His work was based in Wye, and his schedule was always packed. If Amara moved away, he''d rarely have time to visit her. But if she stayed, everything would be much easier.


    Amara didn''t answer right away. "I''ll think about it," she said.


    Keith nodded, then remembered something else. "Now that Finnian knows, you don''t have to keep it a secret from everyone, right? When are you going to tell Larry?"


    "I haven''t thought about that yet," Amara replied.


    If she told her father she was pregnant, she would have to exin how it happened. She was still trying to win him over and secure her share of the Sullivan familypany.


    Of course, she couldn''t tell him the truth. She''d have toe up with a believable story first.


    As she and Keith were talking, the door to the room creaked open, and a tall figure peered through the crack.


    The man''s eyes were dark with a grim intensity. His hand tightened on the doorknob, his knuckles turning white as his fingers trembled slightly.


    Soon after, Keith got a call from his agent about an event and had to leave.


    Amara decided to lie down for a while. She had just settled into bed when a knock sounded at the door. Assuming it was a nurse on her rounds, she called out, "Come in."


    The person who entered was Finnian. Amara stared, surprised. "Mr. Everly? What are you doing here?"


    Finnian''s face still bore the marks of his fight with Keith, but he didn''t look like he''d made any effort to clean himself up. He looked disheveled and worn out.


    Not only that, but his eyes were bloodshot, and his fists were clenched so tightly that the veins stood out on the back of his hands. He looked like a man teetering on the edge of profound grief and explosive anger. Amara felt a knot of tension form in her stomach.


    He didn''t answer her. Instead, he walked over to the sofa and stared at the mess of bandages and ointment on the coffee table.


    Those were the medical supplies Amara had used on Keith, which hadn''t been cleared away yet.


    Amara shifted ufortably. "Is something wrong, Mr. Everly?"


    Why was he staring at the ointment like that? Did he know she had treated Keith''s injuries?


    But so what if he did?


    She and Keith were good friends. There was nothing wrong with her helping few cuts, Wh him with


    was Finnian looking at it with such intensity?


    She didn''t know that he was caught in a storm of unbearable torment. Who did


    Amara love? Who did she belong to?


    She had been with another man, had


    his child, and just now, she had


    tended to Keith''s wounds with such


    gentle meticulous care-a


    tenderness she had never opre shown him.


    Forcing down the jealousy and pain, Finnian turned to her. "Can you... can you help me with my cuts?"


    His voice was deep and low, and Amara thought she detected a note of pathetic desperation in it.


    He stood with his head slightly bowed, a posture of supplication that softened her heart against her will. But she didn''t want to do it.


    "Mr. Everly, I''m not very good at this. Let me call a nurse for you."


    She reached for the call button, but Finnian''s hand shot out and covered hers. He looked a


    her, his eyes


    pleading. "Leon''t want a nurse.


    want you... to do it."  fo


    ***