Brooklyn lowered the phone. She closed her eyes, forcing her erratic breathing to slow down.
The doorknob rattled. The heavy door was pushed open again.
The head nurse walked in. She carried a metal medical tray loaded with vials and syringes.
She did not knock. She did not smile.
The nurse looked at Brooklyn, her eyes dragging up and down the bed with undisguised contempt.
She walked to the nightstand and slammed the metal tray down. The loud, clattering noise pierced the quiet room.
Brooklyn opened her eyes. Her gaze sliced toward the woman like a physical blade.
"Mr. Lindsay's assistant just informed the billing department," the nurse said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "Your VIP privileges have been revoked. You need to gather your things and move to the general ward on the second floor. Now."
Brooklyn let out a short, breathy laugh.
She sat up. Her core muscles screamed in agony, but she ignored the pain.
She reached over to her left hand. Without a single second of hesitation, she gripped the plastic hub of the IV needle taped to her skin.
She ripped it out.
A sharp sting bit into her vein. Several drops of dark red blood instantly splattered onto the pristine white bedsheets.
The nurse gasped, taking a half-step back, but she didn't offer to help.
Brooklyn threw the bloody needle onto the floor. She threw the blankets off her legs and swung her bare feet over the edge of the mattress.
Her toes hit the freezing linoleum floor. She pushed herself up to stand.
A wave of black spots exploded behind her eyes, and she bit her lip hard, the sharp pain being the only thing keeping her from collapsing. Her core muscles screamed in agony, protesting the unnatural strain so soon after delivery. A massive wave of dizziness hit her. The room spun, and her knees buckled.
She shot her hand out, gripping the metal railing of the bed so hard her knuckles turned stark white. She locked her joints, forcing herself to stay upright.
The nurse frowned. She stepped forward and reached out, aiming to grab Brooklyn's bare arm to pull her toward the door.
"I said, you need to move-"
Brooklyn's right hand snapped up. She slapped the nurse's hand away with a loud, stinging smack.
"Don't touch me," Brooklyn ordered.
Her voice was low, but it carried a terrifying, suffocating weight. She stared dead into the nurse's eyes. The sheer, oppressive aura of a predator radiated from her posture.
The nurse froze. The color drained from her face. She stumbled backward, genuinely terrified by the look in the patient's eyes.
Brooklyn turned away from her. She walked slowly, her steps stiff but steady, toward the massive mahogany wardrobe in the corner.
She opened the doors and pulled out the clothes she had arrived in-a long, black silk dress.
She walked into the adjoining private bathroom and locked the door behind her.
She stood in front of the mirror. She stared at her pale, sunken face, the dark circles under her eyes.
She turned on the faucet. She cupped the freezing water in her hands and splashed it violently onto her face.
The icy shock jolted her nervous system. Water dripped from her chin, soaking into the collar of her hospital gown.
When she looked up again, the woman who had cried for Baron Lindsay was dead.
She stripped off the hospital gown and pulled the black silk dress over her head. The dark, flowing fabric perfectly concealed her postpartum figure and the slight trembling in her legs.
She unlocked the door and stepped back into the room.
The nurse was still standing by the bed, completely silent, too intimidated to speak.
Brooklyn ignored her. She walked straight to the incubator.
She reached in and gently scooped up the sleeping infant. The warm, solid weight of the baby against her chest sent a surge of adrenaline through her veins.
She turned her head, shooting one last, freezing glare at the nurse.
"Get out of my way."
The nurse swallowed hard and practically pressed herself against the wall to clear the path.
Brooklyn held her baby tightly. She walked out of the delivery room and stepped into the long, brightly lit hospital corridor.
She kept her spine perfectly straight. Her bare feet made no sound against the polished floor.
As she rounded the corner toward the main elevators, she heard a familiar voice.
Alistair, the hospital director, was walking down the hall, his hands clasped together in a sickeningly eager posture.
"We deeply appreciate your continued funding, Mr. Lindsay," Alistair was saying, practically bowing as he walked.
Baron walked beside him, his hands shoved into his suit pockets.
He heard the soft rustle of fabric. He turned his head.
His eyes locked onto Brooklyn. He saw the black dress. He saw the baby in her arms.
The muscles in his jaw tightened instantly. A deep, angry crease formed between his eyebrows.
Baron stopped walking. He stared at Brooklyn, his chest tightening with a sudden, irrational surge of anger.
