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but we love each other more than you could ever comprehend. I consider Sierra my family, and I
swear I can take you out if you so much as make one more of her tears fall, she roared.
Damien almost staggered again as the realization hit him that he liked her, he actually liked this
woman he d thought of as his enemy for so many years. He fought the warm feelings building inside
toward her, but he couldn t stop it.
Let s go, he said, his voice gruff.
What? It was Bree s turn to be confused.
You obviously aren t going to tell me where she s located, so you ll just have to drive me there,
he commanded as he locked his door and swiftly walked down the stone steps. He eyed her small
convertible with suspicion as he glanced at the open roof and the grey sky.
Oh well, nothing like living on the edge, he thought as he maneuvered his large body into the small
passenger seat. He suddenly had sympathy for sardines.
I didn t invite you in my car, she said as she eyed him with suspicion.
Well, too bad. You ll just have to deal with it because I m going to see Sierra. He crossed his
arms as he waited for her to make her decision.
With a roll of her eyes she finally climbed in, then gave him an evil smile before she threw the car
into gear and pealed out of his driveway.
Damien grabbed the door handle, thinking he may have been a bit too rash in his decision to ride
with the woman. She was obviously insane. He tried to yell for her to slow down, but as their speed
picked up and she wove around traffic on the busy Seattle freeway, his words were carried away by
the self-made wind.
He said a prayer for the first time in his life.
They arrived at the hospital and Damien really hoped his legs would hold him up. He hadn t been
that frightened since he was a young boy. As he touched solid ground again, he looked over at Bree
with her ridiculous Cheshire grin. His respect went up another notch, dang it.
Just remember, Whitfield, you ve been warned, were her parting words before she preceded him
into the hospital.
Damien had no trouble keeping up with her as she moved through the hallways of the vast hospital.
She stopped in front of a closed door, sent him a final warning with her eyes, then slowly turned the
knob and walked inside.
Damien was stunned silent by the sight of Sierra. There were wires coming from seemingly
everywhere, and a machine next to her with consistent monitoring beeps coming from it. Her face.
Her poor face. Her right eye was bruised and swollen, and a scrape ran across her chin. The rest of
her body was covered, but he almost didn t want to know what it looked like.
Her leg was broken, and she has two cracked ribs. The leg happened on the stairs. To the
paramedics who came, it looked like the bruise on her side indicated someone had kicked her
hard.
I m going to kill him, Damien said, his voice quiet, but deadly truth lying behind his words.
Not something a man who doesn t care would do, Bree taunted him.
He glared at her before moving to Sierra s bed. It was his fault. He knew Douglas was a horrible
man and he was under no disillusions that parents were always perfect. Though his mother had beaten
him regularly, it was never to this severity. Looking at Sierra, he thought he d had it pretty good.
Before he knew what he was doing, he lifted his hand and gently brushed her hair back. Her eyes
fluttered as they slowly came open.
She looked at him with a sweet smile as if they were waking up on any ordinary day.
Morning, she mumbled, then flinched as she tried to move.
Don t move, he warned.
Her eyes widened as she slightly shook her head, then looked around. Damien felt his heart clench
as he watched the sweet smile disappear as reality set in. She looked back to him, and he saw her
trying to mask her emotions, too weak to pull it off.
What are you doing here? she asked with a little hoarseness in her voice, while looking past him
at Bree.
Bree picked me up, he said. He didn t know what he was doing there.
You hate her, though, she rasped in confusion.
Thanks, Sierra, Bree mockingly said, but with humor.
Yeah, well, she s kind of stubborn, he answered with a sheepish grin. She has a hell of a stomp,
too.
Sierra looked between the two of them in shock as they both smiled. He couldn t explain it to her
because he couldn t explain it to himself.
He shouldn t mock me when I m being serious, Bree countered.
Yes, I ll be sure not to do that next time.
Next time? Sierra asked with hope. Damien looked at her, surprise radiating from him. She was
lying in a hospital bed with broken bones, her body bruised, her future uncertain, and what she was
most concerned about was his relationship with Bree.
He turned to Bree and looked at her with new eyes. Could his mother have lied to him? How could
a monster inspire such loyalty, such love? He thought back to everything he d found on the Andersons.
All of it contradicted what his mother had said, but he didn t want to believe that.
He couldn t.
Sierra, are you feeling any better? Joseph asked as he walked in the room with a giant bouquet of
flowers, balloons and a stuffed animal.
Yes, Joseph, much better, thank you. You really shouldn t have gotten me this room, though. I was
fine in the other one, Sierra answered softly.
Of course we weren t leaving you in that room. I m so sorry your father would dare do this to you.
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