Audrey looked up and went cold.

The woman was striking even furious—a narrow, catlike face, a small mole high on one cheekbone, the kind of looks that photographed better than they behaved.

Where Audrey was quiet and unhurried, Lila Stone came at you like weather.

"Lila." Audrey blinked. "What are you doing here?"

"You've got some nerve, showing your face. But let me spell it out for you. If Diego doesn't love you, he doesn't love you. You could hand him a hundred better reasons and he'd still walk out the door after me." Lila's smile was pure goading.

That little curve of her mouth said everything. Triumph, plain and simple.

She waved one pale hand, and the bracelet on her wrist caught the light. Impossible to miss.

Audrey's chest clenched. She knew that bracelet. Diego had put an identical one on her wrist two years ago and told her it was a family heirloom, passed to the women who married into the Ramos family.

So it hadn't been indifference. It had been contempt.

Audrey stood, and made herself smile. "Ms. Stone, do I look like I'm competing with you? If you want leftovers, take them. I won't stand in your way."

"You—" Lila's eyes flashed.

"Spare me. They're all yours." Audrey turned to go.

Then Lila crumpled sideways toward her, like a puppet with its strings cut.

Audrey stepped clear on instinct, one hand flying to her stomach. If Lila landed on her, the baby—

"Audrey, help me. Please—"

Audrey froze, and a shadow fell across her.

The man scooped Lila up like something breakable and pinned Audrey with a look. "I knew you didn't like her. I didn't think you'd put your hands on her."

Audrey laughed, sharp and incredulous. "Did you actually see anything? I never touched her."

Lila pressed closer to Diego, eyes brimming. "It's my fault. She didn't do anything."

"And you're still defending her."

That was the thing that cracked her. Heat rushed to Audrey's face. Half the waiting room was watching her get humiliated in public by a man she'd loved for three years.

Pride wouldn't let her stand there another second. She straightened her spine and walked. The tears came the moment her back was turned.

Pain could fade into a dull ache. Tears could fall without permission. And still, she couldn't seem to put him down.

You are unbelievable, Diego Ramos.

"She looked upset. You should go after her," Lila said, all careful concern, smiling into his shoulder.

"Never mind her. How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine. I've already called friends, they're on their way. Please go—she was pale, and she's on her own." Lila had already clocked the man waiting by the doors.

Diego hesitated. Pale. That stuck. He went.

Reid spotted Audrey heading for the exit with red eyes and slipped the registration form out of sight. She'd been clear: nobody was to know about the pregnancy. Especially not Diego.

"Guess we're not making that appointment," he muttered.

"Audrey!" Diego called, picking up his pace.

"Mr. Ramos." Reid stepped into his path. "Hold on."

"You've got a lot of free time, Mr. Medina. Always trailing after Ms. Griffin." The irritation surprised even him.

Reid smiled, unbothered. "She doesn't want to see you. I'd stop chasing her if I were you. You have your own obligations." He tilted his head toward the waiting room. "Isn't somebody waiting?"

Diego's expression cooled. "How is any of this your business?"

He was winding up to say more when his phone rang. His mother. Aurelia Ramos.

He picked up fast. "Hi, Mom."

"Diego, what exactly do you think you're doing? Bring Audrey home. Tonight."

Aurelia's voice, normally unflappable, had an edge in it. She had objected to the marriage three years ago. Now they were ending it without telling her, and she'd had to hear about it secondhand.

Widowed young, she'd raised Diego with his grandfather's help, through one hard year after another. He'd built himself into the man who ran Ramos Enterprises. And this was what he did with it.

Diego's eyes darkened. "Understood."

He turned to Lila apologetically and handed her a card. "I'm sorry. Something's come up at home."

Lila's irritation simmered under the surface. She'd expected him to react to Audrey leaving with another man. He hadn't.

She took the card with a sweet smile. "Of course. I'm still waiting on that wedding, you know."

She waved it at him. "Thanks, Diego."

Audrey's car was pulling out when Diego stepped in front of the door. "My mother wants us at the house."

Audrey, who had only just stopped crying, frowned. Aurelia wanted them home?

Her mother-in-law had never once interfered. What had changed?

Out of respect for Aurelia, she felt obliged to go. She hadn't been the one to end this marriage, so she wouldn't be the one apologizing for it.

"Fine. Move so I can shut the door."

The waiting room replayed itself in her head and her chest twisted. Right now she didn't want to look at him.

Diego's hand stayed on the door. "Ride with me. Are you really going to be this stubborn?"

Audrey could hardly believe it. After all of it, he still expected her to smooth things over for him, days before the divorce was final.

