Read Online Release Me by Ann Marie Walker, Amy K. Rogers - Free Book Online

for its color.
    The ride from her Astor Place brownstone to the Art Institute was a short one, but the traffic moved at a crawl down Michigan Avenue, and the wait at each red light only gave her more time to think about the evening that lay ahead of her. She’d attended more charity events than she could count, as a guest and then more recently as part of the fund-raising team at the Ingram Foundation, but this was different. This time she was the only surviving member of the family and she was attending the event to accept a posthumous award on her late mother’s behalf.
    As the limo rolled to a stop in front of the museum, it wasn’t the two bronze lions flanking the stone steps that caught her eye. It was the Chicago Symphony Orchestra on the opposite side of the street that drew her gaze. Light glowed in the soaring arched windows, and as she watched the patrons mingling in front of the glass, she felt a sense of peace unlike any she’d felt in weeks.
    “I’ll have security back them up before I open the door,” her driver said, grounding her in the moment. It was just as well. There wasn’t time for a trip down memory lane. She had a press line to face¸ the first one since her parents’ murder. And judging by the photographers surrounding the limo, more than a few tabloid freelancers to deal with as well. She needed to keep her focus on that, not box seats and velvet curtains.
    Event security did their best to herd the paparazzi back to the sidewalk, and the limo door swung open as soon as a path was cleared. The flash of cameras blinded her the moment she stepped out of the limo, and she felt a sudden surge of panic as the images captured by the coroner’s flashbulbs fired in sequence through her mind. She pulled her velvet wrap tighter and took a deep breath. She could do this. She was Alessandra Ingram Sinclair. And while she might have come to resent the way her parents had raised her, in essence her entire life had prepared her for what she now had to face.
    So despite how she was feeling inside, Allie held her head high as she walked the length of the press gauntlet. She’d told the event organizers she wouldn’t be taking any questions, but that didn’t stop the photographers from shouting to her as they clamored for the perfect shot. The badged press mostly called out her name or requests to “look this way,” but the freelancers behind the barricades were more creative. There was no limit to the depths to which they would sink in their attempt to garner a reaction they could capture on film and sell to TMZ.
    “No date tonight?”
    “Show us some skin, baby.”
    “Any truth to the rumor it was a professional hit?”
    The last one almost broke her but she somehow managed to keep her mask firmly in place, smiling and nodding at the appropriate times, as she made her way inside.
    Her new assistant was waiting for her just inside the doors. With his boyish grin and wayward, light brown hair falling casually over sexy green eyes, Colin James looked more like the member of a popular British boy band than an executive assistant. But his résumé proved he was more than just a pretty face. Top in his class at Northwestern, he’d explained during his interview how he was looking to get a few years of experience under his belt, not to mention cash in his bank account, before pursuing his MBA. His classes at Medill had given him a keen insight into cutting-edge media, and his passion for classical music rivaled her own. Allie had liked him right from the start.
    “Would it be unprofessional of me to tell you how beautiful you look?” he asked, cocking a lopsided grin.
    Allie raised a brow. “Flattery won’t get you a raise, Colin. You’ve only been on the job one day.”
    “And look at me.” He waved a hand in front of his black tuxedo, perfectly paired with a simple yet elegant straight black tie. “I’m already at the event of the weekend.” His grin widened. “I think I’m going to like