Chapter 5

His brow furrowed.

"Nora, we can't keep this baby. Not right now."

"Chelsea is pregnant too. Her depression is severe. Any kind of stress could push her over the edge."

I stared at the man in front of me like I was seeing him clearly for the first time.

She was pregnant too?

So they'd been together long before any of this.

A wave of nausea hit me and I couldn't hold it back.

He rubbed my back.

I shoved him off. "This is my child. This has nothing to do with you."

Julian reached up and wiped the involuntary tears from the corners of my eyes.

"Be reasonable. We'll end this one."

He sighed, the way you do when you're trying to calm down someone who doesn't understand the situation.

"We can have more later. I'll spend the rest of my life making this up to you."

I stepped back out of his reach.

"I told you. I want a divorce. And this baby is mine."

Behind me, Chelsea pressed a hand to her chest right on cue and let out a soft, pained gasp.

Julian's expression went cold. He turned and signaled to the bodyguards behind him.

"Take my wife to the surgical suite. Get the best doctor on staff."

Several bodyguards stepped forward immediately and seized my arms.

I fought with everything I had. It made no difference.

In the end, I was locked inside a private room to wait for the procedure.

Tears ran down the sides of my face. Fear and helplessness swallowed me whole.

The door opened.

Chelsea.

I glared at her with everything in me.

She smiled at me, slow and cold.

"Did you really think a woman like you, a mistress who got thrown away by a crime lord, was going to carry on the Rhodes family line? Keep dreaming."

"If you hadn't been born with a face like mine, you never would have gotten near Julian in the first place."

Before the last word left her mouth, she swung at me again.

This time I sank my teeth into her hand and didn't let go until I tasted blood.

She screamed for a doctor. "No anesthesia."

The procedure began.

I screamed. I felt my child being taken from me.

The pain was beyond anything I'd known, body and soul torn apart at once. I choked up blood and went dark.

When I came to, cramps were tearing through my lower stomach in waves.

I stared up at the ceiling as tears ran silently into my hair.

My baby was gone.

Through the wall, I could hear Julian and Chelsea laughing together, talking about the new life they were expecting.

I wiped my face dry.

I made a phone call. "I'm ready to work with you. Meet me at the beach."

I went home feeling hollowed out and walked straight to Julian's study.

I pulled a small USB drive from my pocket and plugged it into his private computer.

I thought for a moment, then typed in a number.

Correct password.

It was the date Chelsea had nearly gotten him killed in the water.

But there was a second password.

I tried several combinations. None of them worked.

Then, on a strange impulse, I typed in our wedding anniversary.

The screen unlocked.

I laughed despite myself. What a pathetic kind of devotion.

The progress bar ticked through the Rhodes Group's most sensitive files.

I drove out to the beach on the edge of the city alone.

That's where I always went when things got to be too much.

Then I heard footsteps nearby.

"Knew it was you, Nora. My contact wasn't lying."

A man's voice, oily and too familiar.

I turned around, and my blood ran cold.

Rex Fowler.

The crime lord. The man I'd left. The one who'd treated me like I was nothing.

My body moved before my mind caught up.

"How are you here? Why are you here?"

Rex looked me over slowly, a predatory smile spreading across his face.

"Nora. It's been a while. Leaving me clearly agreed with you."

"Word is Julian tossed you out. Why not come back to me? I'll make sure every single day is worth your while."