Chapter 1 1

"You're leaving money?"

The voice was a low rumble, vibrating through the heavy silence of the Pierre Hotel suite. It froze Ayla's hand in mid-air, hovering over the mahogany nightstand.

Ayla didn't turn around. She couldn't. Her body was a map of aches, every muscle screaming a reminder of the things she had done in that bed only hours ago. Shame, hot and prickly, crawled up her neck. She dropped a small, sterile-sealed package containing a single, disposable scalpel onto the polished wood. It wasn't payment. It was a wall. A desperate attempt to turn a mistake into a transaction. A clinical, cold severing.

"It's for the room service," she lied, her voice cracking. She grabbed her clutch, her fingers trembling so hard she could barely close the clasp.

She heard the shift of fabric behind her. The heavy thud of bare feet on the plush carpet. He was coming closer.

"Ayla."

He knew her name. Of course he knew her name. She had screamed it enough times last night, or maybe he had whispered it against her skin. She couldn't remember. The memories were a blur of skin, heat, and a desperate need to feel something other than the hollow rot of her marriage.

She turned then, backing up until her shoulder blades hit the cold plaster of the wall.

Julian Sterling stood in the doorway of the bathroom. A white towel hung low on his hips, dangerously loose. Water droplets clung to the dark hair on his chest, trailing down the defined ridges of his abdomen. He looked like a storm contained in human skin-dark, imposing, and terrifyingly calm.

He looked at the scalpel, then at Ayla. A corner of his mouth ticked up, but it wasn't a smile. It was a blade.

"You think this covers what we did?" He took a step forward. The air in the room seemed to vanish.

"I have to go," she whispered. She fumbled with the strap of her dress, pulling it higher on her shoulder. The silk felt cheap suddenly. Dirty.

He closed the distance in two strides. He didn't touch her, not yet. He just planted a hand on the wall beside her head, boxing her in. She could smell him-cedar, expensive soap, and the musk of sex. Her stomach flipped, a nauseating mix of fear and lingering desire.

"You're running," he said, his voice dropping an octave. "Back to Long Island? Back to the husband who doesn't know where you were last night?"

Her breath hitched. "That's none of your business."

"It became my business when you clawed my back and begged me not to stop." His eyes dropped to her neck. He reached out, his thumb brushing over a tender spot just below her ear. "You're going to have trouble hiding that."

She flinched away, slapping his hand. "Don't."

He laughed, a dry, humorless sound. He stepped back, letting his hand drop. "Go on then, Mrs. Elliott. Run back to your cage."

He walked over to the nightstand, picked up the scalpel, and tossed it into the trash can without looking. "Keep your... parting gift. You're going to need it more than I do."

Ayla didn't wait for him to say anything else. She bolted.

The elevator ride down was a blur of mirrored reflections she refused to look at. She stared at the floor numbers changing, counting them like a lifeline. Lobby. Ground. Out.

When the cool morning air of Manhattan hit her face, she finally inhaled. But the oxygen didn't help. It just fueled the panic taking root in her chest. She hailed a cab, gave the driver the address to the estate in the Hamptons, and curled into the backseat.

She pulled the diamond ring out of her purse. It felt heavy, like a shackle made of platinum. She slid it back onto her finger. It was cold.

The Elliott estate loomed behind the iron gates, a sprawling monstrosity of stone and ivy that people called a masterpiece and Ayla called a mausoleum.

She paid the driver and walked up the gravel drive, the crunch of stones under her heels sounding like gunshots in the quiet morning. She fixed her hair. She pasted on the smile she had perfected over three years-the one that didn't reach her eyes.

The heavy oak door swung open before she could touch the handle. Henderson, the butler, stood there. His face was a mask of professional indifference, but his eyes flicked over her wrinkled dress.

"Mrs. Elliott," he said. "Madam is in the drawing room."

Her stomach dropped. Victoria.

Ayla walked into the foyer, the heels of her shoes clicking on the marble. The house was cold. It was always cold. Spencer liked the air conditioning low, claiming it preserved the antiques. Ayla was just another antique to be preserved.

Victoria Elliott sat on the velvet settee, a cup of bone china poised near her lips. She didn't look up when Ayla entered. She just set the cup down on the saucer with a sharp clink that echoed like a gavel.

"You're late," she said. Her voice was smooth, cultured, and laced with venom. "And you look like you've been dragged through a hedge backward."

"I was with my mother," Ayla lied. The lie tasted like ash. "She wasn't feeling well."

Victoria finally looked at Ayla. Her eyes were ice blue, identical to her son's. "That woman is a bottomless pit, Ayla. She drains our resources and your time. The palliative care reports I review are a litany of complaints and very little progress. I'm beginning to think Dr. Evans is simply milking our generosity. If she had any dignity, she would have passed quietly years ago."

Ayla's fingernails dug into her palms. Pain was good. Pain kept her grounded. And a cold, clinical part of her brain latched onto Victoria's words. Palliative care. The drug regimen Spencer had approved for her Mom... it had always felt wrong. Too passive. The dosages were enough to sedate, not to heal. Ayla had told herself it was her grief, her paranoia. But hearing it from Victoria, it sparked a professional suspicion she had long tried to suppress. "She's my mother, Victoria."

"She's a liability."

Footsteps on the stairs drew their attention. Spencer descended, adjusting his cufflinks. He looked impeccable. Navy suit, crisp white shirt, not a hair out of place. He was the picture of the perfect Wall Street husband.

And he was a liar.

Ayla looked at him, searching for guilt. For shame. For anything that mirrored the wreckage inside her. But there was nothing. Just the cool, detached arrogance of a man who owned the world.

"Spencer," she said, her voice sounding small.

He glanced at Ayla, his gaze sweeping over her disheveled appearance with a sneer of distaste. "Change your clothes, Ayla. You look ridiculous."

He walked past her to his mother, kissing her cheek. "Good morning, Mother."

"Morning, darling," Victoria cooed, her demeanor shifting instantly. "Do tell your wife to pull herself together. We have the charity gala tonight."

Spencer turned back to Ayla, checking his watch. "The gala starts at seven. Wear the black dress. The high-necked one. And try not to embarrass me tonight. I have investors coming."

He didn't ask where she had been. He didn't ask why she hadn't come home. He didn't care.

He walked out the door without looking back.

Ayla stood in the center of the foyer, shivering. The cold of the house seeped into her bones, replacing the lingering heat of the hotel room. She felt dirty. Used. And utterly alone.

She ran up the stairs to the guest bathroom-she hadn't slept in the master bedroom in months-and stripped off the dress. She turned the shower on as hot as it would go. She scrubbed her skin until it turned raw and red, trying to wash away the scent of cedar and musk. Trying to wash away Julian.

But as the water swirled down the drain, she closed her eyes and felt the phantom pressure of his hands on her hips.

She stepped out, wrapping a towel around herself. Her phone buzzed on the counter.

She picked it up. A text from an unknown number.

You left your blade, Mrs. Elliott.

Her heart stopped. The air left her lungs.

He had found the scalpel. And he knew exactly who she was.