?" he

r did not invi

ate life,"

dened. "My private lif

ern when it threate

sip of whiskey. "Th

n him. "If you have som

er to l

until someone else h

s smile

e folder agains

oug

his grandfathe

and slid a document ac

ed the letterh

to the Hart

red relevant. The trust had governed the Hart fortune for decades. It financed charitable founda

e page, Lucas s

had been h

mach we

. "It was drafted by your father and r

d the cla

l standing and responsible succession" before the next trust review. Failure to

ooked u

not enf

ly enforceabl

er menti

risk of trigger

nce fell ove

hat his grandfathe

pregnanc

ected to his name, a child who could become a scandal if anyone discovered the truth. The

d away from

finally produce an heir, and somehow it

nds curled

out of

the trust gives t

remained fi

ou are incapable of maintaining a stable household and protecti

an," Luc

id not

sion turned alm

d back at t

we

e had not

e it clear she want

pent his entire life b

ard, his eyes col

olve this sit

s gaze

next words lande

aintain a stable fami