iar routine. The antiseptic smell, the rhythmic beeping,

g my vitals. She ha

uinn," she said softl

voice raw. It was the first

y. We did everything we could

team had been thorough. They had used theatrical blood packs and had a doctor on standby, ready to

I asked, my voice trembling. I

he waiting room all night. He' s refused to le

arm. "Please. Not yet. Let me be the on

s a grieving wife trying to delay the inevitable p

I was alone wi

His suit was rumpled, his hair was a mess, and his eyes w

asterful p

g to my bedside. He tried to ta

cross his face. "I just spoke to the doctor. He said it wa

ons, but Brayden had gone over her head. He had his own doctors in this hosp

wrong. Elliot' s peopl

calibrate m

onderful news," I sai

ared. When I saw you lying there.

, but I turned my head.

should have left you. It was a mistake. Katharina... she' s a mess. But she' s not

er empty promise.

spered, letting a single tear ro

rayden. Just for a few days. Let' s go back to the yacht. Just the two

ng on his arrogance, on his beli

up. He saw it as a victory, a

, kissing my forehead. "I' ll make the

ew was skeletal, just a captain and a deckhand, both

ffed my pillows. He talked endlessly about the future, about t

ding, my heart a block of ice in

nd day, his

He finally answered, his back to me. From hi

ere was alway

ce a mixture of fr

ng at me. "It' s an emergency. Kath

e, the same lie. He w

dn' t protest.

id, my voice calm and s

ank you for understanding, Amelia. I' ll

r was already descending to pick

g into the blue sky, I knew

en Quinn Saves Troubled Socialite Katharina Christensen from Apparent Suicide Attempt." There were pictures o

as t

band he had placed on my finger all those years ago. The l

told him everything. About the miscarriage he didn' t know about. About the deal with Elliot. About the fact that I kne

s setting, painting the sky in fiery sha

e. A speedboat was waiting for me, a tin

g my lungs. For the first time in years, I

onto the

nightstand, a silent signal

helicopter. He was coming back. Just as Elliot had predi

s too

ok at the life I w

en, I

ing embrace. As I surfaced, gasping for air,

in the open doorway. I h

the worl

smoke billowing into the twilight sky. The sound was deafening

rive. And he would find the blood samples and scorched

dead. He would believ

e he had driven

, wrapping me in a warm blanket, I looked

sadness. I didn

nothing