Vivienne’s heart broke for Max over and over again. His anguish was too painful to bear.

She knew what it meant to have one’s life destroyed in the blink of an eye, and nothing she could do or say would make it better. Still, she kept at Max’s side all the same.

By the time a doctor entered the waiting room, they were all on edge. The she-panther beelined for Max as he shot up. The tag on her scrub said Dr. Kalisten, and she had a no-nonsense air about her.

“Mr. Prize,” the doctor said.

“How’s my daughter?” Max asked.

Vivienne reached for his hand, wrapping his fingers with hers and squeezing lightly.

“Please.” Dr. Kalisten motioned for Max to sit, and she led by example, lowering herself to a vacant chair first. Vivienne pulled at his hand, and he took the seat by the doctor as Vivienne sat beside him.

“We have stabilized your daughter’s condition. She’s still critical, but we moved her from the ER to the ICU, and we are monitoring her,” the doctor said. Her severe features made her look hostile, but her soft voice and the sympathetic light in her eyes told a different tale.

“What does she have?” Max choked out the question in one breath, making it difficult to understand the single words.

The doctor answered without missing a beat, though. “She suffered a cardiac arrest—”

“Cardiac arrest?” Max said. “She’s so little. How could that happen to her?”

“She was born with a weak heart,” Doctor Kalisten answered.

“She’s a dragon shifter. We don’t have congenital defects.” Max jumped up, and Vivienne gently pulled him down.

The doctor’s eyes went briefly to the television in the corner where Wilson stood. The audio was muted but the video showed the Asian reporter on the main screen. Max’s name appeared in stocky letters at the bottom.

“I don’t want to assume anything, but your daughter’s mother was mortal, right?” Doctor Kalisten asked, her chin slightly tilted toward the television. Given the local news coverage, it wasn’t a surprise the doctor had heard about Amber Rose’s mother. And even if she hadn’t left the ER all day, one of the nurses had surely brought her up to speed.

Max nodded as his body tensed.

Vivienne felt his anger like it was her own.

“Half-breeds are highly susceptible to congenital defects. Although, if she were a mortal child, she wouldn’t have survived. Her dragon side is very strong, but you made the right decision flying her here. A minute later, and it would’ve been impossible to restart her heart. You saved your daughter’s life.” The doctor patted Max’s hand gently before standing. “The next few hours will be critical.”

“Can I see her?” Max asked.

“Not yet.” The doctor rubbed her hands in an automatic gesture. “It’s going to be a long night. You could go home—”

Max vehemently shook his head. “I won’t leave.”

Sighing, the doctor nodded. “I’ll keep you informed.”

As the doctor left, Vivienne grabbed Max’s hands in hers. “You saved Amber Rose.”

“What if it’s not enough?” Max’s eyes were haunted. The usually bright amber of his irises was now dull. “What if it was all for nothing?”

“Don’t think like that.” Vivienne understood his despair, but she wouldn’t let him wallow in pain. “You did everything you could. Your baby is alive because you acted promptly.” Not everyone could say that. Vivienne couldn’t. “And she is in the best shifter hospital in the country.”

Wilson detached himself from the wall. “She’s your daughter, she’ll pull through. You’ll see,” he said, crouching in front of Max.

“Why her?” Max asked. “She’s so little.”

“Bad things happen to good people,” Wilson said. “Even to sweet angels like my goddaughter.”

Vivienne was immediately glad for Wilson’s presence.

Max shut his eyes, but when he looked back at his friend, his expression was less haunted. “I should be the one to decide who’s going to be my daughter’s godfather, don’t you think?” he said with a wane smile, but a smile nonetheless.

“Who else did you have in mind?” Wilson raised a brow.

“Someone responsible?” Max said, his lips quirking up.

Bringing his hand to his heart, Wilson turned to Vivienne. “I’ll let you know that, between the two of us, I am the responsible one.”

“Right.” Max scoffed.

Wilson stood and folded his arms across his elegant black jacket. “Do you want me to tell her about that time when we were eleven and you dropped an entire bag of frogs into the PE teacher’s desk drawer?”

“Not the frogs again.” Max let out an exasperated sigh, but his mood was lighter and his body less tense.

Vivienne, too, sighed but in relief. She was attuned to Max in a way she couldn’t understand and was glad for the reprieve. The doctor had warned them a long night awaited, and Max could use all the emotional help she and Wilson could give him.

Then, all of a sudden, Max stood, his energy shifting to fury.

At first, Vivienne didn’t realize what was happening. She followed Max’s line of sight and berated herself for not shutting off the television.

The Asian reporter was talking to a police officer, and Max’s picture occupied half of the screen. A red banner said, “Breaking News” in flashing letters. Max turned on the audio.

“Our source confirmed that the billionaire is now officially a person of interest in the murder of Lauren Green. As we speak, Seattle PD is looking for Maximus Prize, but he seems to have disappeared,” the reporter said.

The air around Max vibrated. A strangled sound escaped his mouth as he fisted his hands. His back arched as he tried to contain his dragon.

Acting on impulse, Vivienne stepped in front of Max and opened her arms.

His eyes fluctuated from amber to orange, to green, to yellow, and back to amber passing through red. His body shook, and his breaths came in hard puffs. Vivienne closed the gap between them, hugging him.

“I’m here,” she said, letting her wolf reach for his dragon. “I’m here,” she repeated, stroking his back as her lips kissed the spot over his heart.