Love Beyond the Mask by Adelaide Sinclair

Chapter 1019

"What were you up to? Or did Mr. Lippert think it wasn't worth mentioning to me?"

Whitney was pressing hard, cornering him with every step.

He was well aware there was no sidestepping the truth, his deep-set eyes hiding a whirlpool of secrets as he firmly grasped her delicate shoulders, his Adam's apple bobbing, "I went after Florence; she fled abroad." "What?" Whitney was taken aback, not expecting Florence to be the subject.

Her brow furrowed, recalling the last time Florence made an appearance at the Sheldon Group, right when Bryce's plans fell apart.

After Ludwik blacklisted Bryce, Florence seemed to vanish into thin air.

Whitney guessed she must've been hiding like a rat crossing the street, but she didn't expect her to have fled the country.

"But why were you after her?" Whitney puzzled.

Ludwik's gaze shifted away, dodging the heart of the matter, "She had something important in her possession that I needed to retrieve. It was urgent, and I worried you'd be angrier knowing it involved Florence, so I didn't tell you." Sammy, standing a little way off, listened to his dad spin this yarn, breaking out in a sweat on his behalf.

He also didn't understand why his dad continued to deceive mom.

Why not just tell her about his sister...

His small fists clenched nervously.

Whitney, digesting his explanation, subconsciously thought it must be some corporate secret?

Yet, for some reason, Elaine's insinuations about Florence stealing something valuable from her flashed through her mind.

Her heart skipped a beat, overcome by an inexplicable sense of unease.

catch Florence, then?" Whitney snapped back to reality

"She got away."

'important

taken care of." Ludwik's gaze softened as he looked into her luminous eyes, his hand sliding from her slender shoulder to clasp her waist, a move brimming with unsaid intentions. The warmth from his palm seeped through her pajamas, making her shiver slightly, then came the comforting

misty, looked

on her, the corners of his lips turning up with an unusual tenderness, "Don't move. You've lost weight, haven't you? Was

days, and in that time,

in his tone, "Leaving you and our son behind was

eyes locked with his, could feel

was enough to calm her storm, his strong frame like a protective wall against

heart equally aflame, and she quickly averted her

Let's go inside," she murmured, stepping aside to let him pass, her cheeks a

on the back of his hand standing out, a testament to his strength - and to his injuries. Coupled with... Whitney lifted her gaze once more to his handsome features, noting the weariness as

an unusual

you run into trouble in Eurovoria?" she

"There's always someone who doesn't know better to stay out of my way. Just

"You also look unrested."

all to see you sooner," he continued, his

locked, and Whitney found herself at

it true then, that absence made the heart grow fonder, even dulling their

she thought, chastising herself for the

barged in, "Hey! Can

back and this is how you treat your

left,

not jealous, okay? It just... it just stings, you know? Sammy,