meone yo

angling it just enough for her to see the

ara

ted, carrying further than the small room should have allowed. "I want her ar

d raised in a gesture that looked, to anyone who didn't know him, like concern. "My wife's been through a serious trauma. A

able of making a sta

a warning underneath. He turned back to the officer before she could push further. "Could

who dealt with rich men in hospital rooms often enough to know which battle

ropped the second

e concern was gone from his face l

s charges," he sa

ied to

doesn't just take her down, Vera. It takes me down with her. My name's on every headline she's ever been photographed near. You think Thor

not my p

diamond-holding attendant that his wife owed an apology. "Let's be honest. What exactly is your plan once you leave me? You haven't worked in year

d. "No job. No skills.

early not expe

ding your lies, and keeping this marriage looking presentable from the outside. That was a full-time job too, Caspian. It just didn't come with a pa

ression

. "You're not young anymore. You're not as pretty as you used to be. You've let yoursel

t tried to have me killed - besides being young and having a face, what does she have that I don't? Because if the only

he could see it land, de

to seize back control. "I give you a roof, food, a life. And y

se a Chanel bag? Letting her run me down in the street and then walking her attempted murder charge out the door with a handsh

pened. Noth

, delivering one last threat. "While you're lying in this hospital bed, thin

she said. "B

the door, l

and a police report you just made disappear. You want to throw me out, but you're more afraid I'll walk away and end up

ression

r voice flat. "You can

ind him, harder t

r hands were shaking - not from fear, but from how tightly she'd held

no money

zed she was better at leaving him

eyes and waited

didn'

**

oring hospital room, steadyi

d and cracked, like a record player running too slow. "J

a male and his voice was low. "Gra

e other on a banana peel. I want a great-grandchild.

being dr

ly one left. Your brother is useless. Your sister ran off with that music

tion in it. It was the sigh that came from

hat I can d

mean

'll see wha

softer. "I just don't want to die alone, sweetheart. And I don't want you to be alo

romi

ia

u too, Gra

e rustle of fabric. The squeak of bed whe

nd watched the man walk

as D

n she remembered, like he had been running his hands through

iage, whatever works. Just get it done. I need a child and

e corner and

d at the em

words six weeks still echoing in her head. The flat plane o

tal room while her daughter sat in a waiting room, trustin

pian's voice. Who's g

he had looked at her in the bar. The way he had said

Her ankle screamed. She ignored it. She gra

corridor, still on his

ch step sent fire up her

moment, he just looked at her. Then re

" he

she

r hair was a mess. She looked exactly like what she was: a woman who had been hit by a

said. "In there. Wi

did not change.

the IV pole tighter. "You need a wife.

ead. "I need a

pregn

g in the air

t move. His eyes stayed on

ction. I haven't slept with my husband in weeks. The timing matches. You

he said

need a wife and a child to make your grandmother happy before she dies.

et for a l

at slow smile. The one sh

d of deal

ok a b

ere we both get