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.

ask Shane. He has the answers you're looking

in her eyes as she saw Sandy standing frozen and bewildered at the top of the stairs. Then, before Sandy could snap out of it, Whitney steeled

Whitney didn't waste a second. She turned to the security guard standing by and said, "Lock it from the outside. Keep

doorknob. A moment later,

hesitated. "Uh,

from inside, don't say

from Felix's detail-Ludwik's

question the boss's woman. They nodded

let out a slow, shaky sigh, pinched the bridge of her nose, and forced herself to ignore Sandy's desperate voice. She clutched

nearing eleven at night when she finally made

child into the

Danny and Sammy were fast asleep

with a pediatrician, ready to check the girl over. The commotion woke Sammy, who was

back? And-wait, is

nodded, putting a finger to her lips.