I pressed the end button and cut him off.

The room seemed to spin slightly.

The press was already calling.

Sterling hadn’t waited for Daniel’s twenty-four hours to expire; he was already feeding the wolves.

The door opened, and Daniel walked back into the room.

He saw my face, saw the phone clutched in my shaking hand.

“What happened?” he asked, stepping quickly to the side of the bed.

“They’re calling,” I said, my voice barely audible.

“A reporter from Oregon.”

“He had my name.”

Daniel’s face went completely still, the color draining from his cheeks.

He grabbed his own phone from the bed.

He scrolled through his contacts, his thumb moving with a furious speed.

“I’m calling the legal team,” he said.

“No,” I said, reaching out to touch his sleeve.

“Daniel, look at me.”

He stopped, his thumb hovering over the screen.

“They already have the papers,” I said.

“A lawyer can’t stop them from printing what they already have.”

“We are out of time.”

He looked at me, and for the first time since I had known him, I saw a flicker of absolute helplessness in his eyes.