Page 144 of A Dangerous Proposal

A paramedic placed an oxygen mask over her face, obscuring his view, and he inched closer. Another paramedic adjusted the oxygen flow and checked her pulse again. One looked up at him over her shoulder and gave him a small smile. “She’s breathing but her pulse is thready. We need to transport her.”

“She’ll be okay.” It was a demand not a question, because no other alternative was acceptable.

“We won’t know until we get her checked out, but her oxygen saturation is already coming up.”

Alex blew out a shaky breath and nodded. Madison was going to be all right. She had to be.

When the gurney was loaded into the ambulance, he moved to climb in with her.

“I’m sorry, sir. You’ll have to meet us there.”

Alex turned his stare on the woman. “My wife is not leaving my sight.”

The paramedic gulped and moved aside. “Just try to stay out of the way.”

The beeping of the heart monitor was the only sound in the small exam cubicle. Madison lay on the bed, the oxygen mask exchanged for a nasal cannula. Her face was still pale and her eyes were bloodshot, but she was no longer so frighteningly still.

When her eyes had fluttered open in the ambulance, Alex had been thankful he was already seated, because if he’d been standing, his legs might have collapsed in sheer relief.

Now his elbows resting on his knees, her hand locked in his, Alex was unable to tear his eyes away.

“I’m okay,” Madison mumbled, her voice barely above a whisper.

Because her throat hurts from almost suffocating to death.

Alex shook his head feeling helpless at the horrifying thought and leaned over her. “You could have died,” he said finally, his voice breaking the heavy silence. “I could have lost you.”

Her body still trembled, but she lifted her hand and rested it on his cheek, her touch grounding him. “But I didn’t.”

Alex leaned into her palm and forced himself to take a long inhale before moving back.

“My labs should be back soon.” Madison picked at the sheet. “I want to go home.”

“We aren’t leaving until they’ve checked everything.”

She sighed. “I know. Is Jax home yet?”

“Liev picked him up from your parents about half an hour ago. They should be home soon.” Alex’s shoulders tensed at the memory of the phone call he’d made.

Her parents hadn’t evensuggestedthey come to the hospital to see their daughter and had been more than willing to let a strange man pick up their grandson on another stranger’s word.

“Liev promised to call when he got there, and Angela is on her way over to be with him.”

Alex, however, couldn’t shake the anxiety thrumming through him. His knee bounced slightly, and his hands gripped the edge of the chair hard enough to make his knuckles pale. His mind kept replaying the scene at the storage unit—the fear in Madison’s voice, the smoke, the lock on the door.

Someone tried to kill her.

When I find them, there will be no mercy.

He swallowed hard, forcing the rage down so it wouldn’t spill out.

Not now. Not here.

He’d known Madison was special from the moment he met her. Knew he wanted her in his life—as his wife—but she was more than that.

She was everything.

Alex pressed a soft kiss on her forehead. It was time to end this. He’d give Mikhail the new company he wanted, and hope it was enough to blunt his brother’s ire after Alex did what needed to be done.

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