Page 7 of Their Arrangement

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Just a little.

A breath stuttered out of me. Not quite a sob. Not quite a sound. My eyes burned. My chest ached. But I didn’t cry.

There was no space left for softness.

I stopped on the corner, hand gripping the edge of my purse.

Then I reached inside.

And pulled out the envelope.

The one I’d stuffed into the lining that morning.

The one I hadn’t shown them.

The one I couldn’t bring myself to take out upstairs.

The paper was thick.

The name at the top?

Bold. Cold. Precise.

Selene Lawlor.

Barron’s ex-wife.

And the woman who’d blackmailed me into coming here.

Inside the envelope was everything she wanted me to deliver.

Photos.

Financial records.

Contracts.

A single note, handwritten in slanted ink:

Make him bleed, or I make you disappear.

My fingers trembled as I folded the envelope shut.

Zipped it back inside.

I couldn’t breathe.

They thought I came for a job.

But I came carrying a threat.

And whether I wanted to or not...

I’d just stepped into the fire.

2

CLOE

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