Chapter 4

ELEANOR'S POV

"Waaaah... Please come and see Mommy! Mommy's hurt, and I don't know what to do!"

"What? Your mother's hurt? How? Where is she? Is it serious?"

The questions tumbled out of Dominic one after another. With my eyes closed, I could still picture exactly how frantic he looked.

"Useless. What would a little boy know?"

He raked a hand through his hair in frustration and looked down at me, still slumped against the wall.

"Ellie, stay here and get your temperature checked. I'm going to check on Vivi. She's new to the city, and I'm worried something could go wrong."

"Don't overthink it. Just wait here for me. I'll be right back."

He didn't wait for me to answer. He gave my head a quick rub, pressed the paper cup into my hand, and hurried away with Henry.

My eyes slowly opened. I looked down at the water in my hands. It scalded my fingers. It did nothing for my heart.

…

Five minutes later, I handed the thermometer to the doctor.

"Good heavens, your fever's at forty degrees! Even for a wolf, that's dangerous. Why did you wait so long to come in? Where's your family? Tell them to pay the f*e, and then we'll get you on an IV to bring it down."

He bent over his pad and began writing the order.

"I don't have any family."

My lashes dropped. I licked my cracked lips and took the slip from his hand with white fingertips. I swallowed the bitterness in my throat, and went to pay the bill myself.

…

The payment desk was at the far end of a long corridor, but the hospital had never been able to block a wolf's ears.

I heard them before I saw them.

"Vivi, where are you hurt?"

Dominic's voice. It was a little breathless, tight with worry.

"What happened to your hand? How did you get hurt so suddenly?"

"Waaah... Uncle Thorne, Mommy got hurt because of you!" Henry said angrily, in a voice still thick with tears.

"Because of me?"

"Oh, it's not a big deal." Vivian's voice went shy and sweet. "It's only that you've done so much for me and Henry, and I wanted to cook you a meal to thank you. But you know how I am in the kitchen. I thought I'd practice first and surprise you afterward. I just tossed the washed vegetables into the pan, and the hot oil splashed everywhere. Dom, am I really so stupid?"

"Pfft." Dominic laughed. "You're exactly as silly and adorable as you always were. There was water on the vegetables. Of course the oil splattered."

There was a rustle, as if he were ruffling her hair.

"Fine, I understand how you feel. You don't need to cook for me. You make your living with that face. If you were scared for my sake, I could never afford the price."

"I'd be happy to be scared for you," Vivian said, in a voice like honey.

Silence. Then, slowly, Dominic's heartbeat, which I could hear even from where I stood, skipped and then sped up.

I heard her smile widen.

I didn't want to hear any more. I paid the bill at the desk with stiff fingers and turned back toward the treatment room.

"It's Vivian Sterling!"

"There she is!"

A shout exploded behind me. Then feet. Dozens of them.

A wave of people surged around the corner. Cameras and microphones thrust ahead of them like weapons. Reporters. Human reporters.

"It's Miss Sterling!"

"Miss Sterling, don't go! We just have a few questions!"

They swarmed down the corridor like a cloud of wasps.

I pressed myself against the wall, trying to stay small in the chaos. But someone shoved me from the side, and before I understood what was happening, my feet went out from under me.

I hit the floor.

The crowd behind them kept charging. Shoes crashed over my back and my ribs. and then a burst of pain opened across my forehead and something warm and wet ran down my face.

"Miss Sterling, why have you returned to the States?"

"Whose child is that beside you?"

"There are rumors the boy is the illegitimate son of a major industry figure. Is that true?"

Camera flashes flared over and over. Through the forest of legs, I could see Vivian pressed into Dominic's arms. Her face pale, her hands clamped over Henry's ears. When the questions came, tears filled her eyes at once. She looked up at Dominic with her lashes wet, and a single tear slid down her cheek.

His face hardened. He held her tighter.

"That's enough! This is a hospital. Who let you in? Get out, or I'll call the police!"

The reporters only grew more excited.

"Mr. Thorne, the rumors say you and Miss Sterling registered your marriage. Is it true?"

"Why are you in the obstetrics and gynecology wing? Is Miss Sterling pregnant again?"

Obstetrics and gynecology?

I heard Dominic stop. I heard him look up at the sign on the wall above him, and his voice went to ice.

"Which paper are you with? Don't you know there's a price for spreading rumors? Miss Sterling is not pregnant. Why we're in this hospital is a private matter that has nothing to do with you. Leave, now, or I'll make you pay."

The reporters blinked at one another, momentarily intimidated.

And I heard something I wasn't supposed to hear. Through the ringing in my skull, a small, quiet change in Vivian's breathing. The faintest, tiniest hitch of satisfaction.

"Please, everyone, don't hurt my son," she said softly, in a voice that trembled just enough. "He's so young. He's innocent. If you have questions, ask me. I'll pay any price, just leave my child alone..."

"Waaah... Mommy, I'm scared..."

"We just want to know who the boy's real father is!"

"Miss Sterling, you built your whole career on a pure and innocent image. And now you've disappeared abroad and come back with a child. Don't we have a right to know?"

"Please explain quickly, and we'll leave!"

"Your fans deserve an answer! Who is the father?"

The questions rained down like cannon fire, and the sound of crying rose over all of it.

"Enough!"

Dominic's voice cracked like a whip.

I lay on the cold tile, blood in my eyes, and heard him draw a breath.

"His father is me!"