Master of his heart (Brielle and Max)

There was a smug satisfaction on the woman's face as she spoke about the Dorsey family.

Brielle finally took a good look at her. The woman's outfit screamed nouveau riche, and her husband was also decked out in designer gear from head to toe.

Brielle figured this so-called distant relative must be connected by a series of convoluted ties after all, the Dorsey family was in hot water these days. Anyone with a real claim to the Dorsey legacy would be busy tending to the old man, not wasting their breath in a small- town spat. But as tempers flared and it seemed like fists might fly, a new voice echoed from outside the hospital room.

"Stop it, what on earth are you doing?"

A middle-aged man in a suit approached, his scalp tingling with irritation when he recognized the troublemakers as his own kin.

Brielle's eyes welled with tears upon seeing the figure behind the man.

The middle-aged man turned, his face etched with respect.

"Mr. Dorsey, welcome to our hospital. Who might you be looking for?"

Before he could finish, Max strode confidently toward Brielle.

He placed his hands on Brielle's shoulders, checking her over to ensure she wasn't injured, and finally breathed a sigh of relief. Then, his piercing gaze darted toward the instigators.

The couple that had been sitting on the hospital bed stood up, cowed by his presence and too frightened to speak.

Max opened a bag on the table and set out some soup.

"Eat something first."

nodded, her attention no longer on the chaos

couple, eager to apologize to Brielle, heard Max's stern command,

directed at

and quickly ordered the hospital staff to change all the sheets to freshly sanitized ones before he dared to

to ask Max what he'd

patted her

said on the other end caused his expression to darken

pressed a hand to his temple,

be there once I've sorted things out

faced Brielle, who couldn't

hurt?" she asked,

"Just a scratch."

continuing to rub

to speak, the doctor arrived, summoning

lingered on Brielle's belly for a moment, a gentle

a message that brought him rushing: she

lapsing into

a series