ella

dormant bomb. When it finally rang, the shrill sound shattered the

the receive

ce was thick with the flu an

he nightmare unfolding in the penthouse. Sarah, the clueless temporary maid h

ella. She turned

he fridge-the one I had emptied of spares when I left, assuming he would restock it. He hadn't. While Sarah frantically called an ambulance,

the phone rang again

orridor. "The doctor tore into him, Bella. Treated the *

cking, his fragile pride bleed

, the name tasting lik

lena woke up. She cried for you. When Adriana tried to touch her, the sweet girl push

de swelled in my che

ing. "He was going to call you. I saw it in his eyes. But Ad

Dante chose his ego over our daughter's tears. He would rather let

zen on the edge of my cot when the private line-the one I had taught Elena to memoriz

to my ear, my hand tr

ma..

tly spilled over my lashes, hot and desperat

call

I heard the sound of a scuffle, the p

sickeningly sweet, fake voice echoed into the mouth

li

ear, a flat, dead sound that ech

at usurping whore, a mere *Associate's* daughter, had just severed the lifelin

d toward my encrypted telegraph machine. The air in the warehouse was growing heavy and thick,