It's Friday afternoon, a couple of days later. I'm still glowing in the aftermath of my fantastic date with Marcus, weird little scene with Lydia notwithstanding. I'm still a little angry about that, but it's not anyone's fault – well, except Lydia's – and I certainly don't hold a grown woman's behavior against anybody else.Despite that little hiccup, and despite the gloomy and worried tone that inevitably crept in when Marcus and I discussed some of our concerns around Charles, it was a marvelous evening. I don't know that I've ever felt so taken care of, so listened to, so considered.Well, except the last time I went out with Marcus, that is.I think he might be it, I muse to myself. I don't know how I'm going to reconcile that with the fact that I'm currently parading around as someone else after having faked my own death, but I'm starting to think that this might be fate.This might be it for me. Marcus might be The One.I don't know why I'm so certain of this. I never believed
"What do you think we're looking at, here?" Dr. Madison asks me as we wait for the toxicology report to come in. "Did he accidentally ingest something? Was it a medicine mixup – maybe an accidental overdose? Could it possibly be a suicide attempt?"My face must look uncertain, because she rushes to assure me."I'm not going to talk to the press, I promise," she says. "I'm not even offended to think you were worried about that, because I understand how delicate your position is. I just want to know what you think is going on, because I don't see how this has happened."It's rare for a mentally competent man of his age to accidentally poison himself," she goes on. "That's something I'd expect to see either in a young child, in someone with a learning disability, or in an elderly and confused patient."For a mentally sound man in his late 60s to come into my ER with a poisoning this severe, I have to think of a couple of different likely scenarios. One is a poisoning attempt. Another is
"I still can't believe it," Dr. Madison says a while later. We're reviewing the report together again, obviously after we ordered the necessary treatment to counteract the poison Emmett had been given.It's not certain whether or not he'll pull through, but he has a fighting chance.Digitalis poisoning," Dr. Madison repeats in disbelief for the third time since we first saw the results, peering over my shoulder to scan the report in my hands again. "Foxglove? My god, did they pull that from an Agatha Christie novel? Did they actually expect to get away with this?""I told you, I think he's getting desperate," I murmur, rapidly scanning the report again. "Best case, I think he was hoping that you'd assume that I screwed up – maybe even on purpose – and gave him too much of his digoxin pills. That tracks with me being the one who dispenses his medication."Next best, you'd think it was an accidental overdose – like you said, that you'd conclude he'd gotten confused and taken too much on
"So, how do we approach this?" I ask Dr. Madison and Marcus, looking from one to the other with uncertainty."Well, we have two problems," Marcus says slowly, tapping a finger against his chin. "We need to figure out how to address the police investigation – that's one big problem. We need to find a way to get them to keep this discreet.""How are you going to get the NYPD to keep something like this discreet?" Dr. Madison asks. Marcus flashes her a dazzling smile, and she smiles back, despite the seriousness of our conversation."Through influence," Marcus says. "Our family is a hugely prominent one; there are ways to get police to approach your situation with a great deal of care, when you're a family like ours.""Money and status," I say. Marcus shoots me a rueful grin."Basically, yes," he says. "I'm not saying it's right or fair, because it isn't. However, as you're both well aware, it's absolutely necessary in this case. Other lives besides my father's might be on the line – min
"The first thing we need to do is call Liam," Marcus says, checking his phone. "I called him earlier, so he knows that Father is here at the hospital, but I need to update him. We're going to need his help, both with Jack Darlington and the press."Marcus makes a face and shakes his head, scrolling down his screen."What's wrong?" I ask."Only about the 35,000 missed calls I have from everyone from Mother to Joel's wife to about 16 different news agencies," Marcus sighs. "Damn it, what a mess. All right. Liam first. I'll step out into the hallway – is there a private place to make this call?" He addresses this question to Dr. Madison."I'll show you to the conference room on this floor," she says. "You can make the call in privacy from there."They leave together, and I'm left with the unconscious Alpha. I scoot over closer to his bed and take his hand in mine. It's very cold."I'll see about getting you another blanket or two," I murmur to him, reaching my other hand to sweep his hai
Dr. Madison goes over the treatment plan with the Luna, with Marcus and Liam listening attentively. After she finishes, all of us but the Luna retire to the conference room to talk further about our options for discussing the situation with the police and the press."Jack is on his way here now," Liam says, checking the time on his phone. "We really can't let him be seen by the press; how are we going to get him in here?""He can come in through a staff entrance," Dr. Madison says, twirling a pen in her long fingers and tapping it absentmindedly against the notepad in front of her. I smile to myself – I wonder if this is a common fidget habit for restless doctors, since I do it myself."He's coming in plainclothes, as I instructed him," Liam says. "So, that should work. Will the nurses at your station know the best place for him to come in?""Yes, absolutely," Dr. Madison says. "My nurses are the best at discretion, you'll find. They live to protect their patients.""I'll go talk to t
