Chapter 8
Chapter Eight
R eese was in a daze.
She’d just gotten off the phone with Drew Corbett, who’d called to tell her that she’d won the apprentice competition. He’d praised her audition performance as “captivating” and “brilliant,” confidently predicting that viewers would love her.
Reese had been floored, and undeniably flattered. Perhaps that would explain why, when she opened her mouth to politely decline the offer—as she’d planned—what came out instead was, “Thank you so much for this incredible opportunity. I look forward to working with you!”
After the call ended, she’d stared incredulously at the phone in her hand. She couldn’t believe how easily she’d abandoned her plan to get even with Michael. What on earth had gotten into her?
Who are you kidding? her conscience mocked. You never had any intention of turning down the opportunity to work with Michael Wolf. Who in their right mind would?
Despite everything Reese had told herself, and despite the fact that she’d spent the past three days calling him everything but a child of God, she still wanted Michael. He’d awakened something deep inside her. Something wanton, delicious, intoxicating.
Something dangerously irresistible.
She couldn’t have stayed away from him if her life depended on it .
Suddenly her phone trilled, jerking her out of her trance. When she saw Victor’s name, her face heated with guilt, as if he’d intercepted her traitorous thoughts from hundreds of miles away. She considered ignoring the call, but she knew she couldn’t avoid him forever.
Blowing out a deep breath that ruffled her long bangs, she answered the phone. “Hey.”
“Reese? Thank God you picked up.” Victor sounded both relieved and exasperated. “I was just about to call your sister to see if we needed to file a missing persons report.”
“Don’t be so melodramatic,” Reese said dryly. “Besides, Raina wouldn’t have appreciated being woken up so early.”
“What do you mean?”
“She and Warrick are attending that conference in Italy, remember?”
“Oh, that’s right. I forgot.”
Reese had nearly forgotten herself. She’d been dying to call her sister and tell her everything that had happened in the past four days. In fact, on the night she met Michael, she’d excused herself after dinner and made a beeline for the restroom just to FaceTime Raina. And then she remembered that her sister was out of the country with her husband. Since returning from their honeymoon three months ago, the newlyweds had been inseparable, and while this recent trip was for business, Reese had no doubt they’d spend as much time in bed as out of it.
“We should’ve gone with them,” Victor said wistfully. “I could’ve shown you guys around Venice and taken you to some of the best places in the world to eat. We could’ve had a wonderful time together.” He sighed. “If only you and I weren’t such workaholics.”
Reese refrained from reminding him that he was the one who’d cited their busy schedules when Raina invited them to join her and Warrick on their business trip. Reese had been more than willing to take time off for a romantic excursion to Italy, but Victor had refused.
His remark was just another example of his selective memory. Apparently he’d also chosen to forget that he’d promised to give her space. Calling her every day wasn’t what she’d had in mind when she’d asked for a breather.
“I’ve left you several messages,” he told her. “Did you get them?”
“Yes. I haven’t had a chance to call you back.” You haven’t given me a chance . “Victor?— ”
“So what’ve you been doing with yourself?” he swiftly changed the subject. “Done any sightseeing?”
“A little.” Inside the kitchen, Reese crossed to the refrigerator and removed a plate of thawed veal cutlets she’d seasoned earlier to make veal parmigiana for dinner. She’d made a pact with herself not to eat out more than twice a week, although it was tempting with so many great restaurants to choose from.
“Why are you being so vague?” Victor complained. “I’m not interrogating you. I just want to know what you’ve been up to.”
Leaning back against the center island, Reese gave him a quick rundown of her week. Other than to mention having dinner at Wolf’s Soul, she didn’t elaborate on her encounters with Michael Wolf, or the apprenticeship. She didn’t feel like dealing with Victor’s jealousy, which was only a recent development.
“How long are you going to keep running away, Reese?”
Here we go . “Don’t start,” she warned.
“Damn it, Reese, can’t you see how crazy this is, how irrational you’re behaving? If I skipped town every time I lost a patient?—”
Anger slashed through her. “Don’t even go there.”
