The Secret Billionaire's Obsessive Love Trap

eight against the heavy iron d

. The icy Manhattan rain slicked her skin, plastering her dark hair to her

gainst the cold brick w

etal trash can out of their way at the alley entrance. The sound of metal clattering against th

n lobby was blocked. A hotel security guard stood there,

d. She couldn't go

worker pushed a massive canvas laundry cart out of a side corridor. Alaina moved. She

line of sight and ducked in

n black stepped

rnails dug into the grooves of the wall so hard the tips turned a bruised purple. The ma

ainst her ribs, a fra

He turned away and jogge

to the open service elevator. She slammed her

elevator jerked upward with a d

d keys, closing around a hard plastic cylinder. She pulled out an unopened medical syringe. Her

The doors opened to

was deliberately dim. At the far end of the corridor, a sliver of war

r, she heard the heavy crash

cut the main power to the elevators, and

s shook, but she forced herself to focus. She jammed the pin into the old-fashioned mechanical backup lock beneath the electronic keycard reader, scraping it desperate

. The bright beam of a heavy-duty flashlight sliced

e oak door open

nd twisted the deadbolt. The heavy metal loc

wood of the door, gasping for air. Her le

e smell

ent of aged whiskey and

the floor-to-ceiling windows. The sudden burst of

k leather sofa, his

ng was unnervingly sharp. The moment the deadbolt clicked,

His right hand slid silently into the gap between the leather cushions,

him speak. If he shouted, the

self forward lik

n's thick neck, cutting off his airway. Her right hand brought the medical syringe d

ed into solid rock. His right hand gripped the kn

e sto

hroat. It wasn't a sloppy mugger's grip. It was a clinical, anato

at was razor-sharp. "This syringe is loaded with a lethal compound

ut the threat. He ca

melled it. A specific, sterile brand of hospital-gra

welve-year-old memory of blood, concrete dust, and

nded on the oak

?" a rough voice shou

ip of the needle pierced the top layer of Kyle's sk

the reflection in the dark glas

ace. And then, another flash

t behind her left ear, Kyle saw it. A dark red

d. The air in hi

e city looking for her. And now, she

oor grew louder. "Ope

y slack. He dropped the tactical

slightly, exposing his t

ith the angry, exhausted frustration of an ordinary guest whose patience had snapped. "Y

outside muttered a curse. Heavy footsteps retreate

reat w

Alaina together snapp

b fingers, bouncing off the leather sofa. Her knees buckled, and her

before she could slide to the floor. He pulled her lim