LOGINMrs. Quinn POVThe door closed behind me with a weight I felt in my bones.Hospitals had a way of stripping you bare…no matter how powerful you were outside those walls. I stood for a moment beside my car, inhaling slowly, forcing my spine straight, my face calm. Flora’s voice still echoed in my head, the doctor’s words replaying like a loop I couldn’t shut off.Rissa would wake soon.Alex was stable… but still sleeping.“Let people he loves speak to him,” the doctor had said gently. “Sometimes the heart needs a reason to fight its way back.”I squeezed my eyes shut for half a second.Hold on, my son. Just a little longer.Then I slid into the car and shut the door, sealing emotion out with a practiced precision I’d perfected over decades.This was no time to break.I pulled my phone from my bag and dialed a number I hadn’t saved…but knew by heart.He picked on the second ring.“Margaret,” Inspector Hale said. “I was expecting your call.”“I need an escort,” I said without preamble, s
Kristoff’s POV“Gather your men, I have a job for them,” I spoke to my main man, and he left, lowering myself into my seat and pouring myself a glass of brandy.A house map was spread out across the table, a plan needed to be made to push my plan further. Every detail, every angle had to be considered. The timing, the exits, the men… everything. I traced my finger along the walls, imagining the path each of my operatives would take. There was no room for error.The wine warmed my chest as I leaned back, letting the smooth taste calm the fire in my veins. Calm. That was the key. Every move had to feel effortless, controlled. I had orchestrated chaos before, and I would do it again. But this time… this time I would leave no traces.I called the first two men on the list, whispering my instructions in clipped sentences. I didn’t need details; they already knew the drill. My voice carried authority, not just the threat, but the promise of dominance. The house, the vault, the files… everyt
Kristoff’s POV“Gather your men, I have a job for them,” I spoke to my main man, and he left, lowering myself into my seat and pouring myself a glass of brandy.A house map was spread out across the table, a plan needed to be made to push my plan further. Every detail, every angle had to be considered. The timing, the exits, the men… everything. I traced my finger along the walls, imagining the path each of my operatives would take. There was no room for error.The wine warmed my chest as I leaned back, letting the smooth taste calm the fire in my veins. Calm. That was the key. Every move had to feel effortless, controlled. I had orchestrated chaos before, and I would do it again. But this time… this time I would leave no traces.I called the first two men on the list, whispering my instructions in clipped sentences. I didn’t need details; they already knew the drill. My voice carried authority, not just the threat, but the promise of dominance. The house, the vault, the files… everyt
Anna’s POVI pressed my forehead against the glass, hands curling against the cold window frame as my chest heaved with every shallow breath. The hospital room beyond seemed like another world entirely, one I wasn’t meant to touch yet couldn’t tear my eyes away from.Alex. My Alex.I watched as the doctors swarmed around him, their faces masks of determination, their hands moving with practiced precision over my love, my world. Machines beeped and whirred, monitors flashed red and green, and my heart raced to match the rhythm of that heart monitor… the relentless, cruel timer that seemed to taunt me with each pulse.Mrs. Quinn’s voice broke through my frozen panic, sharp and pleading. “Alex! Fight! Don’t you dare leave us! You hear me? You have to fight!”I could hear her footsteps as she hovered near the bed, arms outstretched as if she could physically will him back to life. Her raw desperation made my throat constrict.I felt my mother’s hand on my shoulder, steadying me though I s
Mrs. Quinn’s POVThe quiet hum of the hospital lobby filled the silence between us.Machines beeped faintly in the distance, nurses moved in and out of corridors, and the scent of disinfectant clung to the air like something alive. I sat on one of the beige couches, my hands clasped over my lap, a coffee cup growing cold between my palms.Across from me, Mrs. Smith watched me with kind but weary eyes. She looked older than I remembered…grief and worry etching new lines along her face.“How are you coping?” she finally asked, her voice soft but curious.I took a deep breath, the question cutting deeper than I expected. “Coping…” I repeated, almost tasting the irony. “I suppose I’m… surviving.”Mrs. Smith nodded slowly. “It’s been a lot for you.”I let out a tired, humorless laugh. “A lot? That’s an understatement. I made every wrong choice a mother could make.” My voice dropped lower, almost a whisper. “I supported the wrong man… believed the wrong story. I let my family nearly destroy
Anna’s POVThe ankle alarm felt heavier than it looked.I kept glancing down at it like it might suddenly tighten, flash red, or scream that I was out of bounds…even though I wasn’t. It sat there quietly, a sleek black reminder that my freedom had limits, that this visit came with invisible chains.I rubbed my thumb over my palm, nerves crawling under my skin.The car hummed softly as we drove through familiar streets that suddenly felt foreign. I stared out the window, watching buildings blur past, my reflection faint in the glass.What do you say to the man you love when he can’t answer?What words are strong enough to pull someone back from wherever he’s gone?I tried rehearsing it in my head.Alex, I’m here.Alex, please wake up.Alex, I love you.None of it felt like enough.I swallowed and looked down again at the ankle alarm, then forced my gaze back outside. If I stared at it any longer, I’d spiral.The car slowed.“We’re here,” Mrs. Quinn said softly.My chest tightened.The







