Love Beyond the Mask by Adelaide Sinclair

Sandy felt like an invisible hand had suddenly clenched around her throat-she could barely breathe.

She stared down at the little girl in her arms, as if trying to unravel a mystery just by looking. Questions raced through her mind, a thousand doubts swirling. Panicked, she looked up, searching for Whitney. "Sis..."

But Whitney was already busy, checking Shane's pulse with obvious urgency. His heartbeat was all over the place, and whatever was in his system was hitting him hard.

Watching him grit his teeth through a cold sweat, Whitney hesitated, then made a tough call. “I didn't take you to the ER on purpose. I'm hoping you'll play along and not make things worse. I'll keep Sandy here, but Shane-promise me, you won't hurt her."

Shane's breathing was ragged as he cracked open his eyes, fixing her with a dark, unreadable look.

Whitney shot him a fierce warning glance, half-standing up. Before Sandy could blurt out any questions, Whitney scooped the little girl from Sandy's arms and dropped a bombshell. "This is bad, Sandy. He might be suffering from acute alcohol poisoning, and I have to find a doctor, now. And who knows what Sienna gave this kid-she's still out cold."

She shoved the girl back into Sandy's arms. "There's nobody else around. You have to take care of Shane until I get back, okay?"

"What? How did this happen? Did you check carefully? And listen, I got a good look at this kid's face-why does she look so much like me?" Sandy's eyes darted, her heart pounding out of rhythm.

Shane. He has the answers

word, she hurried downstairs, clutching the child tightly. She glanced back for just a second, guilt flickering in her eyes as she saw Sandy standing frozen and bewildered at

clicked, Whitney didn't waste a second. She turned to the security guard standing by

Sandy called from inside, twisting the doorknob. A moment later, her voice changed, laced with panic.

hesitated. "Uh, Ms.

from inside, don't say a word. And get two guys posted at the

guards were from Felix's detail-Ludwik's team, highly trained

boss's woman. They nodded and got

bridge of her nose, and forced herself to ignore Sandy's desperate voice.

night when she finally made it back to the

child

fast asleep in beds next

the girl over. The commotion woke Sammy, who was always a

You're back? And-wait, is that Mr.

a finger to her lips.