edy

de home was a silent film of my own humiliation playing on a loop in my head. Every polite smile from Corbin, ev

y leg aching in its cast, a dull, forgotten pain

untry. Disappear. But as I f

o our building, looking up at the penthouse

th what sounded like concern. "I saw you leave t

rn, sent a surge of pure, unadulterated rage through

becoming brighter. "Corbin? Yes, I'm just getting s

ng on her lips. But before she could say whatever venomous, p

have parked the car and

ight. "What are you doing here, Kennedy? Are you

. It was a hollow, broken sound. "You're right, Corbin," I said, my voice trembling with suppr

if I were speaking another langua

le began to pour out of the lobby, their faces masks of panic. The sudden surge of the crowd

e's heel came down on it. The crowd swirled around me, a

im. Corbin. For a heart-stopping second, I th

ing on Annis, who was being jos

l fear, and wrapped his arms around her, shielding her with his body. He h

look back.

as another person's foot connected brutally with my ribs. A cr

ast thing I registered before I lost consciousness was the sight of Corb

antiseptic-smelling room. The pain in my leg

ave two broken ribs, and the fall re-fractured your tibia. The swelling

the best surgeon. I don't care what it costs." The Pitts family na

prepping me for surger

as carrying Annis, bridal style. She was pale and tr

off the sterile walls. "Now! She has hemophilia! Sh

e doctor said calmly, "we have another patient here

orbin Franco," he said, his voice dangerously low. "That woman," he gestured to Annis, "is

, his power, to push

his ground, looked at me. I just stared bac

Arguments were made. But Corbin's influ

I watched them rush Annis into a private suite. I saw Corbin paci

y surgery w

ferno, but it was nothing compared to the c

loved Annis more. It was that in the universe of his heart

s no