The silence of the early morning hours was broken only by the rhythmic, heavy crash of the Atlantic waves against the jagged cliffs far below.
Inside the master suite of the Cape Breton lodge, the room was cast in deep shadows, save for the pale, silvery blue light of dawn filtering through the floor-to-ceiling glass windows.
Bella lay awake on her side, staring at the intricate grain of the exposed timber ceiling. Her body ached with a deep, bone-weary exhaustion, but her mind was wide awake, spinning through a labyrinth of calculations, threats, and unresolved fears.
Julian Vance and his board of shadow brokers had been temporarily stunned back on the yacht, but they were corporate predators. They didn't retreat; they simply recalculated. The realization was a cold weight sitting hea
