Yours to Keep

Chapter 1

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The champagne tasted sweet, like victory.

Earlier in the day, I had signed my name on a five-year contract that officially made me a nurse practitioner at the hospital I had always wanted to work at.

It was my forever dream, and it all still felt entirely surreal, even when Ellora slammed into me, hugging me like I might disappear if she let go.

“I’m so proud of you,” Ellora gushed, still holding on tight. “I knew it,” she said into my hair before pulling back to wipe tears from under her eyes. “Saint Raphael’s was never going to be stupid enough to let you go.”

Mercedes flagged down the waiter, ordering another bottle of ludicrously priced champagne.

Then she raised her glass to me. “To Bree. Here’s to finally being able to boss the doctors around when you prove them wrong.

Maybe one of them will have a kink for hot bossy nurse practitioners.

” She pumped her eyebrows and brought her glass to her lips. “Hubba hubba.”

I laughed and took another sip of my champagne. “Thanks, guys, and thanks for dropping your husbands like hot potatoes tonight to come celebrate with me on no notice at all.”

“A few hours away from home will make it so much more fun when I get back there,” Mercedes said, her cheeks flushing and a definite twinkle sparking to life in her eyes.

I arched an eyebrow at her. “Why is that?”

“Welllll,” she hedged. “You see, when a mommy and a daddy really love each other—”

“She and Kody are trying for a baby, remember?” Ellora said bluntly, smirking as she glanced at me.

“No luck yet, but apparently, the fun is in the trying. So they’ve been trying.

A lot. And talking about it even more. Which doesn’t result in babies, for the record,” Ellora added in a pleading tone.

“It is fun.” Mercedes let out a content sigh. “Seriously, Kody has been insatiable these last few months. It’s been awesome. You should try it.”

“Holden and I have only been married a year.” Ellora laughed, but her cheeks flushed in a way that made me think she wouldn’t be opposed to all that trying. “Besides, we’re pouring every spare minute into the foundation right now, but we’ll get there.”

Despite the lighthearted mood around the table, my heart gave a pang when I thought about Holden starting a foundation in honor of Ellora’s mother. Sara had been Ellora’s best friend and her number one supporter, until she’d been diagnosed with early onset dementia and everything had changed.

For a few months, I’d been her nurse. That was how I’d met Ellora, and I would never forget her mother.

Thanks to Holden, many people out there would never forget her either.

Through their foundation, they did all sorts of charity work to support dementia patients and their families, and their efforts were making a massive difference in the lives of people who needed it most. I knew the work they did brought Ellora some peace, but I also knew the deep ache she still felt over the loss of her mother.

Ellora took a deep, steadying breath and smiled as she set her glass down. “More to the point, I still can’t believe you’re going to be at Saint Raphael’s permanently. This is huge. You’ve wanted that since, well, forever.”

I blinked away the tears that had jumped into my eyes at the thought of Sara and refocused on my friends, the here and now. “Some people have vision boards. I had tunnel vision.”

Mercedes wrapped her manicured fingers around her glass and studied my face. “You know, I don’t think I actually know why you’ve always wanted that hospital so bad. All I know is that it was the goal, but why?”

The noise of the restaurant faded a little as the question settled in my brain, and I traced a finger through the condensation on my glass as I thought about my answer.

“When I was a kid, my dad had a heart attack. He collapsed one night in the kitchen, out of nowhere. I remember the sound my mom made when he went down. It was the most awful moment of my life, but the ambulance took him to Saint Raphael’s and the staff there saved his life. ”

Ellora’s expression softened. Mercedes reached over and squeezed my hand, and I nodded slowly as I glanced between them.

“I never forgot the nurses who sat with me in the waiting room. One of them let me color on her clipboard because she said it made me look official, and I decided that when I grew up, I wanted to be them. Someone who shows up on the worst day of a stranger’s life and makes it survivable. ”

For a beat, neither of them spoke. Then Mercedes sniffed. “Okay, wow.”

Ellora nodded solemnly. “I was about to say something inspirational, but now I just want to cry into the breadsticks.”

I laughed. “Please don’t. These are garlic.”

Ellora leaned back. A smug little smile spread on her lips as the mood around the table lifted again as naturally as it had dipped. “Well, now that you’ve got your dream job with your ultimate employer, there’s only one thing missing.”

I narrowed my eyes. “If you say all you need now is a man, I’m leaving.”

