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Soone before she could read it His defined jaw hardened He s, and pulled out a checkbook

He flipped it open with a pen poised in his left hand That faht forear memory that she almost didn’t hear him when he said, “How much do you need?”

Her jaw falling open, Clio stared at him Acid crawled up her throat and she forced herself to hold his gaze, realizing what his look had meant

He thought she had come to him for money

Even as he had reminded her of what she had been, it was clear that Stefan had already written her off as a lost cause

It rankled just as much as Jackson’s treacherous perfidy did; it tore her in half that she had brought this on herself But it was high tih ti a backbone

“How much, Clio?”

“Will you give me as much as I want, Stefan? How about a ed hio

He didn’t even blink “A uy that this year our charity contribution is going to the Clio Norwood Foundation”

I don’t want your charity

Sing back the bile his offhand comment provoked, she reminded herself to not flinch, to not betray the hurt that lanced through her

She had no idea why she was inflicting this on herself, but she couldn’t stop

“And if I come back for more?”

“I’ll give you more” He threw the checkbook on the coffee table between theance and a ot what had prompted it Even half-naked as he was, power and ruthlessness emanated from every cell in him

“You can have as much as you want, Clio All you would have to do is walk away from that crook No matter how deep you are in, you can walk away”

“Why? Why would you help me?”