"Reid. See him out." Her voice was flat.

Reid, hovering three steps back, blinked. Why was he being dragged into this? Still, he stepped forward. "Mr. Ramos. If you would."

Jaw tight, Diego let go of the door. "If you're walking into my mother's house, you're arriving with me." It wasn't a request.

Audrey nodded, unbothered. The threat didn't land.

At the Ramos house, Aurelia was in the living room with a cup of coffee, back straight, expression severe. Beneath it, she had always struck Audrey as more warm than hard.

Audrey hadn't spent much time with her during the marriage, but Aurelia and Diego's grandfather had never treated her as anything but family.

"Hello, Mrs. Ramos," Audrey said. With the divorce going through, she'd decided to change how she addressed her. A clean slate needed clean lines.

Aurelia nodded, apparently unbothered by it. As far as she was concerned, Audrey belonged to this family, divorce or no divorce. She held out a velvet box. "Happy birthday, Audrey."

Then her eyes cut to her son. "You're getting divorced, and you thought you didn't owe me a conversation?"

Diego rubbed his temple. "Mom, you don't get involved in this."

"Because Audrey turned out to be a better daughter-in-law than I had any right to expect. Let me be clear with you. Nobody else is welcome in this house. Not Lila. Not ever." Aurelia knew a great deal more than either of them had told her.

She turned back to Audrey and her face softened. She took Audrey's hand. "Whatever happens between the two of you, you're still family to me and to his grandfather. Come and see us."

Something in Audrey's chest eased. "Thank you, Mrs. Ramos."

Watching them, Diego felt a strange discomfort settle under his ribs. Lila alone at the hospital surfaced in his mind, and the irritation came with it.

"If there's nothing else, I'll go."

Aurelia's disappointment was open. "Go, then. But you know where this family stands."

"Audrey. Coming?" He gave her a look that meant they weren't finished.

She hesitated, then tucked the velvet box into her bag and smiled at Aurelia. "It's late. I'll come back soon."

"Take care of yourself," Aurelia said, walking them to the door.

Outside, the tension found them again.

"Audrey," Diego said, "since my family knows, we stop dragging this out. Tomorrow, eight o'clock, my attorney's office. We sign the final agreement and file."

Something heavy settled in her chest. "Fine."

"One more thing. I'd rather you didn't come here so often. I don't want Lila getting the wrong idea, or my mother deciding against her before she's met her."

Audrey glanced back at the house, then gave him a thin, ironic smile. "Do you get to decide who your mother sees? My relationship with Mrs. Ramos is mine. It has nothing to do with you. And whatever happens between you and your beloved is none of my business."

She walked off without looking back, heels striking a steady rhythm on the drive.

In the car, she told the driver, "Home."

As they pulled away, she opened the velvet box. Inside was a brooch, old and unmistakably fine. She recognized it at once—a piece the family kept, not the kind of thing you handed a woman on her way out. Exhaustion crashed over her. She leaned back and closed her eyes while three years of her life flickered past.

A strange, unplaceable sadness settled over her. Once, she'd cared about nothing but money and done exactly as she pleased. Loving Diego had changed her, and not for the better.

Time to go back to being herself.

The car stopped at her house. Nancy was waiting at the door, beaming. "Ms. Griffin. You're home."

Nancy's eyes flicked meaningfully toward the second floor, her grin widening. Audrey followed it and found a tall figure leaning on the stair rail.

Crisp white shirt, tailored black trousers, a smile like he'd never had a bad week in his life. "Welcome home, Audrey," he said, and opened his arms.

"What are you doing here, Omar?" Reid's voice came from behind her as he went forward to shake his hand.

Omar Bell gave him a look. "I heard Ramos Enterprises was coming apart at the seams and figured Audrey was finally getting divorced. So here I am. She's back, so we're celebrating. This calls for a night out."

He waved Reid off, linked his arm through Audrey's, and steered her toward the dressing room. "Surprise."

The wardrobe, empty two weeks ago, was full—clothes, shoes, accessories, every piece chosen for her. Half of it custom.

Omar pulled out a black strapless top and a leather skirt and pushed them at her. "We have to look like we belong, don't we?"

Audrey took them. "Give me five minutes."

"Take ten." He shooed her toward the door, then added, "Oh—Audrey. There's something you should probably know."

"What?" Audrey called, already changing.

"My father says the city's opening up a parcel of land up north for development. They want a major hospital on it. Interested?" Omar hadn't planned on pulling her into this.

He knew Ramos Enterprises had its eye on the project. But now that she and Diego were finished, she had a right to hear about it.

