He ached for her, seeing her stay up sote, and desperately wanted to tell her to get some rest.


    Just half a month ago, he was holding her in his arms every night.


    After making love, they would sleep soundly, not waking until morning.


    Now that they were apart, neither of them could sleep.


    Hawthorne had suppressed his desire to go to her several times, but tonight he couldn''t resist.


    He waited until the light in the master bedroom went out, certain she was asleep, before he quietly pushed the door open.


    In the moonlight, Gwh''s face was as wless as porcin.


    Hawthorne gazed at the face he longed for day and night, reaching out to gently trace the soft curve of her cheek.


    "Gwyn, what am I going to do with you?"


    He''d met countless women over the years, but after his first love, Patti Yale, no one else had ever managed to capture his heart.


    With Gwh, he sometimes felt he was being cruel, like he was robbing the cradle, but he was helplessly drawn to her.


    She possessed a mncholy that women his agecked, and she was most captivating when she was quiet andpletely absorbed in what she was doing. Hawthorne couldn''t exin the sense of destiny he felt the first time he saw her.


    But that''s how feelings were they crashed in like a tidal wave.


    To have it all cut off so abruptly, before the tide had a chance to recede, felt like being thrown from a great height and shattering into pieces.


    Only those who have experienced it can know the deep, piercing pain in the heart. Perhaps Gwh heard his voice in her dream, as she shifted restlessly.


    Hawthorne froze, his hand hovering over her face, not daring to move, terrified that the slightest sound would wake her.


    Things were just too awkward between them right now, because his hands were tied.


    He couldn''t tell anyone about James Mercer, because everyone would condemn him for using Patti Yale to take him down.


    It wasn''t an honorable tactic, but business was war, and all''s fair.


    He had used far dirtier methods in the past; otherwise, he never would have been able to carve out a lifeline for the Everhart family in that bloody battlefield.


    Hawthorne sat by the window, watching her sleep until the first light of dawn broke the horizon.


    Gwh seemed to sleep especially peacefully that night.


    Whenever she kicked off the covers, Hawthorne was there to gently tuck her arms back in.


    He loved seeing her sweet smile in her sleep.


    That was the youthful innocence


    heet


    that should be on her face, not fifty-year-old soul he had developed in his twenties.


    He''d had no choice, working tirelessly to rebuild the Everhart family.


    The price of thateback was something no one else could possibly imagine.


    If he had allowed himself even a


    moment of self-pity


    of self-pity back then the


    Everhart family wouldn''t be the


    sess it is today.


    Everyone wants to share the fruits


    sess, but only the one who


    endured the struggle knows the true bitterness of the journey


    Finally, Hawthorne rose to leave.


    The moment the door clicked shut behind him, Gwh''s eyes opened.


    "Hawthorne, what on earth are you thinking?"


    She didn''t know when he hade in.


    She had been drifting in and out of sleep when she saw a familiar figure by her bed, and she''d thought it was a dream.


    But then his hand touched her face, and the gentle contact told her he was really there, watching her.


    Gwh hadn''t dared to move, not even to breathe too deeply, afraid he would realize she was awake.


    Thankfully, he had just sat there.


    Once she heard his footsteps recede, she opened her eyes to see him closing the door behind him.


    She let out a breath she didn''t realize she was holding and stared out the window.


    The beautiful things in this world were often just illusions, like a flower in a mirror or the moon on the water.


    Why should she force herself to hold onto people and things that were never meant to be hers?


    When she got up in the morning, Hawthorne had already left for the office.


    Butler Parham had prepared avish breakfast for her.


    Not long after she finished eating, her phone rang.


    Connor''s name shed on the screen.


    Just as she was about to answer, a long, loud car horn red from the driveway.


    Butler Parham and the household staff all heard it.


    The butler frowned. Who would beying on their horn so early in the morning?


    Gwh''s eyelid twitched.


    She had a pretty good idea it was Connor.