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
Three hours passed from the moment I had stormed into Tony's office, smiling despite the stream of tears, telling him I had found Killian. Now as we sat together with Gunner and Kaiden, my emotions were even stronger. I stopped crying, but my body trembled as if it were unable to contain all the inner storm, threatening to erupt.“We need to contact anyone from that building and ask about Killian's condition,” Tony said.Gunner gave him a look. “And tell then what exactly? Do you seriously believe we're the only ones looking for Killian? Those fuckers are probably looking for him too, and as soon as the news about his whereabouts comes out, they will track him and kill him.”I drew an uneven breath. “Even if he's in a coma, we need to go there and take him somewhere safe,” I said. “I want to go there. Now.”Kaiden frowned. “Are you insane? You're not going anywhere.”My hands fisted. “Give me one good reason why I shouldn't!”He leaned closer, his jaw clenching. “I'll give more than o
The next few hours were beyond nerve-racking. I couldn't sit still—none of us could. My team and I kept our eyes glued to the computer screens, continuously adding and monitoring everyone connected to Yan Hao.Gunner sent us messages every several minutes, either asking us about the recent movements or informing us whether his men encountered any of those bastards. It was stressful, but we kept our focus. Within three hours, Gunner's men managed to safely transport two major shareholders and eliminate seven armed assassins.Relief filled the room, and faint smiles appeared—a first small victory. We were all exhausted, but none of us complained. We knew that others were still in danger…It was after midnight when Gunner called, saying that all the potential targets had been handled. “Thank God, it's over,” Mancy muttered, slumping in her chair. “I can barely see the screen.”“You should all go home and get some rest,” I told them.Ashley narrowed her eyes on me. “How about you? Will yo
KILLIANI had a dream. In that dream, I was flying, or rather falling... falling fast. I looked down, and all I saw was a vast field of darkness. I pulled a handle, and the opening parachute jerked my body up and to the side. I was slowing down but didn't know where the land was. I couldn't see it. I couldn't see anything. Then the impact—I sucked in a breath, yanking my eyes open. I was lying on a small bed in a clinic with an IV drip connected to my arm. A woman with short, dark hair entered the room and gave me a wry smile. “Another bad dream?” she asked, walking over to the drip stand and changing the empty bag.Naomie Belanger—that was her name. She introduced herself two days ago, right after I had woken up. She was a doctor here. I was in her private clinic. I—a stranger the fishermen found on a shore unconscious. She generously decided to take care of me, although I could have been a fugitive or a serial killer. I didn't know whether I was or not. I didn't remember. But when