hour, but Gabriella Cook had lost track of it. She was snuggled up in the

lazy waltz, leaving long and thin shadows on the groomed grass. The world outside,

e desire. Before the incident, she had delighted her professors with her sharp questions and amazing recall. Her head had changed into a

agmented. Her tutors, worried by Kinneth 's reputation a

ntly in the doorway, a stack of torn textbooks clasped to her breast like a shield. Mrs. Davies repl

the color of deep-sea glass, were

with agony. "We have an hour-long lesson. We're talkin

e was expressionless, but her stare looked heavy and yea

Gabriella replied gently, almost eth

d off in despair. She was acquainted with the drill. Gabriella would sit through the lesson, speakin

swered, her voice tinted with wrath. "

hat is enough, Gabriella. "You

e reverting to a veiled indifference. "My father has enorm

the abrupt openness and stuttered, "I'll notify your father that you're indis

onscious effort, prompted by Mrs. Gable's past remarks. He sat at the head of the polished mahogany table, a lone flickering l

lied, pointing to the magnificent display of fi

ove the fish around the dish. She took a tiny spo

t to mask his pessimism, but it was a losing effort. Each

head. "It's fine." "I

ted a different approach, speaking with a more fatherl

Her voice was as f

o get past this." Even he understood that the claims made no sense. What are you moving past? The

made him uneasy. "Move beyond what, Father?" The fact is that you are alwa

reats you as if you're broken. I study because I

ted show of emotion. "A future in which we live in a gilded cage?" W

throughout the enormous room. "That is enough, Gabriella! We

perhaps," she mumble

irrevocably. Every attempt to connect seemed like a step backward, deepening the spa

s area. She slipped silently away, leaving Kinneth alone with the untouched meal and the unsettling quie

h grumbled as he read the especially difficult financial report. It wasn't the ordin

She always did. She was far better equipped to deal with Gabriella's emotional outbursts than h

ound, his heart thumping with a familiar mix of terror and worry. The cries pulled him into Ga

ite body shaking with sobs. Her face was buried between her knees, her gorgeous hair k

e whispered, h

hole presence was a horrific violation. "Go away!" sh

o his arms, but he knew she'd back away. His uncomfortable attempts at affection

cheeks were drenched with tears, and her eyes

there?" Darling, it is j

ily to the big bay window overlooking the ground

e face of the monster who shattered their lives. He instantly rejected it. It was a nightmare induced

mpting to keep cool despite his beating heart. "It

, her voice rising to an anxious tone. "T

the ancient trees. Nothing. Only the huge, arid expanse of their surroundings was lighted by a faint ray o

ng to sound soothing despite a shudder going up

lf, her weeping turning to trembling

r. He couldn't make her feel protected inside her own home. He sat there for a long

, lurking in the shadows of their well-kept surroundings? He rea

s looked up at him. He laid it back d

er restless sleep, the horrifying vision of her shaking

was referring to. If that man or someone affiliated

st long, eerie shadows on the windows, making familiar items appear stra

face. He had been seeking a solution for Gabriella. But suddenly

m that was slowly engulfing his daughter and maybe himself. If that indiv

contact number for his head of security. He advocated f

the agency that had provided him with Morran Oscar's data. He wa

, his voice hoarse. "First thing tomorrow mor

n before, with the disconcerting impress