Total pages in book: 158
Estimated words: 145803 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 729(@200wpm)___ 583(@250wpm)___ 486(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 145803 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 729(@200wpm)___ 583(@250wpm)___ 486(@300wpm)
Vienna put her arms around Raine and held her. She felt thin. So small. Her body trembled and she was shaking as if she was silently crying. The other women crowded close, murmuring softly to console her, putting their hands on her shoulders. The slight twisting wasn’t good for her leg and had to hurt, but Vienna decided Raine needed comforting more than a lecture on keeping her leg exactly in a certain position.
“I’m all right,” Raine assured after a couple of minutes. She hiccuped and pulled away, looking sheepish. Her face was red and splotchy. Both hands went to her thigh. “I think I did something I shouldn’t have, Vienna.”
“Let me help you. You just sit straight. I take it you can’t get up to go to the bathroom.” Vienna eased her twisted thigh back into a straight position.
Instantly there was relief on Raine’s face. “No, and that’s so embarrassing. I have to let Rush know. I mean, I buzz for the nurse, but he says it’s silly not to just let him help me when he’s a doctor. That’s not happening. I think he regards me as a child.”
Shabina burst out laughing. “That’s exactly how Rainier views me. Like a little kid. He’s the calm one, and I can’t stop having panic attacks around him. I’m sure he causes them.”
Raine joined her, laughing. “It’s the same here. Rush absolutely causes me to have panic attacks. And he’s so superior sometimes, always in control. I’ll bet he’s the one deciding who’s on my visitor list.”
“No way,” Vienna objected. “Dr. Briac would be off that list so fast. I think Luciano would be as well. It isn’t Rush controlling that list.”
“All right, tell me more news.”
“Daniel Wallin committed suicide,” Vienna announced. “He was alone in his office and he hanged himself. He must have been afraid it would come out that he had tried to have Elliot and me killed.”
Raine shook her head slowly. “No way did he kill himself, Vienna. Elliot’s men got to him.”
“He was alone in a locked office,” Vienna reiterated.
“It was Zale and Rainier or some other of Elliot’s men,” Raine said. “If you’re going to spend the rest of your life with Zale, you had better know who he is.”
“You think he really killed Daniel?” Vienna sank into the chair Rush had vacated.
“Yes.” Raine glanced at Shabina. “There’s no doubt in my mind that Rainier was with him. He tried to kill you. He threatened to kill all of you. He would have done it, too. Daniel Wallin believed he could do whatever he wanted. There was no way Zale or Rainier would leave a threat like that hanging over any of your heads.”
In the back of her mind, Vienna had feared there was a possibility that Zale had something to do with Daniel’s death. She hadn’t asked him because she wasn’t certain she wanted to know. She looked at Shabina to see how she was taking the news. Shabina didn’t look surprised, more like resigned.
She shrugged. “I tried to talk to Rainier about Daniel Wallin, but as usual, he wouldn’t listen to me. He just said that he wasn’t going to have the man put a bounty on my head.” There was a hint of despair in her voice. “I wrecked his career. Lost him his woman. I think he stays in that life because he has a death wish. I think eventually someone is going to kill him, and that’s going to be on me as well.”
“Shabina.” Raine’s voice was gentle but persuasive. “Rainier is a grown man. Every single decision that he makes is his own. His choices. He isn’t your responsibility. What he chooses to do on your behalf isn’t your responsibility. You don’t ask him to take on those tasks. In fact, you try to stop him.”
Shabina looked down at her hands. “I don’t have any influence at all on him.”
“That’s my point, Shabina,” Raine said. “You can’t take responsibility when Rainier refuses to consider anything you say.”
Vienna took one look at Shabina’s expression and wanted to hug her. Shabina had never been good at hiding her emotions. She might logically understand what Raine said, but that didn’t mean her feelings didn’t tell her something different.
“You know what, Shabina? I understand perfectly. I think all of us do. We all have issues. Poor Zale is going to spend the rest of his life reassuring me. He doesn’t even know it yet, but that’s what he’s signed up for.” She poured cheer into her voice. “I feel guilt over it, and my birth mother was the one to whisper how men lie all the time. My birth father, who just happens to be his boss and hung me out to dry, left her for his big career. I shouldn’t feel guilt but I do. Just like you. I’m sure every woman here feels guilty over something they shouldn’t, because that’s what we do.”