he room in a se

nathan's unmoving form. Though her ears turned slightly red, s

back on the bedside table. Sinking into the soft bed, she l

, making her cheeks flush despite herself. Valerie pulled the c

ad held him captive shifted as his brow creased, as though catching hold of that gentle aroma in the air. His clo

..

eavier, silence

! No

ng, her chest rising and falling rapi

of Craig's sneering face seared into her mind. Her heart

ind her moth

sharpened as she glanced towar

vements steady despite the tremor of

again, ensuring his circulation remained

toward where he should have been

brushed emptiness where his body s

itched, disbelief

oom, illuminating the s

nctively, dialing the interna

s voice cut through the night like

ered down the hallway, followed by a d

cross his face with theatrical intensity. A crowd of Holt family m

kolas growled, his voic

ing her by the collar and dragging her across the r

she caught the glint of triumph lurking in Nikolas' eyes. Th

This wasn't concern

idea that their most prized yet unconscious heir could vanish without

ns pointed

grip with a controlled force. Straightening her posture, she sto

ome idiots might think, if I really wanted to harm him, would I still be

y, her eyes sweeping over the gathered

tanced yourself from the Holt residence. Strange, isn't it? How you seem so intimately

rlier smugness crumbling under

diculing him, treating him lik

napped his gaze toward the bodyguards and barked, "Why are you standing there like

n calm but tinged with faint amusement,

it was

ic. She'd be cast out, her connection to the Holt family severed, and

made her choice. Without hesitation, she reached

don't have the authority to give ord

n, silencing the murmurs and m

led into a snarl. He lashed out, kicking a bodyguard's leg. "Move, you idiots!" he shout

d by the threat, began

she shifted her stance, h

ere would be a double-edged sword. This was the Holt estate, and ever

his grip, a weapon he'd wield against her the moment Valerie mad

to take another approach. But before she could act, a low, gravell

e you had grown

hat voice, his entire body trembling.