The sidewalks outside Alexander Carter's penthouse building still bore the brunt of violence last night. Broken windows, police cordon clogging sidewalks, and the acrid whiff of smoke lingered like an obscene message. To Amelia, the aftermath was worse than shattered glass and whispers of scandal. It was a reminder that her own world, as secure as it had appeared to her, was on the edge of some inconstant she hardly understood.

She hadn't slept. She'd lie down and catch sight of masked men ...