Daniel Kane had never made a decision this big in his life.College choice. Career trajectory. The foundation of adult existence. But also love. Partnership. The person who'd stood beside him through kidnappings and attacks and the chaos of being a Kane.He sat in Adrian's office at Apex Tower, turning his Stanford acceptance letter over in his hands like it might reveal different answer if examined from new angle."I don't know what to do," Daniel said. "This is the future. Education. Career. Everything I've worked for since freshman year. Stanford's computer science program is legendary. Students come out making six figures immediately. It's the path to success.""But?" Adrian prompted, knowing there was always a but."But Jenny is love. Partnership. Everything that makes life worth living. We've been through so much together. The Castellano kidnapping. The stalker. The attacks on our family. She's seen me at my worst and stayed. How do I walk away from that?"Adrian remembered bein

Adrian looked at Isabella's face—pale against the hospital pillows, eyes searching his for something he wasn't sure he could give—and realized he had no idea how to answer her question.Why did he still care?He should hate her. Had tried to hate her, actually. Spent months after the divorce attempting to cultivate proper rage, proper contempt, the kind of clean fury that made cutting people out of your life feel justified instead of cruel.It never worked."I don't know why I care," he said finally, the words coming out rougher than he intended. "I should hate you. I tried to hate you. Spent a lot of time convincing myself you were irredeemable. That you'd destroyed something that couldn't be fixed."Isabella's eyes filled with tears but she didn't look away. "You should hate me. I hate myself.""But you're Michael's mother. And you're suffering. And maybe..." Adrian paused, searching for honesty instead of the easy answer. "Maybe I'm just too tired to hate anyone anymore. Hate is ex