m descended into

ainless steel tray with a sharp clatter, qu

before rushing toward the door behind Derek. "If Miss Bloom is

pun on his heel and sprinted down the corridor

ks, hurriedly resetting the telemetry monit

t the fog of the se

r, but the adrenaline spiking through her heart fought back the haze

r chafed skin acted as a lubricant. With a sharp, agonizing pul

't waste

he rolled off the operating table, her bare feet hitting the freezing floor tiles. Her knees buckled u

al tray

around, her eyes wid

at are y

e dropped tray. She scrambled to her feet, holding the poin

er gaze was dead, le

make a

desperation in her posture made both nurses fre

against the

slowly, their scrubs ru

operating room's interior exit, and slammed it home. She grabbed a white la

through the heavy red door marked for medical waste d

ring her aching muscles, and burst through an emergency fire

face, washing away the la

umb to the jagged debris on the pavement, before collapsing again

ody palm against t

led it down an

ing so hard they clicked. "Across the Virginia line

ain band Dominic had forced on her wit

ands, the frantic terror in her eyes, and

olled through the heavy wrought-i

onolith surrounded by ancient oaks, built on old money and untouchable political pedigree. It was the

out of the ca

teps and beat her fists agai

se! I need to se

ked open five

cashmere shawl, her silver-streaked hair swept into an immaculate chignon. H

ling in the rain, soaked, shivering, a

y to the way Clara's arms remained wra

throat as she collapsed against the stone sill. "Dominic i

e tapped her silver cane onc

anded her staff. "Draw a hot bath

ool blankets with a cup of hot broth in her ha

-performance engine shat

wet cobblestones of the circular dr

nic burst through th

lastered against his forehead. His gray-blue eyes burned with an unhi

other entirely, marching straight

by the collar of her borrowed robe, hauling h

vibrating with pure malice. "You walked out of that clinic, and Viv

mery! Release h

table with a resounding crack, shattering an ant

tween Dominic and Clara, using her cane to sho

voice freezing the air in the room. "As long as I d

raping against the fabric of Clara's collar be

sity. "Vivian is fighting for her life in the main house because of the complications from her co

and level. "I care about the bloodline. Clara stays under my roof. If

n in complete silence, the tension i

let out a low,

othing down the fron

Keep he

ken porcelain on the floor. At the doorframe, he stopped and look

it lasts, Clara. You can't