My body tensed. I lifted my gaze to see Luca hovering over me. I held my expression carefully blank. “Can I help you with something, Dr. Rossi?”
“We need to talk.”
“Then talk.”
“Somewhere where we can be alone.”
“No.”
“I’m very sorry. We can get through this. Let’s find a place with more privacy.”
“‘No’ is a full sentence. If we have a patient in common, we can talk. Otherwise, you can fuck off.”
“I understand you’re angry. I found a couple’s counselor. Our appointment is at seven. We’re having dinner after your shift and then meeting him. We can fix this.”
I started to laugh. “You’re fucking kidding me, right?”
Luca’s expression chilled. “I am not joking,amore mio. This is just a bump in the road.”
“No, this is the end of the road. Actually, this is a fucking blown-up bridge. There’s no road left. You need to stop calling and texting me. We’re done. We’re over. Move on.”
He leaned in, all pretenses of concern wiped from his face. “You really think you’re too good for me now? Just remember, the bikertrash you party with can’t save you here. You wouldn’t work here if I hadn’t vouched for you.”
“Fuck off.”
His lips curled in a condescending smile. He glanced around and lowered his voice. “It’s pathetic, honestly. Tricking people into thinking you belong, when everyone knows you’re just a lowlife whore.”
I shoved my chair back, ignoring the stares from two nurses lurking nearby.
“Don’t walk away when I’m talking to you,” Luca hissed. “I’m not finished.”
“I am.”
“That club? Those men? They take you in because they have no standards. The hospital keeps you because I told them to. Everyone’s just too polite to say it: you’ll never belong. Not with me, not in this hospital, not anywhere. Play doctor all you want, but everyone knows the only thing you’re good at is spreading your legs. And when they’re done with you, you’ll crawl back to me. Because no one else wants you.”
His hand wrapped around my shoulder, and I turned, rage sparking within me. I slammed both hands into his chest, shoving him so hard he staggered back.
“If you ever touch me again, I’ll have the entire club on your ass,” I threatened.
“Is there a problem here?” Dr. Patel asked, stepping beside me.
“No. I think we have an understanding.”
Dr. Patel handed me a stack of charts. “OB is short on hands today. You’ll be working a double shift with Dr. Chen.”
I threw her a grateful glance, knowing she had chosen a service as far from Luca’s department as possible and given me a reason to stay late so he couldn’t corner me on my way out.
The OB floor was loud—screaming women, wailing babies. Certainly not a specialty I wanted to choose, but I enjoyed the hustle and intensity.
“Merci? Is that you?” a female voice shouted from a room as I strode past on my way to the lab. I backtracked to the doorway.
“Naomi Johnson?” I stepped into the room to see a friend from high school, her belly ballooning beneath the sheet.
“It’s Naomi Williams now.”
“You married Amir?” I grinned, remembering the days of talking about our crushes. She’d had a thing for Hatchet and my brother, which made me laugh and cringe at the same time.
She giggled and rubbed her palm over her enormous stomach. “Married with almost two kids now. What about you?”
