fingers hovered for a moment before she sent the

h me? Well, you're in

hest to simmer. But then the thought of her mother br

ed her mother's gentle smile with trembling fingers. "Mom, I s

allet, Valerie noticed something slippin

s sleek surface adorned with a crescent-shaped cutout

any cufflink. It

lient who had paid an astronomical sum-one hundred

marvel of engineering, equipped with a GPS

into its creation, yet had only

th was it in h

ecing together fra

her belongings and storming out

have been

ey were dangerous. Powerful. The kind of person she

tightened, her b

metal-it carried secrets. Her fingers found a silver needle in her bag, and

echoed throu

slightly. The adrenaline coursing through her began to wane, leaving a dull exhaustion in its wake

lt's room tonight to ensure he is cared for at

-but for her mother's sake, she swallo

blanket, she made her

the room's edges as she st

vulnerability. His sharp features seemed carved from stone-too perfect, too uny

t. Mercurial. Impossible to deal with. Still, a flicker of thought crossed her min

o Valerie. The rumors about him weren't just whispe

m was like expecting k

find her mothe

y began to give

ng. With a sigh, she spread out her blanket and settled down on t

el like an island, the emptine

ring closed as the heaviness

the night, Jonathan'

lay asleep beside him. In the faint light, his expression seemed more

for a split second, she froze. Jonathan was awake-and staring directly at her. Her heart leapt into he

ice breaking through the quiet like a sh

household, and within min

rived swiftly, his

ddle-aged man with a commanding presence, his perfectly tailored suit and sharp f

s calm but carried the weight of expectati

ie no

into the Holt family, you'd better remember your role. T

a knife, both a war

ips curving into a faint smile that

othly, her tone polite but unwa