Page 1 of Forced Into Your Arms
1
MILAN RIVERS
Moving back to Atlanta wasn’t exactly how I pictured my life at twenty-eight, but after everything that happened, I needed a fresh start. Staying in Florida would’ve meant driving past places that held too many memories and pretending ten years of my life hadn’t ended with another woman standing at the altar beside the man I thought I’d spend forever with.
I wasn’t about to torture myself like that.
Coming back home wasn’t part of the plan, but neither was wasting another ten years wondering why I wasn’t enough for a man who’d already made his choice.
I grabbed my hospital badge from the kitchen counter and looked around my apartment. Boxes were still stacked against the wall, and my living room looked more like a storage unit than a place someone actually lived, but I wasn’t worried about decorating. There would be plenty of time for that later. Right now, my only concern was making it through my first shift at Grady Memorial without looking like the new girl.
As I reached for my keys, my eyes landed on the vase sitting beside the coffee maker.
The white roses had finally started dying.
A few petals had already fallen onto the counter while the rest curled around the edges, looking just as tired as I felt the day they showed up.
I walked over to them and pulled the card from between the stems and read it one last time.
Ten years will never mean nothing to me…
That was all it said, and there was no name because there was no need to be one.
I knew exactly who’d sent them.
Evan Tucker had always been good at showing up after he’d already screwed everything up. Unfortunately for him, flowers couldn’t erase betrayal, and they damn sure couldn’t erase the image of him marrying somebody else.
“I should’ve thrown these away the day they got here,” I muttered then slid the card back into the arrangement before carrying the entire vase to the trash can. I dumped the flowers in there, tossed the vase in right behind them, and then closed the lid.
It didn’t magically make me feel better. It just felt… necessary.
My phone buzzed across the counter