Cassie froze.
Her fingers twitched where they hovered in the air, then she withdrew her hand as if the space between them had suddenly burned her. In a single, brutal rush, an image slammed into her mind.
Scarlet bound to a wheelchair for the rest of her life, her laughter dimmed, her future narrowed to hospital corridors and whispered sympathies. Cassie's chest tightened until it hurt to breathe.
No. She couldn't let that happen. Her jaw set, and she forced the words out, steady even as her insides rebelled. "No. I have to do it for Scarlet."
Franklin dragged a hand through his hair and released a sharp, frustrated sigh, the sound heavy with everything he wasn't saying. When he spoke again, his voice was low, restrained, but edged with something deeper.
"Assuming Nathan a