He sighed harshly. “Reese?—”
“No,” she snapped, her voice trembling with leashed anger. “I don’t want to have this conversation with you. You made your feelings perfectly clear before I left. There’s nothing more to discuss.”
“ Merda! Would you just listen to me?”
“I’ve heard enough!” she shouted, lurching away from the counter. “I can’t believe you’d be callous enough to throw Deidra Thomas’s death in my face like that! The most awful day of my life was the day I had to look her husband in the eye and tell him he had to raise their three young children alone. I will never forget—” Her voice broke, and she blinked back hot tears.
“Reese—” Victor began.
“I’ve been trying my damnedest not to think about what that poor man and his family must be going through. God knows it hasn’t been easy. Every time I talk to him or Deidra’s sister, I want to get on my knees and beg their forgiveness for letting her die. Every time one of them texts me a new picture of little Faith, my heart breaks all over again.” Reese swallowed hard around the knot of emotion in her throat. “Maybe I’m not as strong as you are, Victor. Maybe you would have handled Deidra’s death so much better. But I’m not you, okay? Deidra was my very first patient. I delivered all of her children. I dined with her family, watched them celebrate the news of each pregnancy. They welcomed me into their lives and put their trust in me. So yes, losing her sent me into a bit of a tailspin. I needed to get away for a while and clear my head, and I’m not going to apologize for that.”
“I never asked you to,” Victor said defensively.
“Haven’t you?” Reese shook her head, tears blurring her vision. “I needed you, Victor. I needed your support, not judgment and criticism. I needed your empathy and compassion, not condescending lectures. Even if you thought I was being overemotional, I needed you to let me cry on your shoulder. I needed you to hold me and tell me everything would be okay. I needed you to show me you cared. But that was asking too much of you, wasn’t it? I mean, you can’t even be bothered to call Deidra by her name. You call her my ‘patient’ or ‘that woman’ because she didn’t mean anything to you, and so therefore, she shouldn’t mean anything to me, right?”
There was a long, heavy silence.
She waited tensely. Waited for him to acknowledge her feelings. Waited for him to apologize for his insensitivity and lack of emotional support. Waited for him to defend himself, at least, to offer some kind of explanation, no matter how flimsy.
She waited, and finally he sighed. “Let’s not argue anymore, cara mia . Please?”
Anger flooded her again. “That’s all you have to say?”
He made a frustrated sound. “What do you want me to say, Reese? I disappointed you, fell short of your expectations. And now you’re there and I’m here.”
She shook her head at the ceiling. “I have to go,” she said tightly.
“Reese—”
“I want to finish making dinner so I can catch a movie later.”
“Alone?”
“Yes,” she bit off. “ Alone .”
“Will you call me tomorrow?”
“No.”
“Can I call you?”
“I’d rather you didn’t.” He started to protest, but she cut him off. “I meant what I said about taking a break. I haven’ t changed my mind.”
He cursed under his breath. “You’re going to meet someone else, I just know it.”
An image of Michael’s face flashed through her mind. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to block it out as she said evenly, “We need a breather from each other, Victor. That means we shouldn’t talk for a while. No exceptions.”
He sighed harshly in her ear. “If that’s what you really want?—”
“It is.”
“Fine. Have it your way.”
“Thank you. Goodnight, Victor.” Reese hung up and dropped her phone on the counter with a loud clatter. She could feel the onset of a headache behind her eyes, and as she surveyed the thawed veal cutlets, she realized she’d lost her appetite.
Damn you, Victor , she thought rancorously.
Abandoning her plans to make dinner, she strode to the butler’s pantry and snagged a bottle of cabernet sauvignon from the wine rack. She poured herself a nice big glass and headed into the living room.
As she sank into a comfy armchair, her gaze landed on Michael’s Howlin’ Good cookbook on the fireplace mantel, where she’d placed it so she wouldn’t forget to burn it.
That was three days ago. The rage she’d felt toward Michael had lessened considerably since then. At the moment, truth be told, she was madder at Victor than Michael. So mad, in fact, that she was beginning to think their relationship couldn’t be saved. It had been on life support for a long time.
Maybe it was time to finally pull the plug.