LOGINThey gradually relaxed.“You’ve got to admit, the Xander family’s hospital is really something.”“Yeah. I’m still kind of shocked they put us in a room this nice.”One of her coworkers took a bite of the breakfast Winter had brought and said, “The Xanders have always been generous. Remember that time we went with Winter to cover the charity auction at Windham Gardens, and we stopped Mr. Xander halfway through?”“Oh, right.” The other coworker slapped his hand against the bed. “You saying that just reminded me. I almost forgot to tell Winter.”He turned to her and said, “You have no idea how huge the bonus Mr. Gavin gave us that night. It was basically the size of my year-end bonus. Actually, you probably got one too, right?”Winter turned to pour them some water and gave a flat little “Mm.”She hadn’t gotten a bonus. Instead, she had been offered a sapphire brooch worth over a hundred million at auction, and she had turned it down.She didn’t say yes or no, so her coworkers ass
On Saturday morning, Winter got up early. After buying breakfast for her coworkers, she drove to the Xander family hospital.Things had been so chaotic in the ER the day before that she had accidentally left her press badge with her coworkers. She had an interview assignment on Monday morning and needed it.After parking, she headed to the room where her coworkers had been staying.But when she got there, the room was completely empty.She was just about to call them when she noticed the message they had sent her half an hour earlier.“We forgot to tell you. They moved us to the VIP wing.”Three minutes later, Winter knocked and pushed open the door to the suite. Both bedroom doors inside were open.Her two male coworkers were staying in separate rooms, one on the left and one on the right.They had both injured their hands, but not badly enough that they couldn’t feed themselves. Still, the nurses were being so attentive that they insisted on feeding them anyway.The two grow
Besides, even though Roy had gotten mad at her for no reason, he still came to save her the second she was in danger.That alone was enough to make sure she couldn’t just leave him behind.Fortunately, Roy at least cooperated with Gavin’s examination.After the examination, Gavin said to Winter, “He’s not injured, ma’am. You can rest easy.”Gavin wasn’t the type to say things lightly, so Winter finally let out a breath of relief. Then she picked up the phone Roy had tossed onto the driver’s seat and handed it back to him.“Roy, thank you. Really.”Gavin looked up at that.Roy took the phone, gave Winter a quiet look, and typed something on the screen.“I’ll drive you home.”Winter had been about to turn him down. He had just fought off that many people and burned through so much energy. She didn’t want to take up more of his time.But then she thought better of it. This was the perfect chance to ask why he had been upset with her. If it really was her fault, she would apologi
Winter let out a breath.What was she even thinking?The two of them had absolutely nothing to do with each other. They were only both quick and sharp in a fight, that was all.Out of the corner of his eye, Roy caught the thin line of blood on Winter’s jaw where the shattered glass had cut her. He tugged the cuff of his tactical glove tighter, and a cold glint flashed through his dark brown eyes.He grabbed a steel pipe off the ground.The men instinctively stepped back half a pace, then traded looks and rushed him all at once.There were too many of them.Winter couldn’t help getting worried.No matter how good Roy was, he couldn’t hold off that many people forever. The entire stretch of road was full of men with unknown backgrounds.And he couldn’t even focus entirely on fighting them.He still had to keep part of his attention on her safety.If this kept going, Roy and Zion and the others were bound to get hurt.Then Winter’s expression stiffened.A sharp knife drove in
She couldn’t exactly ask Zion about it either. If she did, he would know she had been trying to get Roy to teach her how to shoot behind his back.Winter sighed three times in a row.Great. He had already been cold enough. Now he had turned into a complete block of ice.She turned the wheel and merged onto the main road, leaving downtown behind.The roads were full of out-of-town workers riding motorcycles home for the holidays. Winter eased off the gas a little so she wouldn’t startle them.The sounds of motorcycle horns and engines rose and fell around her, sometimes near, sometimes farther off.Soft music played inside the car.But mixed in with the rest of the traffic were a few louder, harsher engine roars. They sounded completely different from the others, more like people chasing each other down the road.Winter’s first instinct was that it was probably just a bunch of reckless guys racing.Then she glanced into the rearview mirror.Several Harleys were weaving through
Outside the ER, Winter said something to Zac that made him pull out his phone and make a call. Then he went back into the treatment area with her to check on her coworkers.A little while later, a man who looked like a bodyguard came in carrying takeout from Spring Garden, a restaurant owned by the Davis family.It was all food Winter liked.Skyla’s caregiver hurried over, out of breath. “Mr. Xander, Ms. Jasper is awake.”Chris’s expression turned dark. “Get the doctor,” he said coldly.Late that night, Winter finally got home. After showering and getting ready for bed, she lay there tossing and turning, unable to sleep. After a while, she rolled over and grabbed her phone from the nightstand. She then opened her messages, and tapped on Roy’s chat.“How good is your aim?” she asked.What had happened at the senior care center that day made her realize something all over again. She was going to Eveland, a country torn by war. If she knew how to use a gun, she would have a better







