the white-tiled bathroom too bright, too cle

bag in her lap as th

egnancy tests were

fficient. Due to the fact that one test-a thi

led as she ripp

't cried

Not when her whole world

top, its screen flashing as it cal

gna

the word unt

f, as if saying it aloud would

ng against her ribs

nic.

osed h

adn't made contact in months... but that final night, the one j

like a man already gone, and afterward he hadn't even stayed in the room. She'd

then

ven asked hi

't h

had been about fr

would follow her int

ere s

could belong to a man she barely knew-or worse

ows of designer clothes, the shelves of heels, the handbag

it matte

ething comfortable and concealing. She wasn't showing yet, b

ow. With stress. With t

t told hi

n't *pl

er life, even temporarily, churned her

love wasn't enough. Control. Power.

child become anothe

e floor-to-ceiling windows of his office, gazing down a

n't ceased r

rd from Aria

gone

ed. Her apartment was silent.

ause he che

out with surgi

was unr

t of pride. Betrayal. The pri

r face. The way her eyes didn't tremble when she said she was don

him with a passio

ng at him like he

e she pit

stood in the doorway. "I hav

oice rougher than he

ound check. On

tiff

mach pl

n the desk,

you certain you want

red at

know *eve

fee shop, hands wrapped arou

sha, who had known something was wrong

nt?" Sasha gas

nodded

y God

kno

divorce was the plot twist. But *this*?

l laugh, shaky and bi

In the 'wow, fate is an

temples. "I don'

ht of that marriage on your back for years. Maybe this b

t let Domin

used. "C

He'll use it. He'll make it something about legacy and pow

ghed. "S

ow how to c

a string of broken hearts in his wake. We can put out a

for the first

the worry st

baby *was*

if he f

his penthouse bar, drink in hand, eye

tecture firm. No criminal record. Impeccable reputation. Rumored associatio

bottom that made D

f [redacted]. Checked into The Ritz, 1

ass so tightly it

move

re

angry. He'd emotionall

owning* a piece of her he never could-sent

bed his

her n

g once

t to vo

t leave

trust what

-

bed, a hand curled prote

felt uncert

time, she felt like this baby-thi

Domi

Le

*he

Not the one she'd run from, and not the one

s a fre

Dominic Thorne*-was