Mag-log in[Alice's POV]"I deserve him more than you," she shouted. "I've earned him. I've sacrificed for him. I've become what he needs. And you — you just existed, and it was enough. Just by being in the same room, just by breathing the same air, you were enough. And I hate you for it. I have hated you for it my entire life."The cable above me groaned again. Louder this time. I felt myself drop — a sudden, stomach-lurching fall of maybe ten centimeters, followed by a sickening swing as the cable oscillated. The river below seemed closer. The roar of the water seemed louder."David is coming," Lily said. "I can hear the cars reaching the bridge. And when he gets here, he's going to see exactly what I've arranged. The woman he'
[Alice's POV]I was standing on a narrow metal platform; a maintenance walkway, maybe, or a section of grating bolted to the exterior of some kind of structure. To my left was open air and darkness. To my right, a lattice of rusted steel — the framework of a bridge. An old bridge, industrial, the kind that might have serviced a hydroelectric dam or a factory in the mid-twentieth century.Directly below me, ran the river. I couldn't see it clearly. The darkness was too deep, the current too violent, white water catching fragments of moonlight and scattering them like shattered glass. But I could hear it. A low, continuous roar that seemed to come from the earth itself, as if the ground had torn open and was pouring its guts into the void.I looked up.Lily was headi
[Alice's POV]Lily’s two thugs moved in and hauled me to my feet roughly, but with an unexpected carefulness, as if they'd been given specific instructions about how to move me. One of them stepped behind my back while the other held my shoulders. I heard a click, a soft mechanical snap, and then something hard was pressed flat against my sternum, just above my breasts.The contraption felt cold against my chest, and I caught my breath. I could feel the chill seeping through the fabric of my clothing.The thing was heavy. Glancing down, I detected the unmistakable texture of molded plastic and metal components.A harness was tightened across my back. Buckles clicked into place, four of them, two on each side, pulling the device flush against my upper body. I didn't
[David's POV]"I choose both," I said. "Lily is carrying my child. I'm not abandoning her. But I'm not leaving Alice to die, either. Whatever it takes, whoever I have to call, whatever it costs — I'm bringing them both home!”Adam's jaw worked. I could see the calculations running behind his eyes. The suspicion, the hesitation, the urge to reject anything I said on principle because the principle had become more important than the practical reality.Then something shifted. Something small but decisive, like a tectonic plate settling into a new position."You're not going alone!" he exclaimed."I don't recall inviting you."
[David's POV]The question hit me like a physical blow. Not because of its content, but because of the way he asked it. There was no nuance in his voice. No acknowledgment of the complexity, no recognition of the fact that both of the women at risk, were carrying my child. He asked it the way you'd ask someone to choose between saving a stranger or saving nothing."Lily is pregnant," I said."I know she's pregnant." Adam's voice was low, controlled, dangerous in a way I had never heard before.In all his business dealings, I had seen Adam Ballard negotiate with cold precision, dismantle opponents with surgical verbal precision, and maintain absolute composure in situations that would have broken lesser men. I had never once seen him lose his temper.
[David's POV]The scotch was a 2018 Macallan, and I was on my second pour when the phone rang.Not my personal cell phone — the landline in my study. The one almost no one had the number for. I looked at the handset on the desk, frowning. Lily had gone home to rest. The press conference had exhausted her — or rather, her performance of exhaustion had exhausted her, which was a distinction I had learned not to examine too closely.Adam was sitting across from me, in the leather armchair by the window. He had arrived an hour ago, unannounced, which was unusual. Adam Ballard didn't do unannounced. He scheduled everything — meetings, calls, meals, even emotions, as far as I could tell — and the fact that he had shown up at my door without warning told me something was wrong before he even opened
Lily’s POVWalking out of that hospital room, the light in the long corridor struck me as pale and unreal. My hands couldn’t stop trembling.It wasn’t because of the cold, but because of the humiliation of my soul being stripped bare and exposed for all to ogle.Being publicly ignored like that, th
[Alice's POV]This feeling of loss of control rapidly bloomed in the bathroom. His blood-tasting kiss traveled all the way down from my lips, burying itself in the hollow of my neck, nipping sensitive flesh almost vengefully. Searing nerve endings along my skin became reawakened from a too long slu
Alice‘s POVHe was standing over me in an unconscious act of intimidation. He was seeking validation.I leaned back against the pillow and looked up at him, with a pitying smile. Where to start, I wondered.“David, it’s not that I’m hiding something from you,” I said on a weak breath, each word str
[Alice's POV]He simply straightened up, and leaving the balcony, he walked toward me. Coming back into the conference center corridor, he closed the balcony glass sliding door, and joined me.“Professor Lawrence is looking for you.” His voice was low and gentle. “He told me that several European i







