MasukMichael's POVI opened the door and stepped into the hallway. A few minutes later, I exited the hospital through the main entrance.The evening air was cool, the parking lot was illuminated by rows of streetlights, cars came and went and doctors and nurses moved between shifts.Everything looked normal.My eyes immediately found the familiar car and beside it stood the guard.It was the same tall, broad-shouldered, expressionless man who had been following me around for days.The moment he saw me approaching, he straightened slightly but I stopped a few feet away."You're leaving" I said coldly. The guard blinked then calmly replied."I'm sorry, but I can't" he replied. I stared."I'm sorry?""I said no" he said firmly. My eye twitched. This conversation was already going badly.I folded my arms."Fernando didn't tell you to stop following me?" I asked."No.""Then I'm telling you.""I still cannot do that" he said.I stared and the guard stared back. For a moment neither of us mov
Michael's POVFor a long moment after Fernando left the hospital, I simply stood there in the hallway. My mind was exhausted and everything felt complicated.I felt like I was carrying the weight of ten different lives on my shoulders. Eventually, I let out a slow breath and started walking back toward Theo's room.I needed to stop thinking about Fernando, at least for a little while.Every time I thought I understood what I wanted, Fernando would appear and ruin everything again. The man had somehow mastered the art of causing emotional damage simply by existing.I pushed the door open quietly to see Theo awake. The soft light from the hospital lamp illuminated part of his face.He looked exhausted, his skin was pale, bandages were visible beneath the hospital blanket and the bruises and cuts across his body made my stomach tighten.Seeing him like this reminded me how close I had come to losing him. The thought alone terrified me.Theo looked up and smiled when he saw me."There you
Fernando's POVThe entire drive back to my hotel was torture. Carlos would not stop talking.I sat in the back seat of my car, staring out the window as the city lights flashed past.My mood had never been worse. Every few seconds, I found myself replaying the look on Henry's face.Across from me, Carlos was talking as if we had just come back from a vacation."Honestly, I think the kid likes me" he said.I slowly turned my head toward him and Carlos smiled."I'm serious" he said.I stared and he kept smiling, until my stare became colder then his smile slowly disappeared.Everything had been progressing slowly but progressing. Michael had started listening to me, he had begun considering New York and he had admitted he wanted our family together.Those moments mattered, every single one of them. Then Carlos arrived and suddenly everything became complicated again.I closed my eyes.Wonderful, just wonderful.By the time we arrived at the hotel, my patience was completely gone. The ve
Michael's POVI didn't want to think about Carlos. Unfortunately, he had made that impossible.The hospital hallway felt quieter after Fernando and Carlos moved away, but somehow the silence only made my thoughts louder.I sat down heavily in one of the waiting room chairs and rubbed my face.I let out a long sigh.Across from me, Kim was sitting with her legs tucked beneath her on the chair. She had been staring through the glass window toward her father's room for several minutes.Every now and then she would glance toward the door as if expecting someone to come out and tell her Theo was completely healed.I felt sorry for her.No matter how mature Kim acted sometimes, she was still a daughter worried about her father.Then I realized she was looking at me, not Theo's room."What?" I asked.Kim tilted her head."You look stressed" she replied. I laughed weakly. After several moments I finally sighed."It's Carlos" I replied. Kim blinked."The guy with Fernando? What about him?" S
Fernando’s POVThe hospital lights reflected off Carlo's expensive sunglasses which were currently perched on top of his head.The bastard looked like he'd stepped off a magazine cover. Meanwhile, I looked like a man whose life had been turned upside down and somehow Carlos still smiled like this was a pleasant surprise.It wasn't.I immediately looked toward Michael and the expression on his face told me everything.He was angry.I hated when Michael was like that, especially when the subject was me.Carlos smiled brightly."Fernando" he greeted. Before I could react, he wrapped his arms around me and I nearly groaned.Carlos hugged me tightly, like we had been separated for years, which honestly wasn't far from the truth.I awkwardly patted his shoulder.The entire situation was a disaster. When Carlos finally stepped back, I immediately noticed Henry staring.The look on my son's face made my stomach sink."Dad?" Henry asked.I already hated this conversation then Henry pointed at
Michael's POV(Several minutes earlier...)I should have walked away, looking back on it now, that was probably the smartest thing I could have done.I was worried about Theo, concerned about Henry, exhausted from Fernando and now some ridiculously overdressed stranger had appeared out of nowhere claiming to know my husband.Technically, still my husband. The distinction mattered, at least legally.The stranger folded his arms and stared at me and I stared right back.The man looked like he belonged on a fashion runway rather than inside a hospital..His jacket was probably worth more than most people's car.His jewelry practically sparkled under the hospital lights and een his shoes looked expensive.Everything about him screamed money and a lot of attitude."You really don't know who I am?" he asked dramatically."No."His hand immediately flew to his chest. The gesture was so exaggerated that I almost laughed."That is genuinely offensive" he said.I raised an eyebrow. "I'm sorry?"
Fernando's POVI adjusted the cuff of my shirt and lifted my eyes to the mirror again for the one hundredth time.It was just one hour left and my life would change into something much better.I had faced death without flinching, I had signed orders that wiped entire bloodlines off the map, I had b
Fernando's POVI watched Emilio disappear down the corridor before I allowed myself to breathe again.Only once he was completely gone did I turn my full attention back to Michael.He stood there, silent, rigid, his jaw clenched so tightly I could almost hear his teeth grind. That look on his face,
Fernando’s POV The barrel of my gun felt fixed to my hand. My arm was steady, but inside me something trembled, everything crashing together so violently that the warehouse seemed too small to hold it. My gun was aimed straight at Santiago’s forehead, and across the cracked floor, his gun was aim
Ashley's POV I sat there, strapped into the cold, unyielding chair, my wrists brushing against my restraints. Shock had hit me like a moving train. My mouth went dry, my hands shook. I felt like the air had been sucked from the room. My mind was trying to reject the reality of his confession, my







