ed again. It was his assistant, Ethan Sh

detail. "Mr. Astor requests that you check out of this hotel immediately. If you ever approach his son again, our

was suicide. She needed to be smarter. She

leave. "Your employer is staying in the suite next door. Did it not occur to

se, or perhaps irritation at the oversight-

ilda closed the door b

oice piped up. "Mommy, why did that mean man

fter than she felt. "That little boy is a patient who needs my help. And that man

ferenced photos, timelines, and facial recognition data. Ten minutes later, a file appeared on Matilda's phone. It contained a detailed dossier on Julian Astor IV. At the bottom, Caleb had added a s

cold data what she had known in her heart the moment she saw Leo's face. Julian wa

blet. They had her determination, her resilience. But they also had Julian's sharp inte

mething unbreakable. She had to get Leo back. N

Leo despite Julian's order to leave the

ng lobby of the Astor Medical Center. Her mentor, Dr. Allen F

te corridor. "We have a case-a very special case-that has had our en

allway broken only by the quiet hum of medical equi

seemed to burn through

her son's name, in the file of a child who had been a stranger to her for five years-made her hands tremble.

xury hotel suite than a hospital room. A small boy in crisp, monogrammed paja

ise and then unmistakable joy lighting up his pale face. The sa

, to never let go. The name "Leo" was a physical weight on her tongue.

Mr. Astor," she said, addressing the five-year-old boy with chillin

his woman last night. She had held him. She had said she was his mommy. And now

u-" Leo

efore he could say more in front of Dr. Foster. She met his eyes and held them, w

his father, the warnings about the strange woman, had clearly taken root. And now, her own denial had confi

a warm, familiar presence,

ething inside her crack. She was doing the right thing. The only thi