Chapter 5

GIDEON

I sat in my office staring at the Whitlock merger papers. But could not focus the way i had wanted

My mind went back to three nights ago, at the airport.

Camilla's flight from Vienna had landed at eleven. She had texted me directly, asking me to meet her. Not her parents, not a driver. Me!

That meant something.

When she walked through the arrivals gate, everything else went quiet. Her dark hair was loose over her shoulders. Her violin case hung from one hand, and she held it close, as she always did.

"Gideon!" She ran to me, her face lit.

I caught her in my arms. She smelled of orange blossom and old wood. "Welcome home."

"I missed you." Her voice was soft against my coat.

I held her longer than I needed to.

"How was Vienna?"

"Tiring but worth it." She pulled back and searched my face. "Thank you for coming. I know it is late."

"I wanted to."

The words came easily with her. They always had. With Camilla, nothing needed to be explained.

My phone buzzed against the desk pulling me out of my thoughts. Dane.

[Still on for dinner? I am finishing a board meeting at St. Brannock's.]

[Yes. I will pick you up at the main entrance. Six o'clock.]

I took my keys and left. Theo looked up as I passed his desk.

"Heading to St. Brannock's," I said.

It took twenty minutes. Rain had started halfway there, a hard gray rain that blurred the windshield. I pulled up in front of the hospital's main entrance and texted Dane that I had arrived. He answered that he would be there in five minutes.

I waited, scrolling through email. Then I glanced up.

Nora stood under the awning at the entrance.

Her coat was soaked through. Her hair hung in wet strands against her neck. A man in a white coat stood beside her, too close, his hand resting on her arm. She was laughing at something he had said. Her whole face had opened up in a way I had never seen at home.

What was this?

I got out of the car and slammed the door hard enough that both of them turned.

"Nora."

She went pale.

The man stepped back but kept his hand on her sleeve. "Mr. Hale. I was only..."

"Get in the car. Now!" I did not look at him. Only at her.

"Gideon, I can explain."

"I said get in the car."

She hesitated, then pulled her arm free and walked toward me. Rain ran down her face. She looked small, and I noticed a thin strip of white tape at her hairline, but I did not ask what it was.

I did not care.

She slid into the passenger seat. I got in and locked the doors. Through the window, I saw Dane step out of the entrance. He spotted my car and came over.

I lowered the window. "Rain check on dinner. Something came up."

Dane's eyes went to Nora, then back to me. "Of course. Call me later."

I drove out of the lot without another word. The car filled with the sound of rain and her shallow breathing.

"What were you doing there?" My voice came out level.

"Visiting my father." She stared at her hands.

"That is not what I saw."

"Dr. Shaw is his doctor. He was only..."

"Only what? Holding your arm? Making you laugh?" I took a sharp turn, and she grabbed the door handle. "Do you think I am stupid?"

"No, I..."

"You are my wife. Under contract. Do you understand what that means?"

She said nothing.

I pulled over on a quiet street and turned to face her. "Look at me."

She did. Her eyes were red from rain or tears. I could not tell which.

"From now on, you are forbidden to visit your father at St. Brannock's."

Her eyes went wide. "What? He is there. He is..."

"I do not care. If you want to amuse yourself with other men, do it somewhere else. Not while you are wearing my name."

"I was not amusing myself!" Her voice rose. "Dr. Shaw is a friend. He has looked after my father for three years."

"I pay for your father's care. Not him. Not you. I do." I leaned closer. "And I can stop paying whenever I like."

The color left her face. "You would not."

"Try me."

She sat back, trembling all over. "Please. My father is all I have left."

"Then act accordingly."

We sat in silence. Rain drummed on the roof. She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.

I thought about Camilla. How different she was. Camilla never made me angry. Never made me feel like a man who could not breathe. With her, everything was simple. Clear. Right.

With Nora, everything was tangled.

"Why?" Her voice was barely a whisper.

"Why what?"

"Why did you marry me?" She turned to look at me. "You hate me. You cannot stand to be in a room with me. So why sign for five years?"

The question caught me off guard. I had expected tears. Begging. Not this.

"Because it was mandatory i please the board," I said flatly. "After the scandal three years ago, damage control was needed. Which you caused , you and your pathetic father and remember, you agreed to the terms."

"That is all?" Something flickered in her eyes. "Only damage control?"

"What else would it be?"

"I thought..." She stopped. Shook her head. "Never mind."

"You thought what?"

She looked me straight in the eyes. "Did you ever feel anything for me? Even once?"

The question hung between us, heavy and loaded.

I thought about that morning three years ago, the hotel suite, the cold sheets, the sedative in my glass. The look on her face when she woke beside me, like I was someone worth looking at. But that was before the contract. Before Camilla came home. Before everything became so tangled.

"No," I said. My voice was steady and final. "Never."

Her shoulders sank as she turned toward the window.

"I see."

Two words. That was all.

I started the car again and drove toward the house. The rain slowed to a drizzle. Neither of us spoke.

When we arrived, she opened the door before I could say anything. She got out and walked toward the house without looking back.

I watched her go. Her wet clothes clung to her. She moved slowly, each step careful, her hand drifting once toward her stomach before she dropped it.

For a moment, something twisted in my chest.

I shoved it down and drove away.