Chapter 79

• Alaric’s POV
• I’ve faced countless threats in my life. Guns aimed at my head. Betrayals by people I thought I could trust. Enemies clawing at the edges of my empire, waiting for a moment of weakness. But nothing—NOTHING—had ever terrified me as much as seeing Francesca lying helpless in that hospital bed.
• The sterile smell of antiseptic burned my nose as I sat in the uncomfortable chair outside her room. My hands were clasped tightly, my knuckles white. The usual iron control I prided myself on felt like it was slipping. I couldn’t stop replaying the image of her small, flushed face, the way her body had burned with fever when I held her. She’d felt so fragile, and for the first time, I realized just how powerless I was when it came to her health.