LOGINHarper’s POV:“Hardin!” I rushed to him and wrapped my arms around him too tight, like if I held on hard enough, nothing else could take him away again.“Hey… easy,” he said, his voice rough, almost breaking.I pulled back fast, my hands still gripping his shirt. “Sorry. I’m sorry.”His breathing came out uneven, like each breath took effort, and it scared me more than anything.“I’ll get you water,” I said, already turning, already moving, because doing something felt better than standing there and watching him like this.His hand caught my wrist.“Don’t go.”“You need it.”“I’m fine.”His fingers stayed wrapped around me, firm even when the rest of him didn’t look it. His skin felt cold, and his eyes… they didn’t have that sharp edge I was used to. That scared me more.“You’re not—”He pulled me down with him, and the rest of my words disappeared when his lips met mine.For a second, I froze. Then I gave in.I kissed him back like I had been waiting for it without knowing it. His li
Harper’s POV:I didn’t know what to do. I was confused as hell. Hardin and I still spoke before I had to talk to Hailey. I had called Roman, at least he’s Hardin’s doctor.“Listen to me, Harper,” Roman had said twice. I couldn’t wait, I had rushed downstairs to speak to my workers. We needed to carry Hardin to the hospital. I was losing it. I couldn't afford to lose him. Never!“Ma’am you phone keeps buzzing, I think you need to see this.” One of my workers rushed to me with my phone.“Get out of here.” I was erratic.“Harper! You have to hear me.” I heard Roman’s voice from the phone again. “Hardin is not dead.” I paused. My gateman was already calling 911.“Wait,” I told my gateman. “Give me the phone,” I grabbed my phone from her. I was looking at Hardin lifeless on my bed. ‘You can’t leave me here,’ I thought to myself as I listened to Roman absentmindedly.“It’s just the stress blackout he gets—his vagus nerve just crashed. His body is basically in a forced reboot. Don’t try to
Harper’s POV:Hailey's heels hit the floor first.That sharp click, click, cutting through the silence of the interrogation room before the rest of her even fully cleared the doorway... like every room she walked into needed a warning she was coming.The other attorney followed behind her. Like somewhere between the hallway and this door she'd already settled the question of who was leading and who was following.I kept my palm pressed against my jaw and watched her move to the chair across the table... watched her open that briefcase and spread her files across the metal surface without rushing, without looking at me, like she had all the time in the world and this room wasn't costing me anything.Hardin's hand stayed on my shoulder from where he stood beside me. Still. Reading everything... reading the air, reading me, waiting to see which direction this was going to go."So..." I let the word sit there for a second. "How exactly are you planning to help me, Hailey?"She looked up f
Hardin’s POV:The door clicked shut behind Hailey and I didn't move from where I was standing.My back pressed against it.My jaw was so tight I could feel my back teeth grinding and I couldn't make myself stop.I was angry at myself. Because I'd called the best lawyer I had available and somehow the universe had handed me the one person guaranteed to make this night more impossible.Harper was still in the chair across the room. Her cuffed hands sat flat on the metal table and she was staring at the floor between us... her shoulders pulled inward, her whole body doing that thing it did when she was swallowing something down, fighting to keep it contained.She wasn't crying.But I knew that silence. I'd watched her wear it in my office years ago right before her body gave out on her completely. Right before she hit the floor and I lost ten years off my life in the span of thirty seconds.I crossed the room fast and dropped to one knee in front of her chair."Hey..." I kept my voice lo
Harper’s POV:"Hey, hey, calm down."Hailey's voice hit me like nails on a chalkboard... that sing-song sweetness that didn't belong in a police interrogation room, didn't belong anywhere near me right now.I didn't remember she had that voice.I was gripping the edge of the metal table without realizing it, my cuffed wrists aching from the pressure, my whole body coiled so tight I could feel my pulse in my teeth.Hardin didn't give her another second."Come here." His hand closed around Hailey's arm and he was already moving, already steering her back through the door before she could finish whatever she'd been about to say... before she could touch me again, before I could do something I couldn't take back.The other man she'd come with... Hardin's LA attorney, quiet and careful in his expensive suit... slid into the chair Hardin had just left without being asked.The door swung shut.I sat there staring at it.My wrists were bleeding a little where the cuffs had been digging in. I
Harper's POV:"Mr. Wolfe, you have to step back."The bald headed policeman tried to push Hardin away from me, his hand reaching out toward Hardin's chest like he actually planned to make physical contact."Do not touch me!" Hardin's response flew out immediately, sharp enough to slice through the tense air in the station.The officer froze mid-motion, his hand still suspended in the space between them.The man must have understood something dangerous in Hardin's tone because he backed off right away, his hand dropping back to his side, his shoulders relaxing slightly like he'd decided this battle wasn't worth fighting.I was still standing there in complete shock trying to process what was happening around me.I didn't know what was going on... why there were handcuffs digging into my wrists, why Jessica had been sitting out there in restraints when we first walked through those doors.Jessica was completely quiet now where she sat across the room.Nothing like when she'd first seen
Harper’s POV:I slammed my office door shut and my hands were shaking when I pulled out my phone.Jessica wasn't responding through the earpiece and that image I'd seen earlier kept flashing in my head... her red dress, someone else beside her who looked like Jenny."Couldn't have been." I shook my
Hardin’s POV:I couldn't stop staring at her.My eyes were locked on Harper standing up there on that stage... addressing her fans like she'd been doing this her whole life, like public speaking was something that came natural to her."Gosh, she's more beautiful." The thought hit me so hard my ches
Harper's POV:"The day is here."The words left my mouth the second my eyes opened and I stared at the ceiling of my bedroom.I hadn't slept.Not really... just laid there all night with my eyes closed while my brain ran through every possible scenario of what could happen today.Should I cancel it
Harper's POV:Six Years Later:"Harper, wait... you don't have to walk so fast all the time. You should walk like the sophisticated woman you are now."The voice behind me sounded sing-song and breathless... Jessica running to catch up with designer shopping bags swinging from both arms.I didn't s







