s tall frame blocked the harsh sunlight streaming through

His dark eyes swept over the flat surface of the blanket covering her s

deeply into her palms she felt the skin break. Every muscle in her body screamed at

es of her past life. Screaming and fighting now would on

in her eyes to melt into a loo

The movement was small at first, then more violent. Tears we

oken, pathetic sob ripped from her throat. She p

fraction of a second, a flash of raw ago

d. His fingers extended, movin

vered exactly one inch

ingers into a tight fist and pressed it

His voice was flat, mechanical,

dead smile. An accident? She knew exactly what the mechanic h

snapped her head up. She gl

voice hoarse and cracking. "Where w

piercing gaze. He turned his head to loo

ard of directors," he lied smoothly. "

s expensive suit jacket, was a faint, almost imperceptible smudge o

her back. She gripped the fabric with both hands and

!" she s

it. The pillow hit him and fell to the floor. When he tu

ized her behavior as standard post-traumatic stress.

ed the front of his suit jacket, s

ldly. "I will have Silas send some

the door, pulled it open, and stepped ou

door cli

ars on Alaya's face stopped. The path

bedside stand. She scrubbed the moisture from her cheeks

rom her lower abdomen, but she ignored it. She walked bare

t the hospital dr

dy's broad shoulders disappear into the back seat. The

was not going to the financial district. It wa

bed and slammed her pal

manded the speaker. "Tell him to br

t the foot of her bed. He was sweating.

cal file was already collected by Mr.

thing. He was hiding the specific details of

rnal system and hand it to me in the next three minutes, the Hewitt fa

e back of his hand. He nodded rapidly

stack of printed papers. He hande

sessments. She scanned the complex medica

he very bottom of the page, in a small, easily

eta-blockers detec

as already weak from a previous condition. Beta-blockers woul

ed her before she