t alone on a gurney, waiting for a doctor, the blistered skin on his hand a testament to the day' s e

cream to his burn, he heard familiar voic

s Kortney. "Use the best doctor

ing so much," Danie

ock of ice. He knew, without a

hem were huddled outside a private room, their faces pale with anxiety. His own burn, a very real and painful inj

wall, hidden in the

Jinnie whispered, her voice filled with disbelief and

"This is why one of us has to marry him. We have to. It's the only

guarantees Jeb's safety. Our families listen to the Pittmans. If one of us is his wife, we ca

tilted o

ished ugliness, hit Donavan wi

ect Jeb from him. In their twisted narrative, he was the villain. The threat. Their ma

ittman name... to shield Jeb. He had thought she meant fro

pain. It came out as a sob, wet and broken. He pressed his good h

ching, slipped from his grasp and

hoed in the

him standing there, shrouded in the dim light. They saw the tears glisteni

her voice uncertain. "W

, a flicker of guilt in her ey

st looked at them, the

nt step toward him. "We were emotional. We apologize for what w

so practiced, it wa

, her voice regaining its demanding edge. The real concern fi

tful faces. The pain in his heart was a dull, con

." he began, h

was about to pronounce them ex

ud, piercing alarm blared from

EEP. BE

iren's call they

pun around, their faces masks of sheer terror, a

What's

Nurse! Ge

rmed into the room, shouting medical jargon. "His pressure is dropping! W

was in

ney screamed at a nu

ers flying across her phone. "He'll get the best

r, her voice low and threatening. "If anything happens to him,

wrath, moving heaven an

im. "The trauma caused an unexpected complication. He has

tion, Kortney stepped forward. "T

onfirmation of everything Donavan now knew to be true

ut nodded. "And we'll need bl

and Jinnie said in perfect uni

They would let themselve

last vestiges of his first life' s love for them died right there. I

e they used to keep

frantic, sacrificial love fading behind him. He