My Crown, His End: A Vengeful Heart

nborn child to save him. The shock of his betrayal cost me our baby. When I confro

s "loyal little soldier" and

as talking about his own death, at the ha

pte

ssage. It wasn't a confession or a g

hair. His handsome face was bruised, a crimson bead of blood crept from the corner o

ed my last eight months; this was the metallic taste of fear. A searing pain shot through my lower abdomen, a violent protest from

ice a blade of ice that betrayed none of the terror grippi

familiar curve of my pregnancy-a constant, heavy reminder of what was at stake. My second

should sit this on

g the magazine of my SIG Sauer

s. Every bump sent a jolt through me, and I braced one hand against my belly, whispering silent apol

of, a frantic drumbeat matching the thudding of my heart. My team fanned out, securing the perimeter with silent, lethal effici

m the door, ready to b

ght

rm, but it was unmistakable. A woman's light, musica

he sound was obscene in a host

etal, straining to hear over the pou

A full-scale tactical wargame? Just to see if she'd come?" Th

oice casual, confident, completely devoid of the terror from the photo. "Adr

? With her condition? The risk t

e a physical blow.

istol in my hands sudden

"Adria is a professional. She knows how to manage risk. Besides, this little test is necessary. Sterli

ur brilliant new analyst, the one Easton had been mentoring so closely. It wa

mance. A cruel, high-stakes piece of

of fire for a bet... that's cold, Easton," Sterlin

at made me feel like the only woman in the world. "She is everything. The pillar of my life, the mother of my child. I would nev

. So damnably, ar

er I would risk my life, and our child's life, t

n that single, gut-wrenching moment. The foundation of our life together-a lie. Ou

, a painful reminder of the life I was carrying. The life he had so carelessly gambled away. I leaned

of my brain, the strategist he had helped hone, took over.

to a number I hadn't contacted in a decade. A n

l of them. I want

illance drone positioned above the warehouse. It showed Easton, Gisele, and Sterling standing around a

econds on the clock, Price! If she's not

ed. "She wouldn't be late. She would crawl thr

oed faintly through the d

stroy his fledgling company. He had pushed me out of a third-story window to safety just before the roof collapsed, earning him the thin, heroic-lookin

his shield, his strategist, his partner. I had

illing clarity, when

e from inside

expire

in

as o

ig

my face with the back

tdown re

cheer began to rise from wi

e me, wide with shock. Easton's smile froze, his champagne glass

ocked onto Gisele Golden, the

my steps measured and silent. My team fann

le, my voice dangerously c

t me, bewild

illance. You were supposed to be our eyes and ears for this... wargame. Yet you failed to detect a six-man tactical team, fully a

sment. "This was a test of our firm's loyalty, Mr. Sterling. But it seems it has inadvertently become a test of ou