Chapter 6

Two hours later, the VIP floor of Manhattan's most exclusive private hospital was completely locked down by Cary's security team.

The heavy double doors of the emergency treatment room remained tightly shut. Inside, Erna was undergoing concussion protocols and getting her forehead stitched.

At the far end of the hallway, the elevator doors chimed open. Apollo stepped out, his face dark as thunder, a white gauze pad taped over his injured shoulder.

A team of five elite corporate lawyers trailed behind him. They were here to use every legal threat in the book to force the hospital to hand Erna over and control the PR fallout.

Cary sat on a leather bench outside the treatment room. His long legs were crossed. He was staring down at a tablet in his hands.

Hearing the commotion, Cary didn't even lift his eyes. He simply made a subtle motion with his index finger.

The four massive bodyguards immediately stepped forward, forming an impenetrable human wall that stopped Apollo and his lawyers thirty feet down the hall.

"Get out of my way!" Apollo shoved at the nearest bodyguard. "I demand to see my legal wife!"

Cary finally looked up. A chilling, mocking darkness swirled in his deep eyes.

He tossed the tablet onto the polished floor. It slid and stopped right at Apollo's feet. The screen displayed a real-time stock chart. Cherry Media Group's stock had plummeted five percent since the market opened.

"Consider that a minor warning from D.C. capital," Cary's voice was low, smooth, and terrifyingly calm.

Apollo's lead attorney looked past the bodyguards and narrowed his eyes at the man sitting on the bench. A flicker of recognition hit him. He quickly pulled out his phone, his fingers trembling as he typed a name into a private legal database. As the profile loaded, all the blood drained from the lawyer's face. He scrambled to Apollo's side and whispered frantically in his ear.

"Mr. Cherry, stop. I just confirmed it. That's Cary Warren, the senior partner of the most ruthless law firm in D.C. He has the entire Warren family backing him. We cannot afford a war with them."

Hearing the name Warren, the arrogant fire in Apollo's chest was instantly smothered by a cold wave of reality.

Cary stood up. His towering height sucked the oxygen out of the hallway.

He casually adjusted his platinum cufflinks. "If you take one more step toward her," Cary said, his tone dead flat, "I will erase the Cherry family from Wall Street."

Apollo ground his teeth together. He stared at Cary, desperately searching for a weakness in the man's armor, but found only an endless, terrifying abyss.

Just then, a nurse adjusted the blinds on the observation window of the treatment room door.

Through the clear glass panel, Apollo's line of sight bypassed Cary's shoulder and landed directly on the hospital bed.

Erna was lying there, unconscious. Because she was no longer wearing the high-collared trench coat, her pale neck was completely exposed under the harsh fluorescent lights.

Wrapped around her throat was a horrific, dark purple ring of bruises. The exact shape of Apollo's hand.

The moment Apollo saw those bruises, it felt like a rusty saw blade was dragged violently across his heart.

A migraine, ten times worse than the last one, slammed into his skull. He swayed on his feet.

An image burned into his retinas: Erna lying in a pool of blood, sobbing his name, her eyes filled with absolute despair.

The physical pain in his chest and the crushing weight of guilt terrified him. It completely violated his belief that she was just a parasite he hated.

Cary noticed the shift in Apollo's gaze. He took one step to the side, his broad body completely blocking the crack in the door.

Cary's eyes turned lethal. He looked like a predator whose mate had just been threatened.

"Throw them out," Cary ordered coldly.

The bodyguards moved in, physically grabbing Apollo and his lawyers, shoving them backward toward the elevators like stray dogs.

Apollo was forced into the elevator car. As the doors slid shut, he stared at the closed door of the treatment room, clutching his throbbing head, spiraling into total psychological chaos.

The hallway fell dead silent. Cary turned around, pushed the door open, and walked into Erna's room.