LOGINIn the end, Lydia gave a faint smile. “No. Of course not.”“Let’s move,” Cale said flatly.They left the suite at a brisk pace. The hotel corridor looked calm, too calm, with thick carpet swallowing the sound of footsteps and warm yellow lights making everything appear normal. Yet that very stillnes
Three knocks sounded at the suite door, soft but clear enough to cut through the tension hanging in the air. No one moved for a fraction of a second. It was as if the entire room had stopped breathing together.Lydia, standing near the table, instinctively turned toward the door. Her fingers were gr
Don Falcon’s office occupied the highest floor of the mansion, overlooking a stretch of city that seemed small beneath the vast glass windows. But that morning, no one in the room dared appreciate the view. The air felt heavy, dense with pressure that came entirely from the man seated behind the gle
“Not if it’s treated immediately.” The doctor looked at Cale calmly. “But she needs complete rest. No stress, no fear, and she must not be left alone.”Lydia raised a brow. “That last part sounds important.”Dr. Weber took out fever medication and wrote an additional prescription. “I’ll give her an
The hotel room door flew open harder than usual. Fast footsteps entered the main suite, followed by a rush of cold air from the hallway before the door could close again.Cale came in first, still wearing the same suit he had left in that morning. His face was unreadable, but the tight line of his j
“Like what?”“Being… warm to strangers.”Lydia chewed slowly before answering. “No. I’m selective.”“Then why me?”“I don’t know,” Lydia said lightly. “Maybe fate?”That answer left Naomi quiet.To shift the mood, Lydia began talking about small, ordinary things. About a woman named Althea who, in h
To Josh, the man beside him—his shirt sleeves rolled up to his elbows after ditching his blazer and loosening his tie so he could move freely—looked impossibly cool. Daven made every game seem simple. Unlike Josh, who still fumbled here and there, yet found pure joy in playing.If only they could do
Tightness spread through his chest, regret seeping in sharp as thorns. If time could turn back, he would never have let her go. He would never have cast Althea aside so easily, never allowed her to be crushed beneath the shadow of his obsession with another woman. But time didn’t bend. And what he h
Chris leaned back. “That’s what we’re working on. Our team is compiling a complete dossier. But you can see how slick Harold is. Even the authorities have trouble tracking him down.”“He can’t hide forever,” Daven cut in. “Every move leaves a trace. I won’t sit idle until he pays for this.”“I won’t
“I actually hate hospitals,” Althea admitted as she stepped out of the car. The place always tugged at painful memories. The birth of Josh had been different—joyful, of course—but otherwise hospitals squeezed her chest. She would never forget how her mother had taken her last breath from blood loss.







