Chapter 1 - The Amber Light
The weak amber emergency bulb flickered above them with a low electrical hum.
Norah pressed her spine against the cold mirrored glass of the elevator wall.
Her heart hammered against her ribs like a trapped bird desperately seeking an exit.
Declan slid slowly down the opposite wall until he hit the floor.
His long legs stretched out across the expensive carpet, his expensive leather shoes scuffed and stained.
The metallic smell of his blood was suddenly amplified in the suffocating, enclosed space.
Norah took a slow, deliberate breath to keep her hands from shaking.
She unbuttoned her tailored blazer and dropped it onto the floor beside her purse.
She took a cautious step toward the most dangerous man in Chicago.
Declan watched her approach with eyes that were entirely too dark and far too calm.
She knelt beside him and reached for the torn fabric of his ruined white shirt.
He did not flinch when her fingers brushed the hot, sticky skin over his ribs.
The wound was deep, a jagged laceration that looked more like a blade slice than a bullet graze.
Norah ripped the silk lining of her skirt to create a makeshift pressure bandage.
She pressed the fabric hard against his side, causing a sharp hiss of breath to escape his lips.
He stared at her face, his gaze tracing the outline of her jaw in the dim light.
She kept her eyes firmly fixed on the wound to avoid the terrifying intensity of his stare.
She asked him if the elevator failure was a mechanical error.
Declan let out a harsh, bitter laugh that ended in a wet cough.
He told her that the Gallagher building had three separate emergency backup generators.
He explained that an elevator in this tower did not just drop twenty floors and lose power by accident.
Someone had manually severed the primary cables and hacked the override systems from the inside.
Norah felt a sudden, freezing chill wash over her skin.
She realized that the person who did this had to be someone with executive clearance.
She looked into Declan's eyes and asked him who wanted him dead tonight.
May you like
Declan leaned his head back against the mirror and gave her a chilling smile.
He whispered that it was the head of corporate security, the very man who had smiled at her this morning.
