bChapter /b247

    “Sir…”

    Evan knew just how much his boss cared about Miss Elissa, but he couldn’t help but remind him, “The Meridia Country project… it’s critical for our overseas business-”

    “Then apply for a private route.”

    “Yes, sir.”

    He understood that if anything happened to Miss Elissa, nothing else would matter to his boss.

    There had been a time, years ago, when his boss had no choice but to put the family feud–the blood debt for his parents–above everything else. For Elissa’s safety, there was no other way.

    If he hadn’t fought back then, if Matriarch Paige Murphy hadpletely crushed them, both he and Elissa would have been nothing more than prey on the chopping block.

    But nowi, /ias long as he had any say in it, Elissa would alwayse first.

    The ck Maybach sped toward the hospital.

    Elissa drifted back to consciousness, groggy and disoriented, in Frank’s

    arms.

    As soon as her eyes fluttered open, Frank’s worried voice met her ears. “Elissa, are you alright? Are you hurt anywhere? We’re almost at the hospital.”

    12:09

    “I’m fine.”

    Her throat was raw from smoke, her voice hoarse. “I just want to go home. Vistapeak Gardens, please.”

    Feeling the warmth of his body through her clothes, she instinctively braced herself against the seat, trying to move away.

    She didn’t like being this close to him.

    Frank noticed and felt a sharp ache in his chest, but he knew better than to push her right now. He let her go and spoke gently, “Let’s at least have a doctor look at you first. Your wrist and ankle are hurt, and you should get checked for anything else.”

    As he spoke, the car rolled to a stop at the ER entrance.

    Elissa was too weak to argue, so she let herself be helped into the hospital, quietly cooperating with the doctors.

    Frank darted around the ER: paying bills, picking up prescriptions, making sure everything was done.

    When he returned with her medication, a nurse tending Elissa’s wounds couldn’t help but smile with envy. “Your husband takes such good care of iyou/i. He hasn’t left your side for a second, and now he’s watching me dress your wounds–like he’s afraid I’ll hurt you by ident.”

    Elissa nced at Frank, almost involuntarily.

    He really was watching, just as the nurse described, his gaze fixed on the

    nurse’s hands as she worked.

    Sensing her eyes on him, Frank finally looked back at Elissa, worry etched between his brows. “Does it hurt?”

    He knelt beside her, taking her small hand in his, his voice low. “If it hurts, just squeeze my hand.”

    Elissa froze, caught off guard. Frank was acting so strange tonight.

    He’d always been a gentleman–at least in public. But he was the type to

    12:09

    offer words, not gestures. What had gotten into him tonight?

    No, she corrected herself–he’d been acting off for a while now. But tonight felt different, almost as if he’d made some kind of decision.

    She pulled her hand free and looked down at him. “That call you got earlier, at the industrial park–what was it about?”

    She was certain everything had changed with that call. He’d been ready to leave with Marcia, but after answering, he’d suddenly rushed back to save her.

    Frank’s eyes grew even softer at the memory. “Let’s get you patched up first. I’ll tell you everything once we’re home.”

    This mattered too much to him. He needed space and time to exin it all to Elissa properly.

    Looking back on their three years of marriage, he realized just how much he’d gotten wrong.

    “Alright,” Elissa said quietly, letting the nurse finish cleaning her wounds.

    The truth was, she wasn’t all that afraid of pain. But every time the cotton swab touched her skin, Frank’s brow would knit just a little tighter.