till rang in her ears as Ameli

r tears had run dr

oved and left on the living room coffee table. That platinum band-like eve

back to the

slow, deliberate,

eport from the table. Its sh

only

nly le

er bedroom door,

the cold metal handle, turned

The city lights silhouetted his powerful frame sharply. He heard the

d. "Have you forgotten how to knock? Or do I nee

toward him, each step feeling like wading through cement. The oppre

were trembling, but when she spoke

pregn

en adjusting his cuffs, stopped. His gaze shifted from he

, broken only by the faint hum of

he l

surprise. It was a low, guttural sou

them in two large strides and s

t even l

p tug, he tor

or the pieces, but he held them hi

The paper wad bounced off her cheek-a tiny, insignificant impact th

. His cold, merciless gaze swept over her as if s

le whiskey. "Fabricating a medical document just as the contract is abou

the tears she had been holding back now stre

press it against her stomach,

she were contagious and too

he said, his voice cruelly logical. "So tell m

she said, her voice trembling. "Six we

arly surfaced. But it didn't brin

oment of intimacy. He saw it as a w

ng into her skin, forcing her to look

" he said, each word a deliberate, calculate

d her ch

errifyingly calm whisper. "Even if, by some miracle, that thing inside yo

stealing her breath. She staggered backward, her hand

ad loved for twelve years.

fore her was a stranger. A

s if it had bee

s over. He climbed into bed and pulled up

d, his voice muff

l. A statue of grief. Her heart

s no longer

n she once thought she would s

straighten

't leave

s bedside. Stood

nd turned ov

e was terrifyingly calm

The light behind her c

baby disappear?" she said. "You think threa

wed. "You're playin

ing out a fire. It's been burning f

phone. On the scr

Hunter Nicholson's

spoken just now-"I will have my doctor

ing right now," she sa

ce changed

. Long.

want?" he f

e phone back

. "Remember every word you said to me. Bec

her hand on

ill know what kind o

nd walked to

eli

d. Didn't

isn't

s not. But from now

en the door a

lway wa

n't loo

e bedroom door

ia was the one who