"How could this have happened?" Charles shrieks, flinging another paperweight across the room. It shatters against the fireplace, collapsing into shards of pottery dust and sharp corners. Darlene winces; she'd been rather fond of that one.They've met to discuss the matter at the Hardys' home, since the mansion is too risky. Too many ears everywhere, Charles seethes. Too many little spies, counterspies, working against him. The Alpha should be dead. That wretched little doctor should never have been able to save him."It's like she has a goddamn sixth sense," Charles says, pacing erratically. "No one was supposed to interrupt him for at least another hour, which would've given the poison time to finish its work."He always rests for two hours after lunch, no meetings or interruptions allowed. Of course, that's the one time that Dr. Goddamn Prism decides that rules don't apply to her, that she can request an audience with the Alpha during his private study time."And of course, instead
I'm still absolutely baffled by the lunch invitation I received from Becki, but Marcus, the Alpha, the Luna, Liam, and I all agreed it would be best to go and see what she's up to now. I ran it by Kent and the rest of the gang, too."I don't know, either," Kent says, stirring his coffee and tapping his spoon on the edge of the mug before taking a big gulp. "But I agree: best to go see what she wants, probably? Ty, what do you think?""I agree," Ty says from over at the oven, where he's pulling some bake-and-serve cinnamon rolls out. "I figure they're trying to get close to the Alpha again, for what it's worth.""Sounds right to me," Torsten says from his spot at the table. "They don't know that Nicole is…well, Nicole," he points out. "They think she's some doctor from Australia, who doesn't know how Becki is tied up with Charles and everybody else.""So, it would make sense to befriend 'Dr. Prism' to try to get a shot at getting close enough at the Alpha to take him out again," Brady
"Marcus!" I shout, tripping over the last step at the bottom of the staircase. "Ouch! Damn it, we need to get that fixed. Marcus, where are you?""I'm in here, carina," Marcus calls back. He comes out of the kitchen with a raised eyebrow. "Just making your coffee. I think I've almost got this machine figured out, I swear."I burst out laughing. "It's been five years, honey. I think if you were going to get along with that machine, it would've happened by now."
"I'm so glad you chose a December wedding, darling girl," Jeanette says to me, looking a bit misty-eyed. She steps back from the mirror we're both looking in after adjusting my veil and clasps her hands in front of her."Me, too," I breathe, lifting a hand to touch my face. Jeanette slaps it away, playfully."What are you doing?" she exclaims. "You're going to ruin all of Maya's hard work. You look stunning, my dearest. Don't smudge your foundation, I beg of you. Are you nervous? A mimos
The biggest problem with waitressing is that Becki really freaking hates it, okay?It's miserable. People are so rude to you, all the time, and your arms ache after each shift from carrying around everybody's hot plates and their stupid trays of cocktails and wine and soda and god knows what else.And nobody is ever happy, either. They ordered a Cabernet Sauvignon, but all your restaurant sells is Merlot. Well. You'd think the entire sky was falling down, the way some people car
The dinner is sumptuous, one of the most elegant dinners I've ever had, even by Alpha-family standards. It's an old-school seven course dinner, with hors d'oeuvres circulating on silver trays along with trays of champagne while the servers set up for dinner.Then comes the soup, which is a crab bisque that I could eat all night long, even if there were no other courses. I make a mental note to tell Marcus that I definitely want it served at our wedding.Next are the appetizers - a sort o
A few weeks later, I'm at the villa, poring over paint samples. Jeanette has been very generous in helping me with ideas for a massive makeover for the villa, and I'm excited to make the place really my own.Well, mine and Marcus's, of course. He comes home in the evenings from his business duties at the hotel to have a glass of wine with me and talk over options. We've discussed decorators, but for now, I think I'd like to handle most of the decisions myself."You surely don't expect to
The next morning, Marcus and I are having coffee in the villa kitchen when my phone rings again. I tense up and check the caller ID to make sure it's not my father again, and I heave a sigh of relief when I see that it's Jack Darlington."Hey, Jack," I say when I answer the phone. Marcus raises his eyebrows at me in question, and I shrug. "What's up?""What's up is that I have some fantastic news for you," Jack says at the other end of the line. There's a rush of traffic and voices in th
A week later, I'm starting to feel like I've really settled into my new life full of possibility and hope. Things are so much easier now, and not just because I don't have to hide who I am anymore.As soon as Charles was taken away by police and chucked into jail where he belongs, awaiting his trial in the human court system, it was like a black cloud of despair and tension finally lifted from over my head.It's time for me to move on, into my new life, with my new family and friends.
"Do I look all right?" I ask Marcus in our bedroom at the villa. I'm staring at myself in the mirror, smoothing my navy blue dress over my hips. "I've never been to a Werewolf Council before; I'm not exactly sure what I'm supposed to wear.""You look fantastic," Marcus says, coming up behind me to tug my zipper all the way to the top of my dress. "Very professional. A real Alpha's Heir wife.""Fiancee," I say with a smile. I tuck a curl - now back to its original brown - behind my ear. M
"It's terribly convenient for you, Marcus, that your paramour owns an entire villa for you to move into at the drop of a hat," Liam grumbles the next day as he helps us wheel our suitcases to the elevators. "Some of us are going to be in this bloody hotel for the next decade, if the fire department has anything to say about it.""It's not the fire department's fault that Nicole's ex-boyfriend is a psychotic arsonist," Marcus responds, shooting me a wicked little grin. I whack his arm playfully.