Shadows of the Heart

Chapter Five

Kurt barely had time to react.

The rain lashed against his windshield, the wipers struggling to keep pace, when a shape suddenly appeared in his headlights. A figure—too small, too fragile—staggered into the road and collapsed without warning.

“s**t—”

He slammed his foot on the brake. Tires screamed as the Ferrari skidded across the wet asphalt, coming to a halt just inches from the motionless body lying before him.

Heart pounding, Kurt threw open the door and stepped into the driving rain. Water soaked his coat instantly as he crossed the short distance to the girl sprawled in the middle of the highway.

She was unconscious.

Beautiful, even beneath the grime and rain—her clothes torn, her hair plastered to her face, a bruise darkening her temple. She looked impossibly young, impossibly vulnerable, as if she had been dropped into his path by fate itself.

Carefully, he knelt beside her and checked for a pulse. Relief washed through him when he felt it—weak, but steady.

“What the hell happened to you?” he murmured.

Only an hour earlier, Kurt had been driving back toward the city from a well-known Chinese restaurant on the outskirts of Bristol, where he’d attended a late dinner meeting with Chris Masterson, CEO of the Masterson Group. The discussion had been about a possible collaboration—interesting, but hardly vital.

Carlisle Corporation already dominated the Bristol business world.

Since his father’s retirement the previous year, Kurt had stepped into the role of CEO with ruthless focus and quiet confidence. Ambition came naturally to him, and under his leadership the billion-pound company had only grown stronger, expanding its influence and reputation at a staggering pace.

At twenty-eight, Kurt was already a force to be reckoned with.

He was tall and broad-shouldered, his physique honed by discipline rather than vanity. Jet-black hair fell neatly around a face carved with sharp, classical lines, and his deep blue eyes—usually cool and unreadable—had earned him a reputation for being stern, even cruel.

Most people found him intimidating.

Few knew that beneath the controlled exterior lay a man capable of warmth and fierce loyalty to those he cared about. Kurt simply didn’t give his trust easily—and once lost, it was never regained.

Now, kneeling in the rain beside a battered stranger, he felt something unfamiliar stir in his chest.

Without hesitation, he shrugged off his coat and draped it over her, shielding her from the worst of the storm. He scooped her carefully into his arms, mindful of her injuries, and carried her toward the car.

Whatever her story was, he knew one thing for certain.

Leaving her there was not an option.