All Chapters of Ruthless Desires: Chapter 21 - Chapter 28

Anna’s POVThe ping of my phone vibrated against the polished desk, drawing my attention away from Dominic’s schedule on the tablet screen. I expected a calendar update or maybe an internal message from Andrew. But instead, I saw the familiar name flashing across the screen.Nurse Ellie.A sharp jolt of anxiety fluttered in my chest as I swiped to answer. I turned my chair slightly away from the open office, angling myself toward the window as I pressed the phone to my ear.“Ellie?” My voice was low but tight. “Is everything okay?”“Hi, Ms. Rodriguez,” came her calm, practiced tone. But there was a smile behind it. “I just wanted to call with good news for once. Lily’s vitals have improved again today. Oxygen saturation is stable, her heart rate is calm, and her appetite’s picking up.”I released a breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding. My eyes shut briefly, relief washing over me like warm sunlight breaking through storm clouds. “That’s incredible,” I whispered, my voice cracking

Dominic’s POVShe wasn’t answering.Three calls. No response. No message.I stared at the empty screen for a second too long before shoving the phone into my jacket pocket. My jaw clenched. Something wasn’t right. I felt it—not in that casual, overthinking way. This was instinct. Sharp and immediate.I pushed back from my desk and stood, grabbing my jacket off the back of the chair. The numbers on the report Rosa had just given me blurred in the corner of my vision. Irrelevant.I stepped out of my office just as Andrew rounded the corner, a file in hand, eyes focused on the next task.“Sir, I—”“Where’s Anna?”He blinked, thrown off by the interruption. “She’s not at her desk?”I didn’t bother answering. I walked past him, toward her workspace.Empty.Her tablet was gone. So was her bag.Something in my chest went cold.Andrew caught up beside me. “She said she had to step out. Personal matter.”I turned slowly. “When?”“Around two, I think. She told me she’d inform you herself—”“And

The sunlight cut through the curtains, sharp and unrelenting, dragging me awake. My face was stiff with dried tears, eyes swollen, heart a lead weight in my chest. Last night had been a war—one I’d fought silently, trapped between the need to confess everything and the terror of what would happen if I did. If he knew about Lily… The thought alone made my throat close. He’d want her. He’d take her. And she was already so fragile.I tried to shift away, but an arm—heavy, possessive—locked around my waist, yanking me back against a wall of heat. Dominic. As if I could ever forget the feel of him, the way his body owned the space around me even in sleep. The scent of him, whiskey and cedar and something darker, clung to my skin like a brand.“It’s morning,” I whispered, voice frayed.“So it is.” His reply was a rough scrape of sound, that fucking voice of his—dark and lazy, still thick with sleep. It curled low in my stomach, traitorous and familiar.“I have to get up.”“Do you?” His hand

The warehouse mess was still eating at the back of my head, but the thought of Anna flickered at the edges of my mind like a persistent flame. We hadn’t talked about the lies, the secrets, the way she’d looked at me that night—raw and unraveled—before I’d stitched her back together with my hands and teeth. But that was the thing about us. We didn’t need to talk. The silence between us was its own language, and right now, it said normal.Or as normal as we got.I checked my watch. Late enough to drag her home.I headed for her office, which was on the same floor as mine. I needed her as close as I could keep. I would have wanted her inside my room, honestly, but I knew she wouldn’t have approved.The door was cracked open, and I caught sight of her inside, leaning against the edge of her desk, talking to one of the coworkers—a tall guy, young, clean-cut. The way his eyes lingered on her said more than words.And Anna—my Anna—was smiling back, her fingers curled around a pen like she ha