LOGINJace POVShe stared at me. "For real?""For real." I took her hand. "You're the love of my life, Millie. You and Nolan. You're everything. I want to marry you. Officially."I kissed her hand.This is right. This is what I should want. This is where I belong.She didn't move for a long moment.Then she kissed me. Deep and sweet.I kissed her back.I can do this. I can choose her. I can forget about Roberta. I can forget about Roberta. She pulled back. Her eyes were shining."Then you'll sign the divorce papers," she said. "With Roberta. You'll let her go. For good."I opened my mouth. The words wouldn't come.Sign the papers. Choose Millie. Choose Nolan. Choose the family that actually loves you.So why can't I say it?"Jace?"I looked at her. I couldn't say it.That was the truth of it, standing in my own kitchen with Millie's hands on my face and her eyes bright and everything she had waited for finally right there in front of her.She pulled back and looked at me."It's today," she
Jace's POVMy head was pounding.I opened my eyes and the light from the window hit me like a knife. I groaned and pressed my palm against my forehead. My mouth was dry. My body felt heavy.I turned my head. The other side of the bed was empty.Millie wasn't there.I sat up slowly. The room spun. I closed my eyes and waited for it to stop.Where is she?I thought about last night. The fight. The way I had walked out. The way I had driven off without looking back.She probably hates me. She has every right to.I rubbed my face. My jaw was sore. My nose was still tender. The bruises from Brett's fists were fading, but they were still there. A reminder of everything that had happened.I got out of bed. My feet were cold on the floor. I walked to the bathroom and looked at myself in the mirror.I looked terrible.My eyes were bloodshot. My hair was a mess. There was a cut on my lip that was still healing.What am I doing?I splashed water on my face. It didn't help.I thought about Robert
Roberta's POVThe house was quiet when we got back.Brett opened the door. He stepped aside to let me in first. I walked into the living room and stood there. Everything looked the same. The couch. The pictures on the wall. It felt like I had never left. It felt like I had been gone for years."Are you okay?" he asked.I nodded. I didn't trust my voice.He walked me to my room. The same one I had left earlier that night. The bed was still unmade. I had been ready to walk away from all of this.Now I was back."I'll be right next door," he said. "If you need anything. Anything at all."I nodded again.He stood in the doorway for a moment. His eyes moved over my face. Like he was checking that I was real. That I was safe. That I was still here.Then he said goodnight. He closed the door behind him.I stood there. The room was cold. I didn't move.I sat down on the edge of the bed. My hands were in my lap. I could still feel him. His arms around me. His lips on mine. The way he had carri
Roberta's POV I had no words.My chest was so full there was no room for them.Just tears, coming quietly, which I didn't try to stop.He kissed my forehead.Then he bent and lifted me — both arms, clean and easy, like the decision required no effort — and I made a sound of surprise and grabbed his shoulder and he was already walking. Through the door. Up the stairs. Along the corridor. Out through the service entrance into the cold night air.I lay in his arms with my heart completely beyond my own management and said nothing and looked at the sky above us and thought: I am in so much trouble.He set me down beside the car.My feet found the gravel, and I stood there and looked at him, and I had absolutely nothing left to hide behind. No composure. No walls. No careful management of what my face was doing. It was all just — out there. Everything I felt, sitting on the surface of me with nowhere to go.I turned toward the car door and walked straight into the frame.My elbow. Hard.I
Roberta's POV Brett kept the gun steady across the room."Nobody does anything stupid," he said. "I already called the police. They are right behind me."Irene looked at the gun.Then she looked at Brett.Then she laughed.The laugh of a woman who had never once felt genuinely threatened by anything in a room."You came to rescue your little princess." She shook her head slowly. "Look at you. Barging in here like you're in a film." Her eyes moved over him with open amusement. "I know your family, Brett Temples. Your father. Your grandfather. The Temples name has existed in this city for a long time." Her voice cooled. "Walk away from this. From her. Before it becomes something you can't walk away from. This is your one opportunity."Brett didn't move.He didn't blink."I would rather die," he said, "than walk away from her."The words landed in the room like something dropped from a height.I stopped breathing.I was sitting in that chair with my wrists still raw from the ties and my
Brett's POV The van's taillights were two red dots ahead of me, and I drove like they were the only things in the world.My phone was already at my ear."Nine-one-one, what's your emergency?""A woman is being abducted." I said it clean and fast. No panic in my voice because panic was a luxury, and I didn't have time for it. "Black van, no visible plates, southbound on Churchill Avenue. Multiple suspects. She's inside the vehicle, and I am in pursuit.""Sir, we strongly advise you not to follow—""My name is Brett Temples. I need units southbound on Churchill immediately. Track my location and send everything you have."I dropped the phone on the passenger seat.Reached under the seat with my left hand, keeping my right on the wheel and my eyes on those taillights.My gun was there. It was always there.I pulled it out and set it on my thigh, and pressed the accelerator harder.She screamed my name.They left the main roads after ten minutes.The van turned onto a narrow road that di
Connor was almost smiling, holding Ziva's iPad when he pushed open the door."I found it," he called out. "Ziva, I found your."Her bed was empty."A nurse was tucking the corner of the sheet.Connor stood in the doorway."Where is she?"The nurse glanced up. "Dr. Sammy discharged her about ten min
Roberta’s POV"Mommy." Ziva's voice was very quiet. "I want to save Nolan.""Ziva""I want to." She looked up at me. Her eyes were dry, but her face was doing the thing it always did before the real cry came, the way she held everything in with every muscle. "I saw him today. He's not okay. He does
Ziva's POVDaddy came to my classroom.I saw him through the window first. His suit. His shiny shoes. His hair looked like a movie star.My heart jumped."Mrs. Alvarez, that's my daddy! That's Jace Riggs!"Mrs. Alvarez looked. Some kids looked too. I sat up straight. I wanted everyone to see. I alw
Roberta’s POVThe second I saw Ziva standing at the bottom of the stairs, her little face pale and frightened, something inside me broke.I crossed the room before I even thought about it and pulled her into my arms.“Grandma?” Ziva whispered.But Irene looked straight at her.“You have a brother,







