The Million-Dollar Heart by Rebecca Ryan

Leopold, the leader of the first squad, knew the unwritten leadership rules all too well. So, it stood to reason that Percival, the head honcho of the entire task force, would be even more clued in.

But now, even Leopold’s moves were being curtailed, never mind the liberty of the whole special squad.

Percival set aside the application form he had been holding, tapping his polished fingertip on the signature line. “Why don’t you take this up with the boss yourself?”

The rage on Leopold’s face fizzled out in an instant.

Would he dare?

For someone even Percival called “boss,” he was just a small fry; there was no way he would throw himself into the shark’s jaws.

Leopold slumped into his chair, rubbing his temples in frustration.

After a few seconds of silence, he asked, “Boss didn’t even ask you before signing off on this? Why didn’t you go to him first?”

Percival took a sip of his sweet fruit juice and said, “He said since Fiona’s my flesh and blood, having me sign could give someone leverage over me. If anything went sideways, there would be no one to cover for me, so he just went ahead without telling me.”

Leopold’s jaw worked silently, failing to snap shut.

Every word Micah said was for Percival’s sake. How could anyone argue with that?

Unable to sit still any longer, Leopold cursed under his breath, stood up, and stormed out. He slammed the door behind him, not caring if he would end up getting a beating.

This was just too damn suffocating.

Percival neatly filed the application form away and glanced up at Vivienne, his eyes usually icy, now melting with a certain warmth. “Vivienne, shall we go have a look?”

Vivienne rose, taking the fruit juice from Percival’s hand, and sipped the rest through the straw. “Yeah, let’s check it out.”

…

the Ellington family’s

was wailing in the hospital room, and from her cries, one could have thought her daughter Fiona was

“Dad, you’ve seen it. Fiona was fine when she went in, and now she’s in the ICU. Can you imagine her suffering? It’s all Vivienne’s fault. If not for her, my girl wouldn’t be like

blame thickly on Vivienne, pouring

ignore me, but my children are Ellingtons by blood. If you don’t step up, we three might as well die now and stop bothering

irritation. He had never approved of Heloise marrying Henry, knowing she was not the type to settle down. But she was

such a woman out

weakly tugged at Heloise’s sleeve on the hospital bed, her complexion ashen. “Mom, please leave us. I

left, allowing Fiona to make her own appeal — it was always

a scene, the more reasonable Fiona appeared. That

don’t stand up for yourself like before, I’ll disown you,” Heloise warned before

closed her eyes briefly, and when she opened them again, they were rimmed red with distress. She turned to Richard.

affairs. He had taken even more of a

knew Percival had his own

of financial fraud; it was bound to be part

of doing things, and

live your life well. I won’t let you down. My promises are still good, and I’ve kept that credit card for you. Think about what you

ashamed to stay with the Ellington family. Once I’m better,

the heart to outright refuse. He could not forgive his second son, but

before Isolde was born, he cherished

the only girl

never troubling the

jostled for the Ellington fortune and butted heads with Percival, she focused on improving herself

crime, Richard would have welcomed her back to the company without a

What a pity…

Rivenwood; nowhere else is suitable for your recovery. Stay here. In a little while, your uncle will return, and you’ll have

Fiona’s heart seemed to lift, and a genuine

Uncle Flynn, Richard’s youngest son, was

been the ringleader of their childhood shenanigans, the proverbial pied piper of the