CHASE
The master bedroom offered zero comfort. I sat on the edge of the mattress, staring blindly at the shadows stretching across the hardwood floor.
Twenty body bags currently occupied the hospital morgue down the hall. Twenty of my fighters died because I lost control of my own generals. Crushing guilt gnawed at my ribs, suffocating the oxygen in the dark, quiet room. My territory was crumbling, my borders were bleeding, and the silence of the estate felt like a heavy tomb.
Just then, the brass doorknob turned with a sharp click. The heavy door swung open, casting a wedge of harsh hallway light across the carpet. Ashley walked into the room. Her advanced pregnancy altered her usual graceful stride into a slow, awkward waddle, her hand resting protectively over her swollen stomach.
