When my husband fell seriously ill, I finally had a reason to step into his office after seven years of marriage. All I wanted was to ask for his sick leave. Instead, the receptionist froze, eyes widening as she studied my face. “The man you’re talking about… he owns this company. Our boss and his wife arrive and leave together every day. Unless… you’re not his wife.” In that second, my world cracked open.

The receptionist there looked different—polished, yes, but with an efficiency that had nothing to do with seduction and everything to do with billing hourly.

“Do you have an appointment?” she asked.

“No,” I said. “But tell Mr. Ethan Vance I can make him thirty percent of a very large number.”

Money is a language that translators everywhere speak fluently.

I sat on a leather sofa that probably cost more than my old car and tried not to imagine what Steven and Genevieve were doing that very moment. Laughing in some private clinic? Holding hands in a waiting room designed with blond wood and soft jazz?

Thinking of them was a waste of energy. I focused instead on breathing.

When I was finally ushered into his office, Ethan didn’t stand. He sat behind a wide mahogany desk, tapping a pen against a legal pad, dark eyes cool and analytical.

“Mrs. Condan,” he said without introduction. “I’ve heard of your husband.”

“Not from me, I hope,” I replied, my voice dry.

One of his eyebrows lifted a millimeter. “My retainer is five thousand dollars. You don’t look like you have it.”

I smiled faintly. That was fine. I hadn’t come for kindness.