THE CEO'S STOLEN SECONDS

“The final notice is already printed, Miss Brooks. If we don’t see the deposit in our account by midnight, Leo’s name drops from the surgical list.” Dr. Evans didn’t bother looking up from his tablet. The way he tapped his stylus against the glass was a kind of clinical torture, slow and steady.“I’ve got the media coverage for the City Hospital Gala set,” I said, knuckles pressed so hard into his polished desk I thought my fingers would snap. “The contract pays out on the first. That’s two weeks. Please, Dr. Evans. Leo can’t wait—his heart valve won’t survive another delay.”“The hospital board doesn’t take IOUs, Sierra. There are three hundred children lined up for that surgical theater.” He finally met my eyes—detached, practiced. “One hundred thousand dollars. By midnight. Or the slot goes to someone else.”My phone nearly buzzed itself out of my blazer pocket. I snatched it up, desperate for anything to cut the tension in the room and in my chest.“Sierra, look at the TV right n

The glass coffee table between us exploded into sparkling shards when Victoria’s bodyguard clipped it with his clunky briefcase. Sharp as ever, Victoria didn’t even flinch. "Watch your step, Marcus," she murmured, her voice cold and cutting. Her gaze pinned me in place—hard blue eyes tracking every twitch, every subtle reaction, like she was hunting for weakness.She didn’t waste time. "Now, Sierra... let’s get back to my question. Are we going to address that child you’ve been hiding in your sad little apartment, or are we going to pretend you came into this marriage with a spotless record?"I felt frozen. The marble beneath my heels felt like it might swallow me. All I wanted to do was run, get Leo out, wipe him from the hospital database—anything to get him out of Victoria’s crosshairs.Then Christian’s voice broke the tension. Deep, vibrating—almost dangerous. "You’re overstepping, Mother." His grip around my waist tightened, steadying me. I swear I could feel his heat through my

The glass tablet in Rebecca Vance’s hand hit the marble floor and exploded into shards after Christian kicked it straight out of her grip. The fragments shot everywhere. Rebecca stumbled back, her face blotched and furious, grabbed by Victoria before she fell.“Christian!” she barked, her voice shrill. “Are you out of your mind? The news is everywhere! Your wife’s agency faked the leak that took out your maritime contracts!”Christian just stared her down, voice deadly even. “The only thing wrong here is your timing, Rebecca.” His hand never eased off my waist. If anything, he hauled me in closer, forcing the board members to edge back just to give us space.My breath caught in my chest. I glanced at the ruins on the floor—then to the giant monitors all over the atrium. A breaking news banner screamed my agency’s name in blood red letters: Brooks & Associates. This whole thing was a setup. If the review board believed I’d triggered the crisis, they wouldn’t just kill our contract. Th

I bolted across the sterile room and grabbed the front of Christian’s wet suit jacket, smashing my cracked phone screen right up to his face."Where is he, Christian?" I screamed, my voice scraping raw as the text message glowed between us. "Look at this! The plane outside is a decoy! You know where he is, don’t you? You knew she was going to pull this!"Christian caught my wrists, his big hands icy and slick from the Seattle rain, but he didn’t push my hands away. He looked at the glowing screen, his pupils narrowing into thin, lethal slits. He didn’t glance at his mother. He stared back at me, his chest heaving under my palms, a terrifying, low growl rumbling from deep in his ribs."I didn’t know she’d use a decoy flight, Sierra," he whispered, gripping my wrists tighter until the emerald ring pressed into my skin. "But I know exactly whose signature is on the unlisted tracking server. It’s not my mother’s.""Oh, please," Victoria snorted from the edge of the empty hospital bed, her

The ambulance’s cardiac monitor smashed through the silence, its sharp, endless shriek filling the tiny cabin. Leo’s small body jerked violently, his fingers slipping from my hand. “He’s flatlining! We’re losing his rhythm!” The lead paramedic yelled, snatching up the manual resuscitation bag. His hands blurred as he worked. “Miss Brooks, step back! We need space!” “Leo! No, no, baby, look at mommy!” My scream burst out, my legs buckling as the ambulance whipped around a slippery corner. Metal oxygen racks slammed into my back, tires screeching against the flooded Seattle road.My hands shook so badly I could barely get off the floor. The green dress I wore clung to me, cold and drenched—rain stuck to my skin like a shroud. All I saw was the flat neon-green line on the monitor mocking me, humming endlessly. Nothing had ever felt so desperate. I’d survived boardrooms, kidnapping in that ugly hangar, and even a ghost from years ago—only to watch my son’s heart quit on him, miles from