LOGINAfter Julian had fallen asleep, the nurse took over the post-procedure monitoring. The soft beep of the monitors continued their steady rhythm, a reassuring sound in the quiet of the VIP ward. Avery signed the final file, her signature crisp and clear at the bottom of the page, before leaving the room.
The corridor was lit with pale night lights, casting long shadows across the polis
After Julian had fallen asleep, the nurse took over the post-procedure monitoring. The soft beep of the monitors continued their steady rhythm, a reassuring sound in the quiet of the VIP ward. Avery signed the final file, her signature crisp and clear at the bottom of the page, before leaving the room.The corridor was lit with pale night lights, casting long shadows across the polished floor. Dominic was leaning against the opposite wall, waiting for her in the stillness. His posture was relaxed, but his eyes tracked her the moment she emerged, their focus sharp and clear.He pushed off the wall as she approached, his gaze finding her face with renewed clarity."Is he asleep?""Sleeping.
At seven in the morning, the sensor doors of the VIP ward area slid open silently.The corridor appeared quiet, but the air carried a subtle tension that hadn't been there before. Evan's security personnel had changed into orderly uniforms and taken positions at every secure access point. Their movements were unhurried, practiced, but their eyes tracked every shift in the hallway with a vigilance that betrayed their true purpose. A janitor paused to wipe an already spotless section of wall. A nurse checked a supply cart that held nothing but a concealed earpiece.The theater of normalcy was flawless, but Avery had learned to read the spaces between the ordinary.This was the day of reckoning. And also the moment when danger pressed closest.
At seven forty in the morning, Avery changed into her white coat and walked out of the office.The quiet sound of a supply cart rolling over the tiles filled the corridor. Out of the corner of her eye, she scanned the concealed corners. Evan's security detail was already in place, their positions discreet but unmistakable to a trained eye. A figure stood near the stairwell exit, another by the elevator bank. They moved with the practiced ease of professionals who had done this many times before.On the surface, everything appeared calm. The hospital hummed with its usual morning rhythm. But she knew the Gardener's people were nearby. The intelligence from the night before was still fresh in her mind, a quiet alarm that refused to fade. She couldn't afford to let her guard down for even a moment.
Morning light poured through the east-facing floor-to-ceiling windows when Avery picked up her travel bag. The pale gold of early dawn spilled across the marble floor, catching the edges of the furniture and casting long, soft shadows. She had packed lightly, just a few essentials, the bag barely half-full.At the end of the corridor, Dominic leaned against the doorframe. His dark coat was slightly disheveled, as if he had just splashed cold water on his face, a lingering darkness still clouding his eyes. The shadows beneath them were deep, proof of another sleepless night. His hair was still damp at the temples, and the collar of his shirt was slightly crooked.At the sound of the zipper, he turned his head. "So soon?""Just a few clothes." Avery walked toward him, her footsteps soft against the wood floor.As she passed, Dominic raised his hand. His rough fingertips found her wrist, sliding down inch by inch, before threading through her fingers with a
When the video call connected, Avery had just finished saving the clinical data Dr. He had sent over. The files had come through in a dense stream, each one meticulously labeled, the kind of precise documentation that spoke to hours of careful work. She closed the folder and walked out of the inner room with her phone.Dominic was leaning against the wall across the corridor, his posture relaxed but alert. He turned his head toward the sound of her footsteps, his chin lifting slightly as if to catch the faintest shift in the air around her.On the screen, Dorothea was holding a small spoon, eating cake. A ring of white cream circled her lips, smeared across her cheek in a joyful, messy streak. When she spotted a dark piece of fabric enter the frame, her eyes lit up. She thrust her plate toward the camera with a
When Avery woke, the light outside the window had already brightened considerably, the pale gold of early morning spreading across the ceiling in soft, shifting patterns. The air carried the familiar, cool scent of cedarwood that had come to define this room, mingled with the faint trace of coffee drifting in from somewhere down the hall.She turned her head. Dominic was still asleep, his breathing slow and steady, the rhythmic rise and fall of his chest a quiet anchor in the stillness. His left arm rested across her waist, heavy and warm. His right arm served as her pillow, the muscles of his forearm tensed even in rest.The morning light fell across his profile, softening the hard lines of his face, smoothing away the cold edges that usually defined him. There was a rare tenderness in the set of his mouth, an unguarded stillness he never showed the world—a vulnerability that made her chest ache.Avery watched him for a long moment, her eyes tracing the l
The study was thick with the scent of fir and ink. Dominic stood against the light from the floor to ceiling window. As Avery entered, he turned toward her."Adrian invited me to the North Port," he said."To discuss what?""Logistics quotas. His docks, my cargo." He paused. "He asked for a private
5:45 AM. The sky was still dark, but Avery was already dressed.She wore a dark, slim-fit overcoat to blend into the twilight. She slipped the bronze key Wenger had given her and her burner phone into her pocket. Her heartbeat thundered against her eardrums.She cracked the bedroom door open with p
When Avery opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was Dominic's Adam's apple, inches from her face.The taut line of his throat shifted slightly with each steady breath. She realized, with a jolt of panic, that at some point she had wrapped her arms around him, her fingers still clutching the fab
Julian was being held in a private care facility less than a ten-minute drive from the villa.Calling it a "facility" was a stretch; it was an independent building under Dominic's name. Men in black suits patrolled the perimeter, and two black SUVs sat in the courtyard, engines idling, with people







