Fifteen Days to Divorce novel · Chapter 4 of 24

Chapter 4: Glass in His Palm

The bed in Malachi's room was the size of a small boat.

Portia stood at the foot of it in her pajamas with her arms folded.

Malachi stood by the window, holding a blanket and a pillow.

"I'll take the floor," he said.

"It's your house."

"You get the bed."

"You have a shoot at six tomorrow."

"I've slept in worse."

"On a floor?"

"In a tent. In a Humvee. Once in a coat check."

She laughed before she could stop herself, and his mouth moved, just slightly, at one corner.

It was the first time she had seen it in a year.

She took the left side of the bed.

He lay down on the rug with his back to her, a long dark shape on the rug beside the bed.

She put a pillow between them, on the edge of the mattress.

"Rules," she said to the ceiling. "No touching."

"Unless a camera is on," Malachi said.

"There's no camera."

"No."

The lamp on his side was still lit.

He sat up to turn it off, and his elbow caught the water glass on the nightstand.

He grabbed for it, and the glass shattered in his hand.

"Don't move," Portia said.

She was off the bed before she had decided to be.

Blood ran from his palm down to his wrist, bright against his white sleeve.

"It's fine," he said.

"It's not. Sit."

She found the first aid kit in the bathroom, under a tower of expensive towels. She came back and knelt on the rug in front of him.

Keep reading free with an account. Start Fifteen Days to Divorce from Chapter 1, then sign up free to read the rest of this chapter.