r in my lungs, a burning, terri

et against my cheek. A slow, rhythmic beeping sounde

white, a dull, sterile white. I wa

ziness pushed me back down onto the pillow. I lifted a

ed in, her shoes squeaking

rful news," she said with a kin

asked. My voice

l. You had a little accident, a fall.

e, Chloe Miller. I remembered growing up, going to college, my mother's death

sh. I didn't know what the last thing I remembered was. It wa

octor will be in to talk to you about that. Yo

oment later, the

his dark hair now streaked with prominent gray at the temples. He wore

y by the door, not moving closer. Our relationship had

aid. "What

the chair beside my bed. He avoided my e

house," he explained. "You slipped and hit you

hing to me. A bodyguard? Sinc

" my father continued, his voice carefully

ife, just gone. My heart started to beat faster

r three years?" I de

m Stone has been your bodyguard for the past

, a word you use for an asset, not a person. It felt like he

ess him, the door

, with wide, innocent eyes and long, blonde hair that fell in perfect

epsister, Br

the thermos on the nightstand. "I was so worried. I made you so

om died. Brittany was always sweet, always perfect, always the doting daughter my father wished I was.

d flatly. My voice was

r eyes welled up with tears. "

iliar sharpness in my tone. "I nearly dr

that's enough. Brittany i

ack, my eyes locke

nd this time, the man who entered c

face was all sharp angles and hard lines, with intense, dark eyes and a jaw that

sweeping over the room before landing on me. There was n

my father said, standi

It felt like a warning. My mind was blank, but my body remembered something. It remembered pain. Three y

anger. And I didn'