Chapter 4

Eileen looped her arm through his.

"Come on, Max, you promised you'd spend Valentine's Day with me today. No backing out."

Max pinched her nose, doting. "All right, all right, you win. Only a buddy like me could put up with a tomboy like you. I'll spend every Valentine's with you, every year."

Something inside me went tight and heavy.

For the past few years, on every Valentine's Day, Eileen always found some excuse to drag Max away.

He'd promised that this year's Valentine's, he'd come with me to get our marriage license.

Max looked over at me, cold.

"Nadia, behave yourself. My company's about to close its funding round and go public. When that happens my net worth will multiply several times over, and you get to ride along and enjoy it too."

"Since you're on an IV today, we'll push the license to tomorrow. Cool your head while you're at it. Because if you really want to break up, with a background like yours, you'll never find a man better than me."

Maybe it was the couple of bags of fluid, or the fact that I hadn't been to the restroom in so long.

My lower belly cramped, and I caught Max's arm.

"I need to use the restroom, but it's hard with the IV in. Could you just come with me for a second? A few minutes, that's all."

Max was about to agree when Eileen shook his arm loose and gave a cold little snort.

"Max, you know what I hate most? People who don't keep their word."

"We said nine o'clock. If you're going to make your buddy wait around for some woman, then fine, I'll leave the country tomorrow and never come back, so your wife doesn't have to keep treating me like an eyesore and going out of her way to make my life hard."

Max shoved my hand off at once, annoyed.

"Is your other hand just for show? Plenty of people in this hospital are here alone. How come they can go to the bathroom by themselves? Everything's a whole production with you!"

He turned and walked off with his arm around Eileen, not once looking back.

I dropped my eyes, and my nose stung before I could stop it.

Right.

Some patients are here with no one at all, and I actually have a boyfriend, and he'd rather spend Valentine's with a girl he calls his buddy than spare me a few minutes.

That's what makes it worse.

What I didn't see was the look Eileen shot her friend before she left.

Holding the IV pole, I went to the restroom, and only then noticed the hook on the door was set high.

Weak from being sick, nothing in my stomach, no strength in me, I went up on my toes a few times and still couldn't reach it.

I was about to step out and find a nurse when a man pushed his way in.

One of Max's buddies.

He grinned as he hung the bag up for me. "Aw, poor thing. Max and Eileen made a point of sending me back to give you a hand."

Something in me went uneasy.

"Thanks. You can go now."

But the man acted like he hadn't heard.

"Don't be like that. IV's up, but with one hand it can't be easy getting your pants down, right?"

"Look at these little buttons, so artsy, bet they're a pain to undo. How about I help you out of them?"

"Max is off with Eileen anyway, so I'll keep you company, have a little fun. He and I are buddies. His woman's my woman. No need to be shy."

His hands started roaming, and I shoved him out the door with everything I had.

The lock was broken, so all I could do was brace my body against the door.

One bar of battery left. I called Max fast.

Only to find I'd been blocked, and then the phone died completely.

The man laughed on the other side of the door.

"Give it up, sweetheart. Save yourself the trouble."

"Max didn't want you interrupting him and Eileen, so he blocked you on everything just now. Let me help you. Wetting yourself would be so embarrassing, wouldn't it?"

He lost his patience and rammed at the door, hard enough to knock the IV loose. It fell and shattered.

I screamed for help.

Almost the instant the door gave, a nurse rushed in with security.

"What's going on here? Out, now, or we're calling the police!"

The man's face went dark, and he spat at me.

"Quit playing the untouched saint. Max already told all of us buddies what a joke you are in bed."

"Ungrateful little thing. No wonder Max thinks you're a downer. Last night he'd rather go sleep at Eileen's than lay a finger on you. And honestly, breaking you in feels like bad luck to me anyway!"

The nurse helped me up and asked, gently, if I was okay.

I looked at the back of my hand, already swollen and welling with blood, and the tears finally came.

And the last shred of feeling I had left for Max scattered into nothing.

That night, on my way out of the hospital, Max sent a message.

"Eileen's place is close to where we ate, so I'm staying at hers tonight."

"Nine tomorrow morning, meet me outside the courthouse marriage office. A few outlets are coming to interview me about my personal life for a piece on the city's entrepreneurs. Don't be late."

I didn't reply. I walked straight to the Maybach that had been waiting for me.

...

The next morning, Max waited a full hour.

No sign of me.

He watched the confusion spread across the reporters' faces.

Impatient, he pulled out his phone to call me.

And then he saw me walk out through the doors of the marriage office.

He charged over, furious.

"Nadia, didn't I take you off my block list last night?"

"You were already here, so why didn't you tell me? Made me stand around all this time. Do you even still want this license or not?"

The words had barely landed when Ernest Stephens stepped out from behind me and settled an arm around my shoulders.

He looked down at Max from that height, and let out a cold laugh.

"You've got jokes, Mr. Henson. Of course my wife wants a marriage license."

"Just not with you."