RELUCTANT LOVE, RECKLESS HEIR

S

ade in the heat of desperation. But mistakes don't grow inside you. Mistakes don't take root, shif

y of Knight Industries, ignored by the receptionist, dismissed like I'm nothing,

. Not when I know

my ribs as I glance over my shoulder. I don't see them

this. I hav

t toss me aside like I don't exist, he

MONT

ld have gone

ning in Victor Morelli's world, suffocating under his threats and the invisi

n he wa

an K

kind of danger that whispered promises against my skin. He didn't belong

why I let h

tolen glances, whispered words, and his hand restin

alked away. I s

s me against the glass windows overlooking the city, his mo

him ru

rning, he

ust an empty bed and a memory

for the best. I tol

ed at a positive pregnancy test and

O

barely glances up

Knight," I say, forcin

s clicking against the desk.

but

night is un

hroat. "Please.

eetheart." She waves a dismissive hand. "If you'

t m

have a n

lds inside me.

I see

ir from the room. Tall, broad-shouldered, and wrapped in an expensive s

eyes

ace,,,recognition, surprise, be

ghtens. "G

ds move

o

breath catches, and before I can thin

pregn

lobby fal

shift from irritation to dis

hing

oward me, his voi

d you ju

***

tion: Is

a world that n

saw me as nothing but a burden. By the time I was sixteen, I'd learned

into the arms of

y father wasn't. I thought he would save

ntrol. I learned how to endure. Ho

night, I fou

I th

w, I have

the only one who can

ian

t given. I

that from

Business meetings at ten, financial reports at thirteen, neg

dy built an empire of my own. By twenty-five

is mine. The cit

lo

s. A liability I

of it. My father destro

r to fall in

company, saying the one thing

preg

me in years, I feel

***

or M

bedroom door sw

was

I took in the empty bed, the open clos

ai

glass of whiskey in my hand against the wall. The amb

s she can

surface as I reached for my phone.

I said, my voice

the other end, rough an

ady kn

htened around the phone. "I want

n I fou

happens to women who

zab

ound him like a storm waiting to break. Isla's little stunt had pushed

ard dese

t. She'd done something I hadn'

against the doorway. "Poor Victor," I mused.

to me, dark with warnin

rt. The moment you realize you're not as untouchable as you think.

ion darkene

rtunity to escape." I tilted

aw cl

that I wasn't one of

I wasn't running.

me. That I was just another woman to b

as w

be standing exactl

besi