It was true. This time, the injection brought none of the soul-crushing agony. Elsie''s chapped lips trembled as she stared at him, tears falling in thick, silent drops. Hans looked back at her, his gaze just as intense. In that moment, everything was understood between them.


    "Hubery... thank you..." she whispered, the words so soft they were barely audible, yet theynded on Hans''s heart with the weight of a thousand pounds.


    This time, when she called him "Hubery," he didn''t correct her. He epted it.


    In truth, ever since the night Elsie was captured, he had been suffocating under a nket of guilt and regret. If he hadn''t blocked her path that night, if he had just let her go sooner, maybe Alexia would never have caught her. Maybe she wouldn''t have had to endure this torture.


    "You know that no one whoes in here ever gets out alive," Hans said, his gaze fixed on her. Out of the camera''s view, he did something unprecedented: he covered her bony hand with his own rough one and squeezed. "So you have to hold on. Give me a little more time. I''ll find a way."


    A jolt went through Elsie''s heart, followed by a spreading warmth. She closed her eyes in a gesture of trust and eptance. She had been on the verge of giving up, had even considered biting off her own tongue to end it all. Hans''s promise was the lifeline she needed to keep fighting. Even if he failed, she would never me him. Her life was worth little, but waking Hubery up, helping him find his way back from the brink-that was worth everything.


    Suddenly, the sharp, familiar click of high heels echoed down the hallway, heading straight for them. It was Alexia.


    Hans''s expression darkened instantly. He pressed a finger to his lips, signaling Elsie to be quiet. Then, he grimly ripped open her shirt, exposing a wide expanse of pale skin. Kneeling on the edge of the bed, he leaned over her...


    The next second, the iron door crashed open with a deafening bang.


    Alexia stood in the doorway, radiating a cold fury, nked by two men in ck. She had just been bailed out of custody when her informant here called to tell her that Hans had dismissed the medic and was meeting with Elsie alone. A thrill of vindictive pleasure mixed with her anger. After her recent failures, she knew the boss was displeased with her, even if he hadn''t said it outright. If she could catch Hans in the act of betrayal, she could eliminate him and be the boss''s sole, indispensable right hand.


    But the scene before her left herpletely stunned.


    "Hans! What are you doing?!"


    Hans''s lips were tracing a path along Elsie''s fragile neck. He nced back at Alexia, his voice dripping with disdain. "You''ve been with the boss for this long and your ? still have no sense? You had toe in right now and ruin my fun."


    Elsie, ying her part, whimpered beneath him, as if she were truly being vited.


    Alexia was taken aback, her eyes filled with a mixture of disgust and suspicion. "Her? Amon tramp who''s been passed around by a thousand men? You can actually bring yourself to touch that? Aren''t you afraid of getting dirty?"


    "It''s a man''s natural needs. You got a problem with that?" Hans''s calloused thumb and forefinger gripped Elsie''s chin, his tone


    mocking rather touch het


    Ed than you. Does that mean, Ms. Alexia, that you''re even worse than this ''tramp''?"


    "You—!" Alexia''s eyes zed with fury, her teeth grinding together.


    "Whatever. You killed the mood. I''m not interested anymore." Hans stood upzily.


    "Wait." Alexia stalked toward him, her gaze sharp and prating. "My assistant


    said you were the one administering the injection. Where''s the syringe? Let me see it."


    Hans smirked and casually tossed the syringe from the bedside table at her feet. Alexia bent down and picked it up. The liquid was gone, and there was a fresh puncture mark on Elsie''s arm.


    "So suspicious, and so quick to anger. You''ll get wrinkles," Hans drawled, pulling a cigarette from a pack and cing it between his lips. "I know exactly what games you''re ying. The boss once said was a wolf, a hyena. You should think very carefully, Ms. Alexia, about whether you can handle the consequences of provoking me."


    Alexia clenched her fists, her heart pounding with a nervous uncertainty as she stared at his calm, unreadable face.


    ***