Audrey had always wanted to be a doctor. Even if she never wore the coat herself, she wanted to build a hospital that mattered—real equipment, real specialists, the whole thing.

She'd never told him why it meant so much. Omar had decided a long time ago that he'd help her build it anyway. She wasn't his sister by blood, but the distinction had stopped mattering years ago.

"Really?" Audrey came out of the dressing room, and her voice was bright.

Both men forgot how to breathe for a second.

The black top sat clean across her collarbones and showed off a waist that didn't look real. The little star-and-moon pendant at her throat caught the light. The skirt did the rest.

Omar covered his eyes, theatrically. "Don't. I'm weak."

Reid laughed. "She always does this."

In private, he liked being able to just call her Audrey.

"You're sure about going up against Ramos Enterprises on this?" Omar asked, the humor draining out of his voice. He'd half expected her to hesitate.

They'd been partners once, and she'd given up more for that man than anyone should have to.

"I don't care who's on the other side of the table. I'm winning it." She said it calmly, like a fact she'd already checked.

Omar came from the Bells. Old money, a dozen companies under the Bell Group, and a name that opened doors in Crestview the way the Ramos name did. The two families had circled each other for thirty years without ever quite competing.

The land up north was perfect for a hospital. Prime location, room to expand, the potential to become the largest medical center in the state. With the Bells behind her, Audrey could go head to head with the Ramos family and not blink.

"Celebration first. Just send me the bid date." She smoothed the skirt, picked up her bag, and walked out with both of them trailing her.

---

The Grand Chateau was a members-only club—restaurant, bar, spa, the works. Very few people knew Reid Medina owned it.

"Should I get us a private room?" Reid asked, already deferring to his boss.

Omar gave him a look. "Why are you never this nice to me?"

"Come on. House rules. Anything goes, unless Audrey's involved."

They took a low-key table in the main room instead of a private one. Audrey didn't want to make Reid break his own rules, and the main room gave her a much better view of the available men.

She'd spent three years so fixed on Diego that she'd forgotten other men existed. Tonight she intended to correct that.

---

Across the room, Diego was mid-conversation with Marcus Vance when a familiar figure came through the door.

She drew the whole room, and she didn't appear to notice. Behind her walked two men, neither of them easy to overlook.

"Isn't that your wife? What's she doing with Omar Bell?" Marcus asked. He knew who Audrey was after the mess at Ramos Enterprises. Reid didn't surprise him. Omar Bell was a different league.

Diego's face went dark. "Ex-wife."

"Fine. Ex-wife. Weren't you trying to get five minutes with Omar Bell? Have her introduce you. They look—close."

It was a casual suggestion, but Marcus knew exactly how badly Diego wanted that hospital project. The Bell Group preached open bidding. Everyone also knew a quiet word with a Bell could tilt a room.

Diego followed his gaze and found Audrey laughing with her arm slung over Omar's shoulder. His expression darkened another degree. They weren't even divorced yet and she was already out with other men.

And not just any man. The Bell heir. Like she'd had the next one lined up the whole time.

His grip tightened on the glass. He was halfway across the room before he'd decided to move.

Audrey and her friends were mid-game when he appeared. The three of them went still for half a second. The air sharpened—then flattened out again.

"Audrey." Low, with an edge. "You have some nerve. Working on my mother this morning and turning up in a club by dinner."

She scoffed. "What exactly do you think I'm damaging, Mr. Ramos? My standing as your soon-to-be ex-wife? Whether I'm here for business or for fun is not your concern."

His heart stuttered. That landed harder than he'd expected. "You're bidding on the Bell project."

Why else would she be with Omar?

But a security firm—even a famous one—was not Ramos Enterprises. What made her think she could play at this level?

Behind him, Marcus swallowed a laugh, watching Audrey like she was the punchline. "Look at that. Your ex-wife's really come into her own."

Reid was almost speechless. Did this clown have any idea who her family was?

"None of it is your business. Try focusing on your own life instead of inserting yourself into other people's." Audrey's reply was ice.

"You—"

Marcus rushed to smooth it over, lifting his glass toward Omar. "Mr. Bell. I've heard a lot about you. Could we borrow five minutes? We're very interested in the north site."

Omar gave him a thin smile and touched glasses without warmth. "No need. I'm here with Audrey, and I don't have much to say to people who came over to bait her."

While Marcus fumbled for another angle, Audrey stood and gave Diego a smile that never reached her eyes. "We're done here. Let's go."

Reid and Omar fell in behind her without a beat, leaving Diego furious and Marcus lost.

Omar and Audrey were obviously close. How on earth did she know a man like that?