Sleep vanished from Cassie's eyes the instant Nathaniel's voice sharpened through the phone.
The warmth she usually associated with him was gone, replaced by something tighter, possessive, unsettled, and unmistakably edged with anger.
"It's not what you think," she said quickly, pushing herself upright in bed, the sheets pooling around her waist. "Let's talk over dinner."
There was a pause on the other end, heavy and telling.
"Yes," Nathaniel replied at last, his tone grave. "We have to."
The line went dead, but Cassie didn't lower the phone right away.
Nathaniel sounded like a man who felt something precious slipping through his fingers, and Franklin was not a rival anyone underestimated.
The truth was painful and complicated. Nathaniel's work consumed him in a way
