Chapter 7

Night fell over Manhattan. Guthrie stood in the hallway, leaning heavily on his cane. He watched Bruno lock the door to the guest bedroom and pocket the key.

"You need your rest, Adaline," Guthrie said, his eyes full of warmth as he looked at her stomach. "Go to bed. Gerard will take care of you."

He stood there until Gerard and Adaline walked into the master bedroom and closed the door behind them.

The second the latch clicked, the fake warmth on Gerard's face vanished entirely. He turned slowly. His eyes were like shards of black ice. He looked at Adaline as if she were a stranger who had broken into his home.

He took a slow step forward, forcing Adaline to back up until the back of her knees hit the edge of the mattress. "Who is the father?" he asked. His voice was dangerously quiet.

Adaline sat down on the edge of the bed. The accusation hit her hard, but she felt completely powerless. If she told him she was not pregnant, he would drag her to a hospital to prove it. The doctors would find the cancer. Her secret would be exposed.

She looked down at her hands and chose to stay silent.

To Gerard, her silence was a confession.

He let out a harsh, bitter laugh. He pulled his arm back and slammed his fist into the solid wood of the nightstand. The wood cracked loudly under the force of his knuckles.

"You actually let that Wall Street bastard touch you," he sneered. "You got pregnant just to secure your payout. I will find out who he is. I will destroy his career and make sure he never works in this city again."

He turned on his heel, walked into the master bathroom, and slammed the door. The sound of the shower turning on echoed through the room.

Adaline pulled her legs up onto the bed. She wrapped her arms around her knees. A single tear escaped her eye and soaked into the silk pillowcase.

Half an hour later, the bathroom door opened. Gerard walked out wearing nothing but a white towel wrapped low around his waist. Water dripped from his wet hair onto his broad chest.

He looked at the large bed. Adaline was curled up on the far right side. He looked at her with pure disgust. He grabbed a spare blanket and walked toward the leather sofa in the corner.

A knock sounded at the bedroom door. Bruno's voice filtered through the wood. "Sir. Mr. Fisher asked me to bring up some warm milk for the young madam."

Gerard cursed under his breath. He threw the blanket back onto the sofa and walked quickly to the bed. He slid under the covers just as the door handle turned.

Adaline immediately shifted closer to the edge, trying to put as much distance between them as possible. Gerard reached out, grabbed her waist, and yanked her hard against his chest.

Bruno walked in holding a silver tray. He saw Gerard's arm wrapped tightly around Adaline. He smiled, set the milk on the table, and quietly left the room.

The moment the door clicked shut, Gerard let go of her as if she were on fire. He rolled over, turning his back to her, leaving a massive gap of empty space between them.

Adaline stared at his wide back in the dark. The moonlight from the window highlighted the muscles in his shoulders. She traced his outline with her eyes, memorizing the shape of him.

Hours passed. The temperature in the room dropped. Adaline's cancer caused severe chills. Her body temperature plummeted. She began to shiver violently in her sleep, her teeth chattering.

Driven by pure survival instinct, her unconscious body sought out heat. She slowly drifted across the mattress. Inch by inch, she moved closer to the furnace radiating from Gerard's side of the bed. Finally, her freezing back pressed against his warm spine.

Gerard was deep in sleep. He felt the sudden coldness press against him. A sudden, inexplicable wave of familiarity washed over him in the dark. The freezing chill radiating from her small frame triggered a deep, primal instinct buried beneath his consciousness, an urge to anchor a fleeting, fragile warmth before it could vanish into the night.

He did not push Adaline away. Instead, he rolled over. He wrapped his strong arms around her shivering body and pulled her tightly against his chest. He rested his chin on the top of her head.

The intense heat from his body stopped Adaline's shivering. The painful cramps in her stomach slowly eased.

She opened her eyes in the dark. She realized she was trapped in his arms. Her heart skipped a beat. A bitter, painful joy bloomed in her chest. She knew he would hate her when he woke up. She knew this was a mistake. But she was dying. She just wanted to be held one last time.

She carefully lifted her arm and wrapped it around his waist. She pressed her face into his chest, listening to the steady, rhythmic beating of his heart.

The room was perfectly quiet.

Suddenly, the screen of Gerard's phone on the nightstand lit up. A harsh, vibrating buzz shattered the silence.

Adaline opened her eyes. She looked over his shoulder. The name Kena flashed brightly on the screen.

The vibration woke Gerard up. His eyes snapped open. He looked down and realized he was holding Adaline.

He shoved her away instantly. He scrambled backward, putting distance between them as quickly as possible, looking at her with absolute horror.