'S

ity Hospital in thirty minute

untains across a screen. Her hand rested on top of the blanket, palm up, the way it always

e wer

es red. For half a second he looked like a man who had been awake al

dialed 911 and collapsed on the floor, Amy.

t shake. Lexie did, somewhere deep inside. 'Don't

s Ha

ward, tired, a clipboard agains

s she? What's

prolonged stress and underlying conditions. She ne

lease g

"It has to be settled within twenty-four hours before

usand dollars. We could bar

ever left. "Doctor, I'm Derek Wellington, Amy's mate." His voice had gone soft and grave, the voice he used on board members. "

ed. "Of course, Mr. Well

swung shut, Derek's hand left my back and

opped into a waiting-room chair a

d not

er in cardiac intensive care. And here's what happens next. You withdraw the rejection. You put my ring back on." His mouth curled. "You come

hdra

ur point. Now let's be adults. I didn't accept your rejection,

if I

e answer. "No job. No degree. No savings. Who hires a girl with no experience and no reference

right,

He hadn't ex

so I quit. Your family decided a Luna doesn't need college, so I never went. For two years I held a full-time position, Derek. Unpaid,

mother, and a mountain of debt. You think that's a prize? Everyone in the Pack respects you because

e glancing over. "I'm giving you a name, a home, a futur

p? Wait until my mother's on a ventilator, name a price, and call it kindness. You

pened. Noth

ctor said. Sit here and think about it. And remember who your father borrowed from. One word from me and those men are at your door

you're strong," I said. "You're thr

ent

, and everyone knows it. And you can't stand the story either: the Wellington heir, rejected by the charity case. Somebody will

w it land, deeper

rs, Amy," he said

. I sat down on the nearest chai

time, the volume turned low for the ICU. I wasn't li

e in his face. The caption read Darkwood Alpha pledges full tuition for 300 or

ood Wellingtons have requested a meeting with you

asantly. He smiled, faintly, as if at a joke only

very

nwood put together, Derek's father couldn't get a meeting, and Richard spent his days giving away scholarships and, one lost contract at a time, making

they prized most: th

ason to forget. Now I needed

ng shot,'

he only

wood Wellington Company and dialed

llington'

ce cracked. "Tell him it's Amy H

k. Then a deep

my

ques

d that it shook. "You've spent years making trouble

a long moment.

of deal?"

k a b

ither of us walks