Chapter 1 - THE MEN IN THE BLACK SUVS
The first SUV stopped beneath the stone portico.
The second blocked the circular drive.
The other three spread out behind it with the precision of people who had done this before.
Isaac laughed.
It sounded wrong.
Too loud.
Too forced.
“What is this, Flora? Some little intimidation stunt?”
I slipped my coat over my shoulders.
“No.”
The front passenger door of the first SUV opened.
Noah stepped out.
My oldest brother was forty-six now, tall and silver at the temples, dressed in a dark overcoat instead of the tactical clothing Isaac liked imagining he wore.
Two licensed security officers followed him.
Then Leo emerged from the second vehicle.
Julian from the third.
Marcus from the fourth.
Caleb from the fifth.
Five brothers.
Five completely different kinds of trouble.
Wendy lowered her champagne glass.
Arthur Vance stopped talking altogether.
Clover’s face changed first.
She recognized Noah.
Most people in Manhattan finance did.
Sterling Global Security handled executive protection for embassies, technology founders, and several Fortune 100 boards. Noah had spent fifteen years making the family name boring enough to appear on federal procurement contracts and intimidating enough that nobody forgot what it used to mean.
Isaac moved toward the doors.
“This is private property.”
I almost smiled.
“So was my birthday.”
Noah came through the entrance.
He saw me.
Then saw the marks around my wrists.
Everything in his face disappeared.
Not rage.
Worse.
Control.
“What happened?”
Isaac stepped between us.
“Family misunderstanding.”
Noah did not look at him.
“Flora?”
I glanced around the ballroom.
Fifty guests suddenly found the marble floor fascinating.
“The catering staff cut me down.”
Noah’s eyes shifted toward the decorative beam.
Then to the riding crop still lying beside Isaac’s champagne glass.
Julian entered behind him.
My brother did not look like a criminal-defense attorney until he spoke.
Then every syllable sounded expensive.
“Nobody touches anything.”
Isaac laughed again.
“Excuse me?”
Julian held up his phone.
“Police are already on the way. So is an ambulance. Security footage is being preserved through counsel.”
That wiped the smile from Arthur’s face.
“We do not need police.”
Julian finally looked at him.
“That stopped being your decision when your son restrained and assaulted my sister in front of witnesses.”
Wendy snapped:
“She spilled wine on Clover.”
Marcus closed his eyes briefly.
As if the stupidity physically hurt him.
“You thought that sentence helped?”
Clover stepped backward.
“I didn’t ask him to do that.”
Isaac turned.
“Don’t start.”
Interesting.
The room was already splitting.
Noah reached me.
He did not hug me immediately.
He knew better.
“Can I touch you?”
That nearly broke me.
I nodded.
He put one arm carefully around my shoulders.
For the first time that night, my knees threatened to give out.
Not because I was weak.
Because I was safe enough to stop pretending I wasn’t hurt.
“Get her out,” Leo said quietly.
Isaac blocked the hallway.
“She is my wife.”
Caleb spoke from behind me.
“For tonight.”
Isaac looked at him.
Caleb smiled without warmth.
“Keep talking. You’re making Julian’s job easier.”
Then the sirens became audible beyond the gates.
That was when Arthur moved.
Not toward his son.
Toward me.
“Flora.”
I looked at him.
“We can settle whatever happened.”
Noah’s expression hardened.
Arthur raised both hands.
“I mean privately.”
“Why?”
His eyes flicked toward the guests.
Reputation.
Always reputation.
I understood.
“I don’t want money.”
“I didn’t say money.”
“You were about to.”
Silence.
Then Marcus’s phone buzzed.
He checked the screen.
His face changed.
“What?”
I asked.
He turned it toward me.
A banking alert.
VANCE CONSOLIDATED HOLDINGS.
Emergency liquidity request:
$125,000,000.
Pending guarantor authorization.
Guarantor entity:
STERLING CONTINUITY FUND.
My stomach tightened.
“What is that?”
Marcus looked at Arthur.
Arthur’s face went white.
That was the first moment I understood the birthday party had never been only about Clover.
May you like
The Vances needed something from my family.
And apparently they had been preparing to take it without asking me.
