Ethan struggled with the answer. “Because the moment you walk through that door, everything I've been holding back comes with me into this room.”Mira slowly released the handle. “Ethan...”“I know what I'm asking,” he continued. “I'm not asking you to fix anything. I don't think anybody can tonight.”“Then what do you need from me?”Ethan looked directly at her, stripped of the authority that usually separated them. “Just stay. Talk to me if I need to talk. Sit there if I don't. I just don't want to be alone with my thoughts tonight.”That answer made leaving much harder than Mira had expected.Her fingers remained close to the door handle, but she no longer had any desire to open it. She had spent the last hour telling herself that Ethan needed rest and that remaining too close to him would only make her feelings more difficult to control.Yet leaving him now felt wrong.Mira looked back at Ethan and found him watching the floor rather than her. That alone affected her. He had aske

“Long enough to know tonight didn't create it.”Ethan moved no closer.Mira looked at him. “But this could change everything between us.”“It already has.”She knew he was right.The moment she had admitted she cared about him as more than her employer, there was no completely honest way back to what they had been yesterday.Mira stepped toward him.“If I stay,” she whispered, “don't pretend tomorrow that this meant nothing.”Ethan held her gaze. “I won't.”This time, he did not reach for her.The choice remained entirely hers.Mira hesitated only a moment before lifting both hands to his face. Then she pulled him toward her and kissed him.And this time, she did not pull away.The second kiss was nothing like the first.Ethan had initiated the first one while his mind was buried beneath grief and exhaustion. This time Mira had chosen him, and that difference was impossible for either of them to ignore.When they finally separated, Mira remained close enough to feel his breath against

Steam rolled across the surface of the indoor pool, filling the large room with a heavy warmth. Mr. Grande rested against the marble edge with a cigar between his fingers, while Dr. Hilton Verda sat several feet away with two young women keeping him company. They had returned there to relax before continuing their discussion about Brookhaven, but neither man had forgotten the business waiting for them.Hilton lifted his glass and glanced toward Grande. “You know, for a man who invited me here to relax, you haven't looked relaxed for once.”Grande took a slow drag from his cigar. “Relaxation is for men whose businesses behave themselves. Mine have been testing my patience lately.”Before Hilton could respond, a sharp cry came from somewhere beyond the steam room. One of the women beside him immediately looked toward the entrance, but Grande barely moved. A second cry followed, louder and more desperate than the first.Grande removed the cigar from his mouth and glanced at one of the e

Hilton kept his eyes on Grande after the warning left his mouth. The steam around them no longer felt relaxing. A few minutes earlier, the room had seemed separated from the problems outside, but Ethan Xavier's name had changed the atmosphere completely.Grande rested his cigar between two fingers. “That is exactly why I'm concerned. If the Tribunal hands this matter upward and Ethan becomes interested personally, I won't simply be dealing with a drug seizure anymore.”Hilton leaned back against the marble edge. “Then your first priority is preventing the investigation from growing beyond the men already involved. You need to know what they recovered besides the shipment.”Grande nodded slowly. “My people are working on it. Lawyers have already been contacted, and I have several political connections who will tell me how seriously the government intends to treat the seizure.”Hilton watched him. “And the men who survived the interception?”“Those in custody know enough to cause troubl

Grande leaned forward. “He is still cooperating with you?”“He enjoys his money too much not to.”Hilton unlocked his phone and searched through a private list of contacts. The number he selected was stored without the doctor's full name, one more small precaution in a relationship that neither man wanted publicly connected to Hilton.Grande watched him place the call. “You trust this man?”Hilton lifted the phone to his ear. “I trust incentives.”The call connected after several rings.A nervous male voice came through. “Hello?”Hilton's expression hardened. “Doctor.”There was an immediate change in the man's tone. “Dr. Hilton. Good evening, sir. I wasn't expecting your call tonight.”Hilton glanced at Grande before answering. “You don't need to expect my calls. You only need to answer them.”“Yes, sir,” the gynecologist replied quickly. “Of course.”Hilton heard the tension behind the doctor's obedience. It pleased him more than confidence would have. A frightened man could still