if he could physically hold himself together. Through his fingers, his voice

ay - the investigators found the brake lines had been cut. Multiple vehicle collision. They say he won't wake u

esperate strength. "No. Absolutely not. We ar

rican project, the mineral rights, the development loans-everything. If they call it due tomorrow, we lose eve

his eyes were red-

ays the engagement was agreed decades ago, when Andres and-" He glanced at Corie, then away. "-and our

ce. She slid from her chair to the floor, her white dress pooli

uine terror now, all performance stripped away. "He's a vegetable. A co

ice was gentle, broke

with desperate accusation. "She's the real daughter! She's

ice cracked like a w

ing, beyond the social ma

losing. I have friends here, a life, people who need me. You-" The words slipp

me, her family, her birthright. Who was now begging

s Gil

d, triggering memories she

e Boulder, Colorado, where the torrentia

-inch combat blade by the stone fireplace, when the heavy

n his ribs. She had rolled forward, pinning him with cold steel to his throat, only for the stranger to counter with terr

nite-swirling with pain, delirium, and a primal

ravelly voice had rasped against her lips, *"do it now. Because if

radiating off his corded torso... the large, bloodstained hands that had gri

r, rain, and raw adrenaline, drinking her gasps as his hands had stripped

ting her thighs with unhurried reverence, stroking her wet, achin

age with a relentless power that matched the thunder shaking the mounta

g, rhythmic cadence against the hearth, his hips slapping against hers, driving her

urning heat deep into her womb, before collapsing over he

blood on the sheets and rug, and the ghost of a

ighteen. Ter

ic outside Denver, she'd given birth to twins with eyes the color of winter

s Gil

life and created it in the same breath. Who now lay in a

ie s

e was uncertain. "What-

into the mask of dutiful daughter-slightly over

She paused. "-trying to

With a roar of guttural frustration, he hurled it across the room. It struck the

d absolute, broken only by

rest of the room-her husband, the wreckage, the future colla

a bargaining chip." She turned to Emilie, her hands framing her daughter's face. "We'r

ught her wrists gen

floor. The fake heiress looked up, eyes red and desperate, and Emilie saw

," Emilie said. It

-it's your duty, isn't it? As the r

f I re

to a whisper. "But you-you've never had anything. You

e to protect. Never had-" She leaned close, her voice dropping to a whisper only Corie could hear. "-a d

d, turning to f

o think. To understand what we're truly facing." She moved toward the door, pausing

She simply walked out, her foot