The black sedan didn't move. It sat on the edge of the Hamptons cliffside like a dark omen. Eleanor Sterling stepped into the light of our headlights, her silver hair perfectly coiffed, her expression as unreadable as a blueprint for a fortress.
Reid's hand was trembling on the steering wheel. I could feel the shock radiating off him—the kind of soul-deep vibration that happens when the world you thought was gone suddenly breathes again.
"Mother?" Reid's voice was a jagged rasp. He climbed out of the SUV, his legs nearly giving way. "They said... the hospital records... the heart attack..."
"The records said what I paid them to say, Reid," Eleanor said, her voice smooth and chillingly calm. She didn't look at her son. Her silver eyes—so much like Reid's—were fixed entirely on me. "I needed to see if the 'Bridge' was strong enough to survive without the Sterling shadow. I needed to see if you would choose a contract or a girl."
