ella

dormant bomb. When it finally rang, the shrill sound shattered t

the receive

ce was thick with the flu an

he nightmare unfolding in the penthouse. Sarah, the clueless temporary maid h

ella. She turned

he fridge-the one I had emptied of spares when I left, assuming he would restock it. He hadn't. While Sarah frantically called an ambulance,

the phone rang again

corridor. "The doctor tore into him, Bella. Treated the

, the name tasting lik

Elena woke up. She cried for you. When Adriana tried to touch her, the sweet girl pu

ide swelled in my c

voice breaking. "He was going to call you. I saw it in his eyes.

Dante chose his ego over our daughter's tears. He would rather l

n on the edge of my cot when the secure radio line-the one I had taught Elena to memori

to my ear, my hand tr

mma

ntly spilled over my lashes, hot and desper

t cal

. I heard the sound of a scuffle, the

sickeningly sweet, fake voice echoed into the mouth

ic

ear, a flat, dead sound that e

at usurping whore, a mere *Associate's* daughter, had just severed the lifelin

d toward my encrypted telegraph machine. The air in the warehouse was growing heavy and thick,