Shattered Vows, Unspoken Love

m. Israel didn' t move from his chair in the living roo

clicking on the hardwood floor

ou're st

... my PR team said it was a good angle. Portraying me as a self-

r. The excuse was to

er perfume. It was an expensive, masculine cologne he didn't

," he said, pulli

She tried to sound warm, to smooth over the sudden distance betwee

tranger, someone he had once known a long time ago. He wanted to scream, to confront h

she said, her voice

say anything. He didn't try to stop her. He just sat there, listening to her

chair until the sun started to rise,

zzed. It was

vid said, his voice subdued. "A

id. "And I want

What

up all her shares

's her entire company. That's everything. A

ansaction, a debt of gratitude. Fine. Let's settle the debt. She can have he

hen a shrill, piercing al

ng from Har

monitor by Harriet' s bed was flashing red, the flat, c

as he dialed 911. "I need an ambulance

the training he' d insisted on years ago. Bet

to voi

again.

e answered. A voice he recognize

e Spe

die asked, his voi

a?" Israel demand

't bother her," Budd

the door at that moment, push

d to his ear. "Put her on the phone right no

the line went dead. Bu

ing back, but the

n Harriet, his mind reeling. She was with him. A

text message, h

y's Hospital. If you want to see her