บททั้งหมดของ Enemies To Soulmates : บทที่ 41 - บทที่ 50

DANNY After returning from the party, I headed straight to my room, peeling off my suit jacket and tie as I walked through the door. The evening had been... complicated. More complicated than I'd expected when I'd decided to make that last-minute appearance. I stepped into the shower, letting the hot water wash away the tension that had been building in my shoulders all evening. The dinner had been a little heavy— rich hotel fare that was sitting uncomfortably in my stomach and making the prospect of sleep seem unlikely anytime soon. Once I'd dried off and changed into comfortable pajamas, I settled into the chair by the window with my phone, intending to catch up on some business calls. The time difference meant I could still reach a few key people about company matters that needed my attention. But as I tried to focus on reports, my mind kept drifting back to the party. Back to Kelly. I tried to shake it off, to concentrate on the spreadsheets and contracts that demanded m

KELLY After forcing down the last of my breakfast, I headed outside to meet the others gathered for the mountain climbing expedition. The hotel's front courtyard had transformed into a staging area, buzzing with excited chatter and the rustle of expensive outdoor gear being adjusted and readjusted. The group was a mixed bag of preparedness. Some people looked like they'd stepped straight out of an REI catalog, sporting top-of-the-line backpacks with hydration systems, multiple carabiners clipped to their harnesses, and those fancy moisture-wicking shirts that probably cost more than my first car. Others had clearly grabbed whatever they could find in their suitcases - one guy was wearing what looked suspiciously like khaki dress pants and loafers that were absolutely going to give him blisters within the first mile. Most of them were couples, of course, standing close together with that insufferable honeymoon glow that made me want to roll my eyes so hard they'd get stuck. They

KELLY Water was falling on my face. I opened my eyes slowly, my eyelids feeling like they weighed a thousand pounds, and found myself staring up at a canopy of leaves and branches. Rain. It was raining. Great. Because lying paralyzed in a forest wasn't miserable enough without adding precipitation to the mix. I tried to take stock of my situation. I was in some kind of ravine or valley, surrounded by dense vegetation. Trees loomed overhead, their branches creating a lattice pattern against the darkening sky. My clothes were torn in several places - I could feel cool air against my skin where branches had ripped through the fabric during my fall. Fortunately, the jumpsuit was thick enough that most of my body had been protected, though I could see scratches and cuts on my exposed forearms. I tried to sit up, but my body refused to cooperate. It was the strangest, most terrifying sensation - my brain was sending signals, but nothing was responding. My arms lay useless at my sid

KELLY Despite knowing I was dirty and filthy, still covered in mud, and probably some unidentifiable forest debris, and definitely smelling like I'd lost a fight with nature's compost heap, I couldn't stop myself from going to Danny. I held his face in my hands, studying him properly for the first time since waking up. His eyes were heavy-lidded, bloodshot, with dark circles underneath that made him look like he'd aged five years overnight. "Didn't you get any sleep last night?" I asked, brushing tears from my cheeks. Seeing him like this—exhausted, hurt—made guilt twist in my chest." "Well, you told me someone sabotaged you," he said, his voice rough with exhaustion. "How could I sleep? The doctor also confirmed that you were poisoned." "Poisoned?" The word felt surreal coming out of my mouth. I'd suspected it, but hearing it confirmed made everything more real, more sinister. "Of course. Because this honeymoon wasn't already memorable enough with the drug trafficking frame

DANNY Carrying Kelly in my arms should have felt wrong. I'd just made it clear that I was respecting her boundaries, that I wasn't going to read meaning into anything, that what happened between us didn't matter. And yet here I was, holding her like she was the most precious thing in the world. I couldn't help myself. That was the truth I didn't want to admit anymore. When I'd reached that door and my hand was on the handle, ready to get the wheelchair like I'd said I would, something had stopped me. Some force stronger than logic or self-preservation had pulled me back to her bed. 'It's just practical,' I told myself. 'Faster to carry her than to mess with a wheelchair. That's all this is.' But I knew I was lying to myself. As I carried her down the hospital corridor with Nurse Patterson following behind us, I realized this was the first time I was really looking at Kelly. Actually looking at her, not just glancing or arguing or trying to maintain distance. The last tim