Tous les chapitres de : Chapitre 21 - Chapitre 30

The Rigged Game~Alexander's POV~The driver is watching me in the rearview mirror.He thinks he's being quiet, shifting his eyes every time I look up from my tablet, but he's an amateur. His name is Loren. Lea hired him three months ago after my previous driver suffered a sudden, highly convenient brake failure on the highway.Loren isn't a driver. He's a watchdog. He reports directly to Victor, the head of security Lea installed when I was out of the country.I keep my face perfectly blank, staring at the quarterly reports for the new aviation site, but my mind is a million miles away. It's on her.Tara is changing.I have watched her for three years, memorizing every flinch, every bowed head, every suppressed tear. But lately, the fear is gone. She moves differently now. She holds herself like a pike. When Lea screams at her, Tara doesn't cower anymore. Her eyes just go dull and cold.It terrifies me.If she's remembering who she is, she is in immediate, fatal danger. I have cou

The Combination~Tara's POV~"You didn't drink your tea this morning, did you?"Alice's quiet voice sounds loud in the empty kitchen.I turn slowly, pretending I am super confused. Alice is standing in the doorway, holding a fresh cup, her eyes boring holes into my skull.I look at the cup, then back to her. I force my shoulders to sag, playing the tired, injured maid."I poured it into the fern," I say, letting a wince cross my face as I touch my bruised ribs.Alice's eyes narrow to microscopic slits. "Why?""Because if I drank it, I was going to throw it up all over the marble floors," I say flatly. "The doctor prescribed me Vicodin for my rib. Taking it on an empty stomach makes me violently nauseous. Hot liquids make it worse. I didn't think Madam Lea would appreciate me vomiting in the hallway."I hold my breath. It's a gamble, but it's a useful, medical excuse.Alice stares at me for five agonizing seconds. She is searching my eyes for a lie, looking for that sharp, clear aware

The Queen Mother~Tara's POV~The internet cafe has a strong smell of old coffee and cleaning stuff. It's perfect.I sit at a corner computer, using the last of the cash I took from Alexander to pay for thirty minutes of screen time. I pull up the fake email account I created.There's one message from Daniel. Attached is a scanned document.I click on it. It's the official maintenance log for the private jet, dated three days before the crash. But there are red circles drawn over the mechanic's signatures. The altimeter wiring had been flagged for replacement, then mysteriously signed off as "repaired" by a mechanic who...according to Daniel's notes....quit the very next day and moved out of the country.It isn't a smoking gun yet. But it's a thread. And if I pull it hard enough, Lea's whole sweater is going to crack.I scroll down to Daniel's message.File attached: 'Are you eating enough? Are you safe? If you need me to pull you out of there, just say the word.' — Danny.I stare a

The Slipping Mask~Alexander's POV~"Why do you keep running away from me?"The words leave my mouth before I can stop them. I step into the dim hallway, letting the heavy dining room doors swing shut behind me.Tara is pressed against the wall, her hands squeezing the fabric of her black-and-white uniform. She looks like a cornered animal, but the fire in her hazel eyes is pure, deadly defiance."Because you are married to the monster who holds my leash, sir," she whispers, her voice shaking with a mixture of rage and unshed tears. "And every time you get close, you just hand her the whip."The words gut me. They slide between my ribs like a crooked blade.I take a step toward her, my hand raising instinctively. I want to tell her everything. I want to press her against the wall, bury my face in her neck, and tell her that every cruel word I speak is a preplanned move to keep Victor's sniper rifle off her chest.But a shadow shifts at the end of the hall. Colt. One of Victor's spie

The Ghost Wife~Tara's POV~The California sun beats down on the terrace, making the turquoise water of the pool glow like sheet glass.I am carrying a heavy basket of wet towels back from the cabana when I hear it. The distraught, quieted-down tone of a woman losing her grip.I press my back against the stucco wall of the pool house, gripping the laundry basket to my chest."I don't care what it costs, just handle it!" Lea hisses into her phone.She is pacing the edge of the pool, her silk kimono fluttering in the breeze. She is chewing nervously on her thumbnail....a habit she only ever had when we were broke and stressed in our twenties."They can't find out," Lea snarls, her voice dropping to an unhealthy whisper. "I made sure the loose ends were tied four years ago. If you let this trace back to me, I will personally ruin you before they even draft the charge. Do you understand?"My heart beat against my bruised ribs. Who is she talking to? The mechanic? Victor?I lean just a bit