a suffocating blanket of darkness and intimidation. His blue eyes, narrowed and intense, were

ate. His long fingers reached for

Pure instinct took over. She leane

ngertips brushed against the

e brought up the metal clipboard she

wa

he cold, unyielding metal. His adv

uch me again," she said, her voice a low, menacing hiss, "I will make sure

not a timid doctor, but a fighter. A flicker of something-amusement? respect?-danced in his eyes. This w

of surrender, but the dangerous curve of his lips betrayed his true feelings

nished her brief examination, then turned

nounced, her tone all business. "She needs to be at my hospital tomorrow m

he walked out of the suite without a backward glance, the fe

. A low, humorless chuckle escaped his lips. In twenty years of running a global empire, no one had ever dared to physically stop him from takin

ious. Instead, h

psed against the steering wheel, her body wracked with tremors. Deep, ragged breaths filled the s

hotel garage, running two yellow lights on the way home

rest. She pulled out giant black trash bags from

f their family-just the three of them-taped to the refrigerator. The tw

k, accusing squares. The apartment was stripped of its joy

g the door with two heavy-duty padlocks. Leaning against the cold metal door, exhausted and hollowed out, she finally allowed h

al's diagnostic imaging suite. Kara, accompanied by Owen, completed he

ons, the irreversible damage to the uterine walls. It wasn't trauma. It was

touched her lips. She h

d deliberately opaque medical jargon-Asherman's syndrome secondary to chronic instrumentation-induced trauma-carefully a

Sterling was already there, his eyes still

rt across the polish

of any emotion. "Based on the imaging, your fiancée's ch

's impossible!" she shrieked. "Yo

He just stared at Vivian, his gaze intense. "Are t

she said. "I suggest you seek counseling to hel

eaving the pieces of their shatte