"I'm sorry," he said, softer now, thumbs rubbing a useless rhythm over the back of her hand. "I promise I'm still working very hard to make sure you get contact with him. He already agreed to the semi-merger. Trust me on this."
He glanced down the corridor, eyes picking out every exit and camera. "I cannot lose my family again."
"I can't stay hidden forever though," she said finally.
"No. Just until you have the baby," he assured her. "And when it's safe, we'll do this properly. We'll set things right — for you, for the child." He sounded absurdly parental.
"Okay," she said.
*****
By late afternoon Winn was discharged, still pale but steadier on his feet. The nursing staff had flushed the drugs from his system.
The news that greeted Winn once he regained consciousness was a tangle of astonishment but not as astonishing as realising that Ivy was in town.
