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Right on time, the security camera shows Madison pulling into the garage. Dmitri and his brother are close behind in the black SUV and will remain outside until I give them the go ahead to leave.
I greet her at the door. “Hey babe,” I say with a peck on the lips. I help her with her things. She looks exhausted and weary. “Why don’t you come sit on the sofa and I’ll bring you a glass of wine. I hope you’re hungry.”
She kicks off her shoes at the door and lifts those lovely hazel eyes at me. She knows I’m really trying here, nonetheless, a difficult conversation lies ahead of us.
“Something smells divine,” she says as she makes her way over to the sofa and collapses on to it.
“Grilled Chilean bass with fresh lemons, a buttery garlic sauce and steamed broccoli in a light cheese sauce.”
Her tired eyes light up and I can already see the weight of the day’s ordeals lifting from her shoulders.
“Mmm, sounds delicious,” she says as she accepts the glass of wine I hand her.
I sit next to her on the sofa. “And if you have room for it, there’s a generous slice of lemon cream cake with your name on it.”
“From Che Pierre?”
I grin and nod.
“Ohhhh, you’re a saint.”
“Well, I don’t know about that,” I reply as I lean down and gently pull her feet into my lap.
She reclines against the cushions as I slip her socks off her feet. I love her feet, so elegant and sleek. She’s no longer self-conscious about letting me massage them right after she’s been on them all day. She’s so funny about that sort of thing as if natural human scents are something to be appalled. I love all her sweet earthy scents, I love her period.
Mmm. She groans softly as I massage her stress away. I grow more confident with each passing moment as the world’s burdens begin to roll off her. I’ve got her, I need her to know that she’ll be safe with me.
I look at her as she sips her wine and smiles at me. “How was your day?”
“Busy as usual, but productive,” I say and decide to elaborate on the extensive legitimate endeavors I’m involved with. “I had to take a few conference calls with Davidson Associates to approve a new acquisition. I’ve completed the review of the Quantas IPO and have submitted it to legal and then wrapped up with meeting with the president of Horizon Inc. All in all, a good day’s work.”
Her gaze falls upon me, studying me as if I’m some great enigma. I want to know what she’s thinking, what’s going on inside that head. But I wait patiently for her to find her words. Much to my disappointment, she pulls her feet away and sits up to face me squarely.
“How are the plans coming along to distance yourself from the seedy side of the business?” the fatigue has left her eyes and now they fix hard on me. “It’s stressful enough having all eyes on me in the operating room without having to worry about an DEA investigation or my boss deciding I’m not worth all the negative attention?”
My heart sinks at the pained expression and the angst in her voice.
“I’m scared, Bash. This couldn’t be happening at a worse time with them finalizing the surgical residency selections.”
I place my hands consolingly on hers. “I hear you, I totally get it. Now will you hear me out?”
She closes her eyes in exasperation. “I don’t want to hear any more about how everything’s going to work out fine. You’re not the one in there about to have a nervous breakdown. You have no idea what it’s like for me to--”
I sit silently, waiting for her to exhaust her need to vent her frustrations. I owe her that much.
She finally winds down and stares at me waiting for me to reply.
“First of all, I want to say that I’m truly sorry for the difficulty that I have caused you. My goal is to be a source of comfort and encouragement to you, so it kills me to know that I’m causing you grief.” My words soften the rigid set of her shoulders, but only by a fraction. She tilts her head at me as if to say, surely, you’ve got more than that. I suppress a smile knowing it would only infuriate her.
“Secondly, the DEA are only talking to you because they have nothing else to go on. That shows you how weak their case is against me. Sergei was the big fish, now they’re just grasping at straws. They’ll quickly lose interest and move on.”
She rolls her eyes. “Meanwhile, I’m—”
“Thirdly,” I press on ignoring her interruption. “Chief Resident Weiss has no moral ground to stand on.”
Madison’s brow furrows. “What?”
“I mean,youcould havehermedical license revoked like that,” I say, snapping my fingers for emphasis.
