บททั้งหมดของ Secrets Behind The Mask: บทที่ 141 - บทที่ 150

He looked down at his shoulder like he'd forgotten about it. "It's fine.""It's not fine, there's blood—""It stopped bleeding." He shifted in his seat, wincing slightly. "Just a burn. Bullet grazed me yesterday, that's all.""That's all?" She couldn't believe what she was hearing. "You got shot and you didn't say anything?""Wasn't shot. Grazed. There's a difference."He acted like this was normal. Getting shot wasn’t normal.One of the airmen leaned over, first aid kit already in hand. "Let me take a look, mate."Nate started to protest, then seemed to realize it was pointless. He let the airman peel back his shirt, revealing the adhesive pad he'd slapped on that morning. Nate saw it was soaked with blood, so it must have started to bleed during their trek to the airstrip.The skin around the burn was angry and red, the graze itself a nasty streak across the top of his shoulder."Christ," the airman muttered. "You've been walking around with this all morning? Should be hurting like t

Four weeks later, Prue stood in her bathroom in her family home, staring at the pregnancy test lying on the vanity like it might suddenly change its mind. That somehow there was a mistake.Two pink lines. Clear as day.She’d known. Of course she’d known. Her period was two weeks late, her breasts were tender. But knowing and seeing it confirmed were two different things entirely.Pregnant.She pressed one hand to her stomach, feeling nothing different yet, but knowing everything had changed.The house was quiet around her. Her father was at some meeting in Washington, wouldn’t be back until tomorrow. Which was probably for the best because she had no idea how she was going to tell him that his twenty-year-old daughter was pregnant by her bodyguard. A man he’d specifically warned her about. A man who’d disappeared without so much as a goodbye.Four weeks.Four weeks since she’d watched Nate walk away on that helipad in Darwin. Four weeks of waiting for him to call, to reach out, to ack

Prue arrived at The Grey Market fifteen minutes early, which gave her too much time to sit there and panic.The coffee shop was busy for a Tuesday afternoon, filled with students from SCAD and tourists wandering through the area's historic district. She'd chosen a table in the back corner, away from the windows, somewhere they could talk without being overheard. Her hands wrapped around a cup of herbal tea she hadn't touched, watching the door like her life depended on it.Which, in a way, it did. She knew she was being dramatic, but she wanted this to go a certain way if all her dreams could come true. She didn't just want her baby she wanted Nate. If she was going to be honest with herself.She'd changed clothes three times that morning. Settled finally on jeans and a loose blouse that didn't cling to her stomach, even though there was nothing to see yet. Her hair was down, brushed until it shone, because some stupid part of her brain thought if she looked good enough, he might… wha

Four weeks later, Prue stood in a small private room at the courthouse, staring at her reflection in the full-length mirror.The dress was simple. Off the rack from a bridal boutique in downtown Savannah, cream-colored silk that skimmed her body without clinging, with long sleeves and a modest neckline. Nothing like the elaborate gown she'd imagined wearing as a little girl. But booking a church wedding on a weekend at short notice had been impossible, and this was what they could manage. A Wednesday afternoon ceremony at the courthouse with a handful of witnesses. It also seemed silly wearing a white dress when she was pregnant. Oh, she knew the old rules didn't apply anymore, but to her it just felt wrong.She pressed one hand to her stomach. Still flat. Still nothing to see. But knowing what was there made everything feel rushed and how important it was to protect her baby. Not for the first time she worried if she was doing the right thing. Nate didn't love her."You look beautifu

Because that was the real prize, wasn’t it? The millions of dollars Nate refused to touch, sitting in an account like a promise waiting to be fulfilled. Money that could buy the life Trish had always deserved. The penthouse in Manhattan, the summer house in the Hamptons, the winters in Aspen. All of it within reach if she could just get Nate to see reason.And when Paul kicked the bucket, and the old bastard had a bad heart, everyone knew it, then all his money as well. She’d heard him on the phone with his lawyer. Mama was to get a nice little settlement, enough to keep her comfortable. But the bulk of the Young portfolio was going to Nate. Everything. The real estate, the investments, the offshore accounts Paul thought were so clever.Trish hadn’t told Mama. Why would she? Natasha would only spend it on more plastic surgery and younger men. No, Trish had laid the groundwork to get Nate for herself. To get everything that should have been hers from the moment her mother married into