CHAPTER 2 — THE MAN WHO OWNED THE HOSPITAL
Khloe was rushed toward the operating wing.
Marcus followed until two security guards blocked his path.
“I’m her husband.”
“And I’m the chairman of this hospital.”
The voice came from behind him.
Gabriel Cole moved through the corridor with six members of hospital security surrounding him.
He was sixty-one, silver-haired, and usually controlled enough to make powerful men nervous without raising his voice.
Tonight, his expression was lethal.
He was also Khloe’s uncle.
The only man who had protected her after her parents died.
Gabriel looked through the glass doors as doctors disappeared with Khloe.
Then he turned to Marcus.
“What happened?”
Marcus straightened his tuxedo.
“Isabella and Khloe argued. Things became physical.”
Elaine stared at him.
“That is not what happened.”
Marcus glanced at her.
The warning in his eyes was unmistakable.
Gabriel noticed.
“Lock the entire floor,” he ordered. “No one leaves. No files are transferred. No cameras are disabled.”
Isabella stepped forward.
“This is insane. I need my attorney.”
“You’ll get one,” Gabriel replied. “After security preserves every recording.”
She looked toward Marcus.
Marcus did not look back.
Gabriel approached him slowly.
“My niece is seven months pregnant. If anything happens to her or that child, I will not ask who pushed first.”
Marcus’s jaw tightened.
“You’re threatening me.”
“No,” Gabriel said. “I’m informing you.”
A security technician hurried from the control room.
“Mr. Cole, there’s a problem.”
Gabriel turned.
“The suite camera recorded the attack. But someone accessed the hospital network less than a minute after the emergency alarm.”
“Did they delete it?”
“They tried.”
Isabella’s face lost all color.
Marcus remained perfectly still.
The technician swallowed.
“The access code belonged to a member of the Thorne family.”
Silence fell across the corridor.
Gabriel looked directly at Marcus.
“Take his phone.”
Marcus stepped back.
“You have no authority to—”
Gabriel’s security chief removed it from his hand.
The screen lit up.
A message had arrived from an unidentified number.
YOU HAD ONE JOB. GET THE ORIGINAL RECORDING.
Gabriel read it aloud.
Marcus stared at the screen.
May you like
Then he whispered, “That message isn’t mine.”
But Isabella’s expression said she had seen the number before.