"Where the hell do you think you're going?" Baron demanded, his voice echoing off the sterile walls. "Get back to your room."
Brooklyn did not blink. She did not slow her pace.
She didn't even give him a fraction of her peripheral vision.
She kept her chin high, her eyes fixed dead ahead. She walked with bare feet, her steps shaky but determined despite the pain radiating through her pelvis.
She walked right past him, treating him like a piece of invisible trash on the floor.
Baron's breath hitched. A hot spike of fury shot up his spine. His authority had never been ignored like this.
He spun around. He reached out with his large, heavy hand, aiming to grab her shoulder and force her to face him.
Brooklyn felt him move. She lurched to the side, narrowly avoiding his grasp as she stumbled toward the elevator.
Ding.
The stainless steel doors of the elevator slid open right in front of her.
Brooklyn stepped into the empty cabin. She turned around and pressed the button for the lobby.
Baron stood in the hallway, his hand still suspended in the air. His face was a mask of dark, thunderous rage.
The metal doors slowly slid shut, cutting off his furious glare.
As the elevator descended, the tension drained from Brooklyn's shoulders. She looked down at the bundle in her arms. She lowered her head and pressed her lips gently against the baby's warm forehead.
The elevator chimed. The doors opened to the bustling main lobby on the ground floor.
Brooklyn stepped out. She held the baby with one arm, her black silk dress flowing around her ankles.
Nurses behind the reception desk stopped typing. Patients in the waiting area turned their heads. Whispers broke out like a sudden gust of wind.
Brooklyn kept her eyes locked on the glass revolving doors. She pushed through them and stepped out into the blinding Los Angeles sunlight.
She squinted, the heat hitting her face.
Suddenly, a deafening, mechanical roar ripped through the air.
The concrete sidewalk beneath her feet began to vibrate.
Inside the lobby, people gasped and rushed to the glass windows.
Down the street, twelve massive, pitch-black armored Cadillac Escalades tore around the corner. They moved like a pack of steel wolves.
The screech of heavy tires hitting the asphalt pierced the air. The convoy slammed on their brakes, perfectly blocking all four lanes of traffic directly in front of the hospital.
Pedestrians screamed and backed away. The hospital security guards froze on the steps, their hands hovering over their radios, absolutely terrified to intervene.
In the exact center of the blockade, a custom midnight-blue Rolls-Royce Phantom purred to a halt.
The doors of the Escalades flew open simultaneously. Dozens of men in black tactical gear, wearing earpieces and dark sunglasses, poured out. They instantly formed a defensive perimeter around the hospital entrance.
The rear door of the Rolls-Royce was pulled open by a guard.
Drew Gibson stepped out. He wore a bespoke three-piece suit, his gold-rimmed glasses catching the sunlight.
His eyes scanned the steps and locked onto Brooklyn. The coldness in his gaze melted instantly, replaced by a raw, agonizing heartbreak.
He took the stairs two at a time. The tactical guards shoved the gawking crowd back, clearing a wide path for him.
Drew reached her. He immediately stripped off his suit jacket. The fabric was still warm from his body heat. He draped it over Brooklyn's shivering shoulders.
He reached out and carefully took the sleeping baby from her tired arms.
"I've got you," Drew whispered, his voice thick with emotion. "Let's go home."
Brooklyn's throat tightened. Her eyes burned, but she nodded. She pulled the large coat tighter around herself and followed him down the steps.
Director Alistair came sprinting out of the revolving doors, panting heavily.
Drew paused at the bottom of the stairs. He turned his head and shot Alistair a look so filled with lethal intent that the air seemed to freeze.
Alistair's knees buckled. He collapsed onto the concrete, gasping for air.
The guards shielded Brooklyn and Drew as they slid into the plush leather seats of the Rolls-Royce. The heavy door slammed shut.
The engines roared to life. The massive convoy accelerated, tearing away from Mount Sinai Hospital and leaving a cloud of exhaust in its wake. One of the tactical guards stayed behind, flashing a high-level federal clearance badge at the stunned hospital security, ensuring no local authorities would interfere.
An hour later, in a private lounge overlooking the glittering lights of downtown Los Angeles, Baron sat in a leather armchair. He clinked his crystal glass of whiskey against his friend Kian's glass, celebrating his newfound freedom, dismissing the chaos he'd left behind at the hospital, completely unaware of the empire he had just thrown away.
