I heard Josie weep over the phone after I had told her that Yan Hao would stay in prison—the sound of relief. Surely, she denied that she had even shed one tear, and I pretended to believe her. The eruption of her emotions was natural. I knew she was tired; we all were. We also knew that sending Yan Hao to prison wasn't going to clear up the fucked-up situation we were in. It was the first step—a huge step, a crucial step, but one merely marking the beginning of a long road.“If Yan Hao has been locked... does it mean my exile is over?” A nervous laugh laced her voice.“Well… his army might still lurk around,” I said. “But if you follow Gunner's instructions, I'm sure you can at least come to New York... and stay in the penthouse.”“Are you inviting me to your apartment, Mr. Blair?” she purred, and my lips instantly stretched into a mischievous grin.“Our apartment,” I corrected. “Unless you'd like something... bigger. I'm sure that my mother would welcome you in the residence.”She g
“…ake up!” Blurred sounds reached my ears. Someone was shouting. “Killian!” It was a raspy… angry voice. “Wake up!”A high-pitched tone rang in my ears, and a scorching pain spread across my cheek. A slap. Then another one.“Wake the fuck up!” the voice thundered.My eyes refused to open no matter how hard I tried. The hoarse yelling didn't stop. It was a man's voice… I knew that voice…“Kaiden,” I murmured, or so I thought.“Killian… open your eyes.” His command was firm despite the raspiness of his pain-threaded voice.I forced my body to listen and instantly groaned as the bright light blinded me. I blinked, struggling to adjust my sight as the rest of my senses collected the pieces of this chaotic situation. I was lying on the floor, my body rattling because of odd vibrations.“Where... are we?” I croaked, my throat drier than the Sahara desert.“On the plane… our plane,” Kaiden answered. He was kneeling beside me. He was still in his suit from the conference, minus the tie.I suc
JOSIESomething was wrong. I couldn't explain why I felt this way, but I could taste the danger in every breath I took. I had been supposed to meet David Scott the previous day, but he hadn't shown up. I had been sitting in a café he had picked, swearing it was a safe place to meet. I had spent over an hour waiting. I had tried to call him a few times. I had texted him. And even now, as I was on the way to New York, I still had no answer from him…Leo stepped on the gas. We were halfway through, and my nerves were reaching their peak. Knowing that talking to my driver-slash-bodyguard would not help, I pulled out my laptop, half-hoping working would do the trick.“Calm down, Josie,” I murmured to myself, placing the computer on my lap and entering our system. With more and more systems plugged into the Eye, we could now scan through more than ten states. Every day, more potential targets were added, and we kept sending Gunner alerts, informing him whether Yan Hao's minions had been doi
A soft beeping tone pulled me back into consciousness. A whispered conversation between two women sounded somewhere in the background. The air was filled with the smell of antiseptics. I was lying in bed—a hospital bed, I assumed.I opened my eyes and slowly turned my head to where the whispered conversation was coming from. I blinked a few times, adjusting my focus. “Ashley,” I croaked, and she instantly leaped toward my bed.The blond-haired nurse—the one Ashley had talked to—gave me a faint smile and nod of her head. “I will call the doctor,” she said before disappearing behind the door.My gaze shifted to my friend, who sat in the chair next to my bed and squeezed my hand. “Your bodyguard called me, and I came right away. You scared the holy crap out of me,” she muttered.“I didn't mean to.” I tried to smile, but Ashley's expression told me I failed.“I heard about the plane,” she then said, her eyes searching mine. “I'm so sorry, Josie.”I shook my head. “They haven't found their
I was pregnant. I was carrying Killian's child. My body began to shiver, and all my fears began to crawl out to the surface. My hands slid down to my belly, knowing that there was this tiny living thing growing inside me—something I needed to protect. My chest tightened. How was I going to protect it if I didn't know how to protect myself?The doctor walked out of the room, and Adeline and Ashley sat on both sides of my bed, staring at me as if I had just turned into an alien. “You carry my grandchild,” Adeline finally whispered.I looked at her and saw a face filled with emotions, so unlike the women I had met months ago. Her eyes coated with tears, and her trembling lips curved into a warm smile. My own eyes filled with tears too as I said a little hoarsely, “I guess I am.”“Are you OK?” Ashley's eyes filled with worry. “Did you suspect something before? Do you have morning sickness?”I shook my head. “Maybe I should consider myself lucky, but I didn't notice any symptoms... Maybe t
My head began to spin, and I stumbled back. If it hadn't been for Tony, who quickly grabbed my hand and led me to the sofa, I would have surely collapsed. I turned on the speaker and placed the phone on the coffee table, unsure I could hold it in my trembling hand. “Kaiden, where are you? Is Killian with you?”“I'm in... Jersey Cove, in Canada. A group of fishermen found me and pulled me out of the water. Now in the local clinic.” He sucked in a shaky breath. “I didn't want to risk giving anyone my real name, and I don't have any documents or money with me, so I could use some help…”I dragged my shaky fingers through my hair. “Um… Are you all right? I mean… are you hurt? You said you were at the clinic…”“I'm fine… mostly. I have a few nasty bruises, but that's it. No broken bones,” he said.A small relief. I was glad he was fine, but this situation was far from safe. What if Yan Hao's man monitored the area just in case? The Eye had yet to reach the Gulf of Saint Lawrence. What if t
I didn't think I had ever wanted to punch another woman more than when I stared at Estelle with her lips curved into a little cunning smirk. I could see myself tearing that certificate from her hands and ripping it into tiny pieces. Even the always-humble-looking Isabelle Yan raised her chin, acting as if she had already owned Blairs' entire fortune.My hands fisted, my knuckles bleaching. I could hear the rising roar inside me—the fury waiting to erupt. They should have been grateful I currently had more important things to do than to make their lives thoroughly miserable, but it seemed like I would have to find a moment for another assignment.Normally, perhaps I would have decided they were not worth the trouble, but they just made me change my mind. After hearing their pitiful story filled with wrong men and abuse, I'd felt sorry for them. I had wanted to treat them as victims. Well, they had just torn the remaining shreds of sympathy I felt and put themselves on the villains' lis
The doors opened, and my breath caught in my throat as Kaiden walked into the room. He stopped as he saw me. My chest tightened as I slowly took him in. His handsome face was paler, and the right side of his jaw was bruised as if he collided with rocks during the fall. He was wearing a black tee and combat pants, the clothes most likely given to him by Gunner. Our eyes locked, and I felt that mine began to coat with tears. Then I moved—or ran—toward him and threw my arms around him. He chuckled and closed his arms around me too. None of us spoke for several heartbeats.“Don't cry,” he finally murmured.A soft laugh escaped me as I wiped the tears off my cheeks. “Pregnant women tend to get emotional quite often,” I told him.He loosened his embrace and inched back. “Did you say... pregnant?”I nodded. “It's my seventh week.”“Damn,” he breathed out, his eyes drifting to my belly before quickly returning to my face. “You haven't told Killian…”I lowered my head. “I didn't know. I had no