operating room door glow

right knuckles was stark white as he clenched his fist. Amelie's bl

she fell, echoed in his mind. A restless,

anic. She rushed to his side, her face streaked with

the operating room door. "She tried to kill

clutched his arm, her sobs escalating. "It's all my fault... I shouldn't

tion away from Amelie's suicide a

rief. "I asked the groundskeeper... He said... he said he saw her that day. He saw her put th

ent, theatrical sobs. This lie was a hundred times more venomous than "s

rage and revulsion so profound it was nauseating. Any last, lingering shred of complexity

by a chilling certainty. "A woman like that," he sa

A formidable older woman with an air of immen

now?" It was his aunt, Rowena Slater. She saw the b

uous sneer on her face. "She's a disgrace to the Slater name.

wena, who gave her a nod of approva

s is the famous Beaumont girl who had Jonas wrappe

quiet," Ro

rgeon emerged. "We saved her, but she lost a

d, his face

urgeon. "Move her to a standard room. No

face as white as the sheets

ed forward. Without warning, she slappe

lent hallway. A red welt immedia

spat. "Trying to gain sympath

id nothing. His sil

y gleam in them as he looked at

ed, a small, hidden smile playing on her lips.

the end of a deserted wing. No nurs

in. Her throat was parched. She tried to re

her room c

, whistling softly. He lo

sity. "Cousin-in-law," he purred, deliberately using the intimate t

ce. She was too weak to even sit up

the pillow next to her head, the o

moke and whiskey as they traced the line of Ame

turned her head away, her vo

as doesn't want you, but I do. I promise I'll treat you much better than he

mbs felt like lead, devoid of strength. All she could do was

ying scent of his cologne mixin

ch hers, the door to the room expl