Chapter 2 - The Rescue
The freezing rain soaked through my thin coat within minutes.
My temporary bank card had declined at the first motel I tried—Cole hadn't even given me the twenty-four hours he promised. He had frozen everything the second I walked out of the conference room. Shivering, exhausted, and burdened by the weight of my unborn triplets, my legs finally gave out on the edge of a deserted road just outside the city center.
I hit the wet pavement, curling my body to protect my stomach. My vision began to tunnel.
Through the pouring rain, the blinding headlights of a sleek black Maybach cut through the darkness. The tires hissed to a sudden halt, and the heavy door flew open.
A man stepped out into the storm. He wore a perfectly tailored charcoal suit, and the sheer, overwhelming authority in his stride made the air feel heavy. He knelt beside me on the wet asphalt, his large, warm hands gently gripping my shoulders.
"Call the hospital," he barked to his driver, his voice a vibrating rumble of absolute command. "Have the private wing prepped immediately."
He looked down at me, brushing the soaked hair from my face. As his piercing gray eyes locked onto mine, the terrifying intensity of his expression fractured. He stopped breathing.
"Sarah," he whispered, speaking my late mother's name like a desperate prayer.
May you like
"My... my name is Brooke," I managed to stammer, my teeth chattering uncontrollably.
"I know exactly who you are, Brooke," he murmured fiercely, wrapping his heavy, dry suit jacket around my shivering shoulders and lifting me effortlessly into his arms. "I've been looking for you for five years. You are never spending another second in the cold."
