Chapter 2

After the lock clicked, Declan stood on the dark porch for half a minute before pushing open the door.

I was in the kitchen clearing the baking trays.

"Is the light broken?" he asked.

"No."

Declan looked at me as though he did not understand.

He smelled of red wine, and Blair's usual gardenia perfume clung to the collar of his coat. He carried a paper bag from one of the team's sponsors.

"Is Theo asleep?"

"He waited until ten thirty."

"I had my assistant notify you." Declan tossed his keys onto the counter. "Reporters were all over Blair's building. I couldn't leave her there alone."

"You could have called your son."

"It was chaos."

He pushed the paper bag toward me.

"There are cookies and a signed football in there. Give them to him tomorrow morning. Tell him I brought them home."

I opened the box. A mass-produced card from the sponsor sat on top.

Thank you for attending the Wolves' Thanksgiving celebration.

Even the gifts had not been meant for Theo.

"He doesn't like football."

"What six-year-old boy doesn't like football?"

"Theo likes classic cars. He's been waiting three months for you to take him to the weekend auto show."

Declan unfastened his cuff links, exhaustion settling between his brows.

"We'll go after the season. Don't make one birthday feel like the end of the world."

Soft footsteps sounded on the stairs.

Theo stood on the landing, clutching a green Mustang model. He had clearly heard that last sentence, but he still tried to smile at Declan.

"Dad."

Declan's expression softened.

"Why aren't you asleep?"

He took a cookie from the box and handed it to Theo.

By the time I saw the ingredient list on the wrapper, it was too late.

Theo took one small bite, then clutched his throat.

"Spit it out!"

I knocked the cookie from his hand and ran for the emergency kit by the front door.

Tiny print on the back of the package read: Contains pecans and other tree nut products.

Declan froze.

"He's allergic to nuts!"

When Theo had his first severe reaction at three, Declan had been playing in a charity golf tournament hosted by Blair's father.

That spring, Theo's school required both parents to sign an emergency treatment authorization. I had placed the form beside Declan's morning coffee. He never read it. He simply signed where I had marked.

"Keys," I said.

Theo's breathing grew more labored on the way to the hospital.

I gave him an epinephrine injection in the back seat. Declan drove, glancing at us again and again in the rearview mirror.

Two blocks from the emergency entrance, his phone rang.

Blair.

He did not answer.

When it rang a second time, Declan connected the call through the car.

"Someone smashed my car window." Blair's trembling voice filled the cabin. "There are two men downstairs, too. Declan, I'm scared."

"Stay inside the apartment and lock the door."

"Security says they'll need at least twenty minutes."

Declan tightened his grip on the steering wheel.

I knew that expression.

Whenever Blair said she needed him, everyone else was pushed to the end of the line.

"The ER is right ahead," he said. "I'll drop you at the entrance."

"Theo still can't breathe."

"The doctors will handle it. There's nothing I can do by staying."

He stopped at the emergency entrance without even waiting for a nurse to bring a wheelchair.

As I climbed out with Theo in my arms, Declan caught my wrist.

"Text me when you know something."

The door closed.

He turned the car around and drove toward Blair's apartment.

Three hours later, the doctor confirmed that Theo was out of immediate danger.

My son lay in the hospital bed, his face pale and an IV taped to the back of his hand.

A message arrived from Declan.

Is he stable? It was only some angry fans at Blair's place. I'll come over when I'm done here.

I did not reply.

Instead, I called Helena Pierce.

She was the founder of Northlane Sports Agency. Seven years earlier, she had offered me a partnership. I turned her down for Declan.

"Is the position you mentioned last month still open?"

"I've been keeping it open for you."

Then I called my attorney.

"I want to file for divorce. I also want to terminate every professional agreement tying me to Declan Shaw."

"Are you sure you want to do both at once?" she asked.

I looked at Theo in the hospital bed.

"I'm sure."