Chapter 709 [ 535 words ] Chapter 709: Caroline stood frozen, the two competing parts of her, the cold, calculating agent and the fiercely protective caregiver, at war. The agent knew this was valuable intelligence. But the caregiver, the woman who had risked everything to save that same puppy, felt

Chapter 708 [ 448 words ] Chapter 708: Slowly, deliberately, Caroline began to pull off her left tactical glove. She held her hand up in the sterile light of the room. On her ring finger, against the pale skin, was a stark white band, the unmistakable, permanent mark left by

Chapter 707 [ 519 words ] Chapter 707: Beatrix flinched back from the intensity of her gaze. She bit her lower lip, hard, until she tasted the coppery tang of blood. The physical pain was a welcome distraction. “There’s no such thing as a free lunch,” Beatrix whispered, her voice

Chapter 706 [ 517 words ] Chapter 706: A harsh, incredulous laugh escaped Beatrix, but it was cut short by a sharp intake of breath as the movement pulled at her injured ribs. “I don’t need your charity,” she spat, her eyes glittering with hate. “And I certainly don’t need

Chapter 705 [ 467 words ] Chapter 705: Beatrix didn’t respond. She was trapped in a nightmare, her breathing growing ragged and harsh. Her fingers clenched into a fist, knuckles white. Caroline put her ear close to Beatrix’s lips, trying to make out the garbled sounds. It was one word,

Chapter 704 [ 505 words ] Chapter 704: “You look like you got about ten minutes of sleep,” Reed noted, making a note on a chart. Just as Caroline was about to take a bite of toast, a tiny, pathetic whimper came from the corner of the room. Dr. Reed’s

Chapter 703 [ 553 words ] Chapter 703: The sky outside the window was a deep, bruised navy when Jarrod’s internal clock ripped him from sleep. He didn’t move for a full minute, simply absorbing the weight and warmth of Caroline curled carefully against his uninjured side. Her hand was

Chapter 702 [ 459 words ] Chapter 702: His gaze dropped to the small bandage on her forearm, the fresh wound Harper’s boot had left during the fight. The white gauze was still faintly stained at the edge. His expression changed. The hunger in his eyes darkened into something quieter,

Chapter 701 [ 529 words ] Chapter 701: The words poured out of her, a torrent of pain. “You say you love me, but your ‘love’ feels like a cage. It feels like ownership. And when I ask you, when I beg you for something more, for some sign that

Chapter 700 [ 493 words ] Chapter 700: He felt the shift instantly, the sudden, glacial coldness where there had been fire just seconds before. He did not grab her. The brace and the splint made that impossible, and perhaps some part of him knew that touching her now would

Chapter 699 [ 510 words ] Chapter 699: She knew. Logically, she knew. She had seen the proof in his insane, possessive actions, in the way he had risked his career for her, in the terror in his eyes when he thought she was hurt. But to hear him say

Chapter 698 [ 460 words ] Chapter 698: Jarrod turned toward the window, moving with the careful economy of an injured man who refused to show pain. At the sill, he paused. “Clean the blood off the floor,” he said without looking back. “Dr. Reed notices everything.” Then he was

Chapter 697 [ 507 words ] Chapter 697: “No.” Her voice stayed low, but it steadied. “You want a monster because a monster would make sense to you. A monster would justify the surveillance, the tests, the way you look at me like I’m a file you can’t decrypt. But

Chapter 696 [ 507 words ] Chapter 696: The clipped instructions should have annoyed her. Instead, the restraint in them tightened something in her chest. He was a man built to act, to seize, to break, and his body would not let him do any of it. So he stood

Chapter 695 [ 477 words ] Chapter 695: With one final, unreadable look, she turned and walked away, her heels clicking down the corridor until the sound faded. Caroline let out a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding. Her back was damp with sweat. She closed the door and

Chapter 694 [ 522 words ] Chapter 694: Then he moved, silent and efficient, slipping into the shadow without wasting a breath. His right arm remained locked against his chest; his left hand stayed stiff at his side. Even compromised, he made himself disappear with the precision of a man

Chapter 693 [ 500 words ] Chapter 693: For one second, the room seemed to shrink around her. Beatrix slept in the bed behind them, the monitor beeping softly. Doodles snored in his carrier near the wall. Outside the door, the medical center slept under its dim security lights. Inside,

Chapter 692 [ 427 words ] Chapter 692: The words were quiet. Dangerous. Intimate. Then he lowered his head, stopping just short of her mouth. He did not touch her. He didn’t need to. The heat between them gathered anyway, thick and inevitable. “So learn, Caroline,” he whispered. “Because I

Chapter 691 [ 469 words ] Chapter 691: “Your own hand is injured.” “Use my knees, elbows, teeth if I have to.” His eyes sharpened. She realized too late that she had answered too fast. The silence stretched. He looked at her for a long moment, the room narrowing around

Chapter 690 [ 493 words ] Chapter 690: “I came here because I watched a boy bring you coffee and look at you like you were the last clean thing in the world.” Her stomach dropped. Jarrod’s eyes stayed locked on hers. “But if I talk about that, I may