nder'

before most of Los Angeles even stirred. I stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window of my penthouse suite, sipping a blac

ing was d

lowing the usual flow of commuters or glancing t

the email forward

loyee Orientatio

nto my memory long before she ever accepted the job. H

was

ll

l of her arrival. Not because I had to, but because I couldn't let anyone else do it. She was walkin

as one

in healthcare reform. To the board, I was the strategic investor who turned losses into profit margins. But in truth, St. Vincent had been bo

he intercom

sistant repl

e sett

ight. The driver reported no complicati

e note

cted. She

o

sn't alone-but not just yet. Not who I was. Not why I was doing t

g else?"

was a

ht to check on William. Scheduled

the thing about Bella Carter-no matter how broken life m

glittering sprawl of glass and noise, she was waking up. Probably curled in the

yet that her life had bee

the one who

ed. It was one of the luxuries of being both donor and owner. I didn't like being seen. Let the wor

hile they specul

with suffering, with hope, with the quiet desperation that clings to medic

he was pa

oom 413, watching

t, her shoulders tight, like she was holding the weight of the world and daring it to crush her. Her hair

she should've. Not i

ldn't

t

ed and wa

Every security camera in the building was mine. I knew it bordered on ob

had fallen asleep, her fingers brushing hi

no one lef

ept

now,

-

el of my hospitality division. Most thought I created it for appearances

as more

tes and croissants. And it was the perfect place for Bella to be hi

start

I'd strategically placed. Their history was murky, painful. I hadn't expected his name to sh

as sc

o

n. And caution me

t in my chest when I saw her

ched m

stance. Or I'd remind him ex

__

front of my window, city lights

ot as the broken girl fate tried to erase,

o her-whether she

re she didn't find ou

ching her for lon

spital the day her u

ghts the moment I learned

ewest employee had been

m

r wasn't just anoth

girl I cou

man I woul

ag