t as she dialed Milly. "Forget the Ell

kled with surprise

replied, her tone cold, "They're too full of themselv

about the little girl, though. She's in bad shape. I left a

rried in her kit had been developed there, and her research on gene therapy needed her urgent attention. With

mother, the only person in the Clayton family who had ever shown her kindness. On her deathbed, S

pay to a staggering one hundred million, determined to track down any doctor w

riments when Milly showed up with an ornate invitation-

ngerously low, and if Stephanie didn't secure a deal

Stephanie arrived

wo or three dozen people mingled, each one eyeing the comp

he spotted Stephanie, he broke away, heading straight for her with a rare note of respect i

Actually, I need to speak with

to the banquet hall, his suit im

e crowd until they

He'd assumed she'd be older, not a woman who barely looked eighteen. How could someone so you

ts cracked through the banquet hall, followed by a bo

guests screaming as they dove

sight of a masked gunman at the entrance, the ba

without h

nd of gunfi

t of th

ng as pain flared across her should

ealizing only then that Waylon had

so she steadied her breathing and

he hall, each wearing a scaring

nie wondered, who would be bold enough to stage

tion was built on power and ruthlessness, and h

masked shooters zeroed in on a silver-hair

bodyguard threw himself in front of the ol

derly guest wouldn't

t hesitate. She sprinted across the chaos, snatched the old man f

hanie managed to drag the man behind a marble pill

derly man, sheltering both of

he nearest gunman spat a threat and li

d directly into the line of danger, positioning h

rose urgently. "

er warning, a sudden flurry of

ttackers crashed to the floor, their

nflinching, a pistol steady in his grasp

eyes for a brief moment before addressi

n, as though the chaos around the

quickly shifted her attention to the eld

, he studied her face with an intensity that

ed, uncertain.

"Eighteen years. I've been searching for you