Ivy didn't tell Sterling right away. She turned the request over for two full days, watching him fight fires on every front, the safe house relocation, Trent's continued presence in the office next to his, Julian's silence somehow louder than his threats had been, and decided some fights were hers to walk into alone.

Trent's office, when she finally agreed to the meeting, looked exactly like she expected, expensive and cold and staged for maximum effect, and he greeted her with the same easy, oily smile from the gala, like grabbing her arm and threatening her boyfriend's career had never happened at all.

"I'll get straight to it," Trent said,...