way. The dim light of the bedroom

slowly rotated the joystick on hi

lungs stop

ble, ruined by a permanent scowl. And his ey

arp cedar mixed with the sterile bite of medical alcohol. It was the exact sam

cal husband her family had sold her to was the exact sam

backward. The heel of her cheap shoe scraped again

ward the sound. The mus

. His voice was a low, vibrating growl that scraped

her ribs. If he realized she was the woman from the safe room, his

her vocal cords, forcing a high-pitch

ered, making herself sound utterly pat

isgust. The sound of her fake, gra

"Go to the guest room. D

und and practicall

hall. The moment the door clicked shut, Catherine slumped

Her medical brain kicked in. The physical counter-measures she took last night kept him

now where that

oft, silent cotton sweatpants. She slipped out of

sed the heavy oak doors of the study, she he

at against the wall, me

ve assistant, Alex Ston

Alex said. "Wiped clean by a military-grad

out a slow,

his wedged between the mattress an

e crinkle of a pla

o me," Arj

His long fingers traced the metal object. He rubbed his

St. Christo

s voice thick with a dark, obsessive intensity. "Turn

ated. Cold sweat broke

elbow brushed a heavy brass decorative

d clinked sharply aga

de the study in

. The violent hum of his wheelch