Mercedes shot me an excited, beaming grin. “All you need now is a man.”

I groaned and dropped my forehead onto the table. “Why are you like this?”

“Because we’re married,” Ellora said as if she was explaining gravity. “And marriage is amazing. You’d love it.”

“You really would,” Mercedes agreed. “Because of Kody, I basically live in leggings and optimism. What more could a girl ask for?”

I lifted my head. “Affordable scrubs and orthotics. A laundry fairy. A chocolate cake recipe that magically has no calories. Should I keep going?”

Ellora laughed. “We’re just saying, your life is perfect now. Dream job. Awesome best friends. You deserve love too.”

“I have love,” I said pointedly. “I love my job. I love helping people. I love having my bed all to myself and being able to sleep eight hours straight when I’m not on shift. Why would I bother with a man when statistically, they’re just extra work, and, in almost all cases, disappointing?”

Ellora rolled her eyes at me. “Because they’re only disappointing until you find the right man.”

I snorted. “Sure. Let me just pencil in finding the exact right man between patient rounds and charting.”

Ellora smiled knowingly, the kind that made me deeply suspicious. “Just don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

I raised my glass again. “To working my ass off at Saint Raphael’s and staying single until further notice.”

They clinked glasses with me even though I knew they didn’t agree. My phone dinged with a text right as Mercedes was telling a story that involved ovulation strips and the phrase “he broke the bed frame.”

Mid-laugh, my eyes lowered out of habit to the device on the table, skimming across the email that had popped up on my screen. Almost instantly, I froze and both of them noticed. Mercedes cut herself off and Ellora’s eyes widened. “What?”

“That was my first official work email.”

Mercedes gasped dramatically, then inclined her chin toward my phone with a huge grin splitting her face. “Read it. It’s a rite of passage, the first time work interrupts a night out with your friends.”

“Well, no. That’s happened before. Just not… this work.” I straightened, suddenly feeling a touch reverent. “Okay. Everyone, be quiet. This is a moment.”

I cleared my throat and read aloud. “Dear Saint Raphael’s Staff, We are writing to inform you that effective immediately, Saint Raphael’s Hospital has been purchased by Crowne Medical.

” I paused and inhaled through my nose. Was this abrupt announcement making my head spin, or was that all the bubbly?

Sold? Crowne Medical? My friends urged me to keep going, so I licked my lips and continued.

“There will be a mandatory all-staff meeting tomorrow morning to discuss next steps during this transition.”

I blinked hard, trying to scroll down further to get more information, but there was nothing else. “That’s, uh, that’s it. That’s all it says.”

“Oh boy.” Ellora frowned. “Is it just me, or is that very short for something that feels very bad?”

“I don’t understand,” I said slowly. “It’s been purchased? Just like that? Like, some company walked in there and bought the entire hospital with no prior warning? How does something like that even happen?”

“Money.” Mercedes was already pulling out her phone, her fingers flying across her screen a moment later. “First things first. Who is Crowne Medical? Does anyone know?”

“Nope.” I swallowed. “But I still don’t like the sound of it.”

Three seconds later, Mercedes grimaced and my heart started pounding wildly.

Thump thump.

“Oh,” she said as she read whatever she’d found. “Oh, boy was right. This is a pretty freaking big oh, boy.”

Thump thump. Thump thump.

Ellora leaned over, her eyes as wide as saucers. “Oh boy, what, Mercedes? Don’t leave us hanging like that. What?”

Mercedes turned the phone so we could see her screen and, more specifically, the incredibly handsome man staring out of it. “Girls, meet Sullivan Crowne, owner and founder of Crowne Medical.”

At the sight of him, my pounding heart stopped working altogether.

“Who is he?” I choked out as my gaze swept across the picture, taking in piercing blue eyes and a face sculptors would dream about and therapists would warn against.

He had a jawline that could sharpen machetes and sandy blonde hair long enough to grab hold of, but his stare was hard and his strong chin was slanted in a haughty way that made me want to slap him.

“It says here that he’s a billionaire in medical tech development. They do diagnostics, imaging, and AI-assisted equipment. That kind of thing.”

Ellora scrunched up her nose as she read whatever came next, but while I could see the man’s face, the words underneath it were swimming a little. “Fuck. Rumor has it that he’s ruthless in business. Apparently, he has a heart of ice.”

Mercedes groaned. “They call him the Cold King of Healthcare.”