the dim parking garage, her hands gripping the

silence, the concrete walls of the garage pressing in on her.

e steering wheel. She closed her eyes. Instantly, her

age and stale urine of the Lower Manhattan alleyway. She

ked her into a dead end. One of them held a rusted switc

khand slap that threw her to the wet pavement. M

dow had sprinted into the alley. The stranger had kicked the

he left side of the stranger's chest. Blood had instantly soa

n front of Annabella, shielding her body with his own, until the wail of polic

she could wipe the mud from her eyes to see his face, the man had c

event, she had seen Ethan. He was wearing a

he skin still pink and tender, with the faint track marks of stitches rec

g with emotion, Ethan hadn't said a word. He had ju

ratitude. She had let him dictate her career. She had tolerated

mory shattered. She stared at her

itter laugh. The whole

. The man who abandoned his bride at the altar and demanded she bl

bmission was enough. She had paid for that bl

had lived in her chest for five

ed her spine. Her eyes were clear,

t button. The engine roared to life, the dee

he gas pedal. The car shot out of the dark garage and in

ovement of classical music blasted through the speakers, the frantic, soaring violins drowning ou

ed to pack up her desk and get her law degree

udden, sharp pain stabbed her in t

el to clutch her stomach. The pain was hot and pi

r teeth. It's just stress, she told herself. J

against her stomach, tryin

ds back on the wheel, and drove toward the company, comple