Free Serial Bride by Ann Voss Peterson

best thing for him to do is to sleep and heal. We’ll wait until he wakes up to move him to a private room.”
    Tears stung Sylvie’s eyes. Blinking them away, she reached out and touched Reed’s hand. She’d never really thought of Reed as family, but that’s what he would be right now if the wedding had gone as planned. God knew, he’d treated her like family. So kind. Protective. He’d gone out of his way to include her and to encourage her and make her feel she belonged, as much as possible, anyway. When Dianahad walked into her life, Sylvie had gained not only a sister, but a brother. An actual blood-related family. A family that somewhere deep down she felt she might have a chance of keeping. And she’d thought that someday down the road, after countless family Christmas celebrations and small moments together, she wouldn’t feel quite so alone in the world.
    Whoever had attacked Reed and taken Diana had almost stolen that possibility from her. From all of them. And if she didn’t find Diana, he might succeed in stealing it yet. “Will you call me when he wakes up? I left my number at the nurses’ station.”
    â€œOf course.” The doctor glanced at her watch and stepped toward the cubicle’s glass door. “I hope to be talking to you soon.”
    â€œThank you.”
    A nurse padded in on rubber soles as the doctor slipped out. “Ms. Hayes, we received a call at the nurses’ station that you’re to meet someone in the lobby.”
    Bryce? “Oh?”
    â€œHe asked if you could meet him just inside the front doors.”
    â€œThanks.” Why hadn’t Bryce come up? Had Perreth arrived? Were they reluctant to talk in front of Reed?
    Heart pounding, she turned back to the bed. “It’s going to be okay, Reed. I’ll make sure of it.”
    Taking a deep breath, she stepped out of the cubicle and strode out of the ICU and down the long hall. She hardly glanced at the disabled elevators this time, but headed directly for the stairs.
    Bryce wouldn’t have asked her to meet him in the lobby if it wasn’t important. And if Perreth was the reason he’d asked, she couldn’t afford to miss him.
    She pulled the steel stairwell door open. The odor of new paint hit her again, just as strong as it had on her trip up. Seemed as though the whole city was undergoing some kind of construction, a frantic last push before winter set in. Of course, they could have waited to paint. At least for her sake.
    She started down the stairs. As she reached the bottom of the first flight, a thunk from above echoed off cement walls. Apparently someone else was as impatient as she was, paint smell or no.
    She continued down the next flight. Above, the sound of footsteps echoed her own. Perfectly matched. As if whoever had entered the stairwell was doing it on purpose.
    Paranoia was setting in big time. Not surprising after all she’d been through in the last few hours, but ridiculous nonetheless. Still…
    She slowed her pace.
    The footsteps slowed, still matching hers.
    Was someone playing games with her? She speeded up, circling the landing.
    The footsteps accelerated, too.
    Fear pulsed through her. She was in a public building, not some haunted house from a horror flick. Even though it was late, she could open the door on any floor and rejoin civilization. She stopped in her tracks.
    Above her, the footfalls stopped.
    Her breathing rasped in her ears. Whoever was following had stopped in the middle of the staircase. For no reason other than because she had stopped. “Who’s there?”
    No answer.
    Why didn’t he answer? “Is anyone there?”
    Her heart thunked against her ribs. She looked back at the door, several steps above. She didn’t dare retrace her steps. If she did, he’d hear her. And he could easily intercept her before she could reach the door.
    She pressed her fingertips against her