Page 9 of Shadows of Obsession

The next twenty minutes pass in a blur of patient checks and data monitoring, making sure every signal's coming through clean. Just as I'm wrapping up, I catch Victoria glaring at her phone, but by the time I've packed my laptop, she's vanished.

God, I need coffee.The hospital's excuse for caffeine is basically brown water, so I decide to brave the cold and head toward the Magnificent Mile to the Starbucks Reserve Roastery.Sure, I'll probably freeze solid, but after being cooped up for days, I need to breathe real air.

I'm barely out the hospital door when I hear it - an angry hiss from my left.

“Are you insane? Roman will have you killed, Ryan.”

I shouldn't look. I really shouldn't. But I do, and there's Victoria, half-hidden in the shadows of an oak tree, facing off with some trust fund kid in a designer wool coat. His hair's plastered back with enough gel to drown a small animal, but it's his expression that sets off alarm bells. Before I can process why, his hand shoots up, gripping her face roughly, and my body moves before my brain can catch up.

"Get your hands off me, you psycho!" Victoria's voice cracks with anger.

Where the hell did her security disappear to?

"You really think you can dump me, Victoria? You think I give a damn who your brother is?" His words drip with venom, frustration making his voice razor-sharp.

"Victoria," I call out, stepping closer. "I need to check those bracelet stats again."

Ryan looks at me like I'm something stuck to his shoe that he can't scrape off. Victoria's face is a mix of horror and...is that shame? I don't waste time analyzing - just wedge myself between them, hand outstretched like some kind of human shield.

He backs off but not before throwing one last threat her way. "Answer my messages next time, malyshka."

I nearly gag at his pathetic attempt at Russian - like nails on a chalkboard.

We're barely clear of him when I glance at Victoria. She's flushed pink, eyes fixed on the ground. By the time we reach the hospital entrance, he's vanished.

"Hey... you okay?" The moment she lifts her eyes to mine, my heart splinters. God, I know that look. Worn it myself too many times - that expression when you're too exhausted to lie but too ashamed to tell the truth, so you get stuck somewhere in between. Before she can force out some half-truth, I jump in.

"Don't worry about explaining. But Vi? That guy isn't worth your time."

She gives me a small nod, but before I can say more, a voice like thunder rolls across the parking lot. Vi's bodyguard materializes in the hospital doorway, his expression unreadable - I can't tell if he's more relieved to find her or ready to murder us both.

"Shit," Victoria mutters under her breath.

"Ten seconds," he growls, fixing me with a look that could freeze hell. "Tell me why you're with Victoria and why she's been ghosting my calls for twenty minutes."

Victoria's face goes from pink to scarlet as she stares at her shoes. It's pretty obvious she pulled some moves to slip away and meet that Ryan guy. Now I'm stuck - do I cover for her or tell the truth? One look at her, and I know my answer. Maybe it's crazy, but I want to be the person I needed back then even if every instinct screams this Ryan guy is bad news.

"I forgot to check her bracelet statistics and asked her to let me jot them down. We didn't realize how much time had passed," I tell him with a perfectly neutral face. Months of lying to friends and family are good for help with something, I guess.

I see him narrow his eyes at me, and studying Vi from head to toe, he asks, "Is that true?"

Vi drags her eyes from the ground. The poor thing couldn't lie to save her life, but she manages to squeak out a weak "Yes."

"Your brother's here." Three words that turn her to stone.

"Seriously, Goran?" Now she's the one who sounds outraged.

"Well, if you'd answered your damn phone, I wouldn't have had to call him. He'll probably string me up for losing you."

This feels like my cue to exit. I pull Vi into a quick hug, whispering, "Chin up, okay?" before making my escape.

God, I need that coffee more than ever.

I'm almost clear when a voice cuts through the air behind me. Victoria's brother. I fight the urge to turn around even though his voice hits like a shot of whiskey - smooth, smoky, and absolutely commanding.

"Changed your perfume?"

I can't help the smile that curves my lips. Trust Armani to make an impression.

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