His phone vibrated and he pulled it out quickly.

Evacuation alarm triggered. Move now. – BD

A slow grin tugged at the corner of Brandon’s mouth.

"Of course you did," he muttered.

The fire alarm’s piercing wail echoed through the hospital like a war siren.

Red emergency lights began flashing along the ceiling, bathing the hallway in pulses of crimson.

Shouts erupted somewhere above.

"Evacuate the west wing!"

"Clear the ICU floor!"

Doors slammed. Footsteps thundered through the building. Medical carts rattled across tile floors as nurses rushed patients toward stairwells.

Security would be stretched thin.

Exactly like Babydoll wanted.

Brandon didn’t hesitate.

He moved.

He pushed through the service door and headed for the stairwell, taking the steps two at a time as he climbed toward the seventh floor.

The alarms screamed louder the higher he went.

By the time he reached the west wing, the hallway was in complete disarray.

Doctors barked instructions.

Nurses hurried past pushing beds and wheelchairs.

Patients’ families clustered nervously near exits.

And near the end where the VIP suites were—

Levi’s guards.

Two large men in suits stood near the entrance, their expressions tense as they spoke rapidly into radios.

One of them noticed Brandon immediately.

"Hey—!"

Before the man could finish the sentence, a hand grabbed Brandon’s sleeve and yanked him sideways into a supply closet.

The door shut.

Babydoll stood inside, breathing hard but smiling.

"Timing is everything," she said.

Brandon stared at her.

"You started a fire?"

"Relax," she replied. "Smoke bomb in a ventilation shaft. It’ll trigger alarms but the sprinklers won’t activate unless someone confirms flames."

Brandon exhaled slowly.

"You’re insane."

"And you’re welcome."

She cracked the door open slightly and peeked into the hallway.

"Two guards outside Lyse’s room," she murmured. "One at the nurses’ station. Levi’s men."

Brandon’s jaw tightened.

"I’m not leaving without seeing her."

"I figured."

Babydoll glanced back at him.

"So here’s the plan."

She pointed down the corridor.

"I’ll draw one of them away. You take the other."

"And then?"

"Then we pray Levi’s not already on the way upstairs."

Brandon nodded.

"Let’s do it."

Babydoll stepped out into the hallway first.

She slipped into the chaos effortlessly, her expression transforming into the perfect mask of panic.

"Oh my God!" she exclaimed loudly as she approached the nurses’ station. "My mother’s in ICU—what’s happening?!"

One of the guards looked over immediately.

"This area is restricted, ma’am."

"But they said evacuation!" Babydoll insisted, grabbing his sleeve. "Someone told me patients were being moved!"

The guard frowned.

"This is the wrong direction, you need to head—"

As he turned to direct her in the right direction—

Brandon moved.

He stepped silently behind the second guard.

Years of buried anger and violence had honed his reflexes.

His arm locked around the man’s throat before he could react. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

The guard struggled, reaching for his radio—

Brandon slammed him backward into the wall.

The radio clattered to the floor.

A sharp strike to the neck ended the fight instantly.

The man crumpled unconscious.

Brandon caught him before he hit the ground and dragged him into the nearby supply closet.

Across the hall, Babydoll was still arguing loudly.

"Someone needs to tell me what’s going on!"

The first guard sighed in frustration.

"Ma’am, I said this floor is restricted—"

His sentence cut off as Brandon appeared behind him.

A quick elbow to the ribs.

A hand clamped over his mouth.

The guard tried to shout, but the sound came out as a muffled grunt.

Brandon twisted his arm behind his back and shoved him through the closet door.

Babydoll followed calmly, closing it behind them.

She looked down at the two unconscious guards.

"Well," she said thoughtfully, "that went smoother than expected."

Brandon was already moving.

Room numbers flashed past as he walked quickly down the corridor.

Then—

He stopped.

For a moment his hand hovered over the door handle.

His heart was pounding harder than it had in years.

Babydoll stepped beside him quietly.

"Go," she said softly.

Brandon pushed the door open.

The ICU room was dim and quiet.

Machines hummed softly.

A heart monitor beeped in steady rhythm.

The bed was empty.

The blankets were folded neatly.

The monitors were still running.

But Lyse was gone.

A chill crept down Brandon’s spine.

"What the—"

Then they heard it.

The soft click of a lock turning.

Brandon’s head whipped around.

And there, by the restroom door stood Lyse. She was obviously shocked to see him there but then her eyes swung to something behind Brandon’s back and she gasped and took one step backward.

Brandon turned around to see what had scared her.

Babydoll leaned casually against the now-closed door.

A small, satisfied smile played on her lips.

In her hand, she held a small silver pistol.

The pistol lifted slightly, the barrel now hovering somewhere between Brandon and Lyse.

"The reports were false," Brandon said slowly.

It wasn’t a question.

"An appetizer," Babydoll corrected softly.

Her voice purred through the shrieking alarm.

"To get you in the right frame of mind."

Behind Brandon, Lyse backed slowly to the end of the wall.

She looked pale but conscious, wrapped in a hospital blanket that trailed across the floor.

Confusion filled her eyes.

"Brandon?" she said weakly.

Her gaze flicked between them.

"What is this? Who is she?"

But Brandon wasn’t looking at her.

His eyes were locked on Babydoll.

On the gun.

On the quiet certainty in her expression.

The night at the club flashed through his mind.

The dim lights.

Her laughter.

The way she had leaned close and danced against him.

The tangled sheets.

The feeling that she understood him.

All of it curdled into something bitter.

He had been played.

Not by a desperate woman.

Not by a client.

By a strategist.

A predator.

"You set this whole thing up," Brandon said quietly.

Babydoll tilted her head.

"Eventually."

Lyse frowned.

"Brandon, what is she talking about?"

Babydoll’s eyes flicked toward Lyse.

There was no warmth in them.

Just calculation.

"You’re Lyse," she said thoughtfully.

"The famous Lyse Spade."

Lyse stiffened.

"I don’t know who you are, but if this is some kind of joke—"

"Oh, it isn’t a joke," Babydoll said softly.

She straightened away from the door.

The pistol lifted slightly.

Not quite aimed.

But closer now.

"You’re the reason everything became... complicated."

Brandon stepped forward instinctively, placing himself between the two women.

"Put the gun down."

Babydoll smiled faintly.

"You think I brought you all this way just to shoot someone?"

"Then what do you want?" Brandon demanded.

Her gaze softened when it returned to him.

"That’s the sad part," she said quietly.

"I wanted you."

The words hung heavy in the air.

Lyse blinked.

Brandon’s jaw tightened.

Babydoll sighed.

"But you keep looking at her like she’s the center of your world."

Her eyes flicked toward Lyse again.

"And frankly, it’s exhausting."

Lyse’s confusion slowly shifted into anger.

"Excuse me?"

Babydoll ignored her.

Her attention remained fixed on Brandon.

"I gave you an opportunity tonight," she said softly.

"I gave you chaos, danger, adrenaline. The kind of environment where real choices get made."

Brandon’s voice hardened.

"You kidnapped her."

"Serendipity..." Babydoll shrugged lightly. "Your girl has so many enemies its a wonder she is still alive."

Lyse took a shaky step backward.

"You set a hospital on fire just to test someone’s feelings?"

Babydoll’s smile widened slightly.

Lyse’s eyes flashed.

"You’re manipulating people’s lives for a test?"

Babydoll’s smile faded.

"Yes."

The honesty was chilling.

Brandon shook his head slowly.

"You’re out of your mind."

"Maybe," she said quietly.

"But I was curious."

Her voice lowered.

"Curious who you would choose when the illusion collapsed."

A distant crash echoed somewhere in the hospital.

The alarm continued screaming.

Time was running out.

Brandon took another careful step forward.

"Babydoll," he said evenly.

"Put the gun down."

Her eyes searched his face.

For something.

Anything.

"What happens if I do?" she asked.

Brandon didn’t hesitate.

"We walk out of here."

Together.

For a moment, the tension in the room shifted.

Lyse held her breath.

Babydoll’s fingers tightened around the pistol.

And for the first time since the door had closed...

She hesitated.

But then—

Heavy footsteps thundered down the hallway outside.