Chapter 6: The Board

"I have a shift at noon," I said.

"You won't make it."

"I'm not skipping it. I'm going to the meeting in what I'd wear to the shift."

Damien looked at me.

"You don't have to come."

"You need a wife on your arm at nine."

"I need a wife who looks the part."

"You need the one you've got."

I went back to my room and pulled my navy scrubs on.

I put my coat over them.

I didn't look in the mirror.

The Kastar Holdings boardroom was on the fifty-first floor.

Snow ran sideways past the windows, and the long table looked like a surgical tray.

Twelve people sat around it.

Every one of them turned when the doors opened.

Damien walked in with his hand at my back.

It was a camera-ready touch, light and exact.

I felt it through my coat like a coal.

"The chief executive," a man said, "has brought a guest."

"My wife," Damien said.

A silence rolled down the table.

I heard a pen set down.

At the head of it sat a woman in a pale gray suit.

Forty-four, sleek dark hair, small pearl earrings.

She rose halfway and held out her hand.

"Celia Marsh. Vice chair. We've been so eager to meet you."

Her fingers were cool and dry.

She had Elena's mouth.

I knew that, because I'd looked at the photograph for an hour.

"Ava."

"Of course. The nurse." She smiled. "How touching. And how quick."

"We've been together a while," Damien said.

"Have you?"

She sat and folded her hands.

"Forgive me. I'm only wondering when a man who hasn't taken a weekend in twelve years found time for a courtship."

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