LOGINAdriana rested for two or three days after getting back, then returned to work at the office.With Oliver's help, the company's project had kept moving along without a hitch the whole time. He'd compiled detailed notes and records for her covering every last detail, thorough enough that she could pick things right back up the moment she stepped into the lab.Her days settled into a steady, orderly rhythm, and before long, another year was drawing to a close.Some instinct to avoid the subject kept her from ever going to see Chris. And because Alex had helped Chris get out to international waters, she'd cut off contact with him entirely as well. Bella mentioned that Alex had resigned as hospital director and was now working as a volunteer physician, treating patients who couldn't afford care.Adriana didn't concern herself with either of them anymore. None of it had anything to do with her now.Today, as she came out of the lab, she ran straight into Bella.She laughed and caugh
Adriana gave Francesco's arm a light pinch, then turned over and closed her eyes."There. That counts as thanks. Now let me sleep."She hadn't pinched hard, just enough to carry a hint of annoyance, though it read more like teasing than anything else.Francesco laughed softly, pressed his chest against her back, and pulled her in snug against him.Ever since Adriana had gone missing, he'd barely slept a full night through. Now, with her right here beside him, warm and real, her familiar scent filling every breath, an overwhelming wave of exhaustion crashed down over him. Adriana was still awake when he drifted off first.She turned her head gently and looked at him by the thin sliver of light seeping in through the gap in the curtains. Even asleep, the exhaustion on his face was unmistakable.A rush of tenderness and heartache welled up all at once, lodging tight in her chest.And for the first time since her disappearance, she slept soundly through the night.When she woke, th
Adriana said it calmly enough, but the moment she turned and stepped back into her own room, exhaustion settled over her, body and mind both, as though she'd been scooped hollow.She lay down on the bed but couldn't fall asleep. She kept tossing and turning restlessly.Her mind kept circling back to Chris. This wasn't how his story was supposed to end.The moment he'd stood at the edge of that terrace, pushed to the brink and ready to jump, every last bit of her anger had drained away, leaving only grief behind. Whatever awful things he'd done, he was still the family who'd once been willing to throw away his own life for her.That tangled, aching pull, unable to hate him fully, unable to forgive him either, left her heart sour and raw.The bedroom door eased open, and Francesco walked in, settling down beside her without a hint of hesitation, the mattress dipping under his weight.His voice was lazy. "What are you thinking about?"Adriana pushed at him, though there was no real
After lunch, Francesco and Mars took the children off to the arcade, while Adriana and Margaret settled into a window seat at a coffee shop to talk.Sunlight slanted in through the glass, warm enough to make her a little sleepy.Adriana turned her cup slowly on its saucer and finally couldn't help asking, "Why is Edward with your family now?"Margaret took a sip of coffee, then walked her through everything that had happened during the time Adriana had been missing, start to finish.Adriana listened with her heart in her throat. Francesco really had taken an enormous risk. If Dean had decided he had nothing left to lose and gone to the police, Francesco would have been looking at kidnapping charges for taking a child, and the consequences would have been serious indeed.Her throat tightened. "Where is Dean now?"Margaret set down her cup. "He and Chris kidnapped and held you against your will. The evidence was airtight. Chris managed to dodge the worst of it thanks to a psychiatr
Francesco stepped in front of Adriana, his broad shoulders quietly cutting off the line of her lingering gaze, his tone carefully offhand, though a thread of jealousy he couldn't quite smother slipped through."Stop looking. He's long gone."Adriana huffed but didn't answer, turning instead toward the bathroom to change her clothes.Pulling the shirt over her head, she closed her eyes, and the dizzy, rocking sensation of the ship's deck came rushing back to her all over again.By the time she came out, she'd settled back into herself."Let's head home too."Francesco looked at her. "Which home?"Adriana blinked, a little confused, and looked up at him. "I only have the one home. The one above your place."She bent down and scooped Maeve into her arms, her voice suddenly bright. "Come on, let's go home."Everything still felt slightly unreal to him. Walking on solid ground, Francesco still felt a faint, floating disorientation, as though some part of him were still out on that
"Oliver has helped out a lot these past weeks. Adriana really should thank him properly."Francesco said it lightly, his voice trailing off at the end, then waved the two children over."Let's go find Mommy."Bella watched him closely, biting back a smile, keeping her expression carefully indifferent. As if she weren't secretly hoping Adriana and Oliver would get a little more time alone up there."Tell Adriana I'm heading back to the office. Tell her to take a few more days to rest, no rush to come back to work."Francesco made a sound of acknowledgment, bent down, gathered both children up, and headed steadily upstairs.Outside the hospital room, he glanced through the half-open door and saw Adriana and Oliver deep in easy conversation.He caught a phrase or two, something about Oliver's latest research results, the two of them talking with an easy familiarity, as if they had an endless supply of things to say to each other.He gulped, then set the children down and patted th
Seeing the wicked glint at the corner of Francesco's eyes, a sense of foreboding rose in Adriana's chest.She lifted the binoculars. The moment the cross-river bridge came into view, she saw a figure climb over the unguarded end of the bridge and plunge into the river below.Even from a distance,
"I can keep investigating for you, if you'd like," Charlie offered.In truth, he could have followed the trail and uncovered whoever was behind it. But the matter might involve Adriana's privacy, so he chose not to pursue it further.Adriana thought for a moment. "Then I'll trouble you, Charlie. C
Francesco was supremely confident, moving without a shred of protective gear.Adriana tightened her grip on her sword, testing him with two tentative thrusts—both easily dodged by Francesco.His reflexes were lightning-fast, and soon he returned a strike of his own. Adriana couldn't evade it in ti
Daisy studied Edward, a flicker of something unusual passing through her eyes. The boy looked far too much like a member of the Slater family."Mhm, I gave birth overseas," Joan said.She gently nudged Edward toward Daisy. "Edward, hurry up and say hello to Daisy.""Hello, Daisy.""So adorable,"







