Page 105 of Shattering

Her eyes flashed. "And here I thought we were friends."

And once, they had been.

Not friends in the way he was with Byron, or Cadi. But colleagues.

They had spent hours together in theatre, complaining about the rota, laughing at the ridiculous things juniors said, sharing stories about their families—Gray about Cadi and Tomos, Vanessa about her nephew who wanted to be a doctor.

Vanessa had always flirted—lightly, nothing Gray ever took seriously. He had ignored it. Kept things professional.

Then, at some point, he had stopped talking about Cadi.

And Vanessa had noticed.

She had stepped in, assuming the cracks in his marriage meant opportunity.

But he wasn't interested.

Not once.

Not until the day he had been an idiot.

Until the consultants' room, when he had let his own insecurities get the best of him, and used her to try and make Cadi jealous.

A mistake.

A fucking disaster of a mistake.

Gray exhaled sharply, looking at her now. "We were never friends. I was an idiot. I let ya mess with my head, an' that's on me. But this? This stops now."

Vanessa took another step closer, voice dropping into something dangerously soft. "You really think you can get rid of me that easily?"

Gray looked at her, finally meeting her eyes. "Aye. I do."

Vanessa smiled. It wasn't pleasant.

"There's no proof, Gray. Nothing happened, remember?"

Gray's jaw tightened. He clenched his fists, feeling his pulse drum against his skin. It was good he didn't hit women.

Vanessa stepped even closer, her voice turning mockingly sweet.

"You know that. And I know that."

She tilted her head, studying him like a predator considering its prey.

"But will Cadi believe it?"

Gray's breath hitched.

Vanessa smirked. "The woman is always right, isn't she? Just a small allegation of sexual misconduct, and boom—there goes your life, Gray."

Gray felt rage coil in his chest, sharp and uncontrolled.

She was playing dirty.

Cadi.

What if she believed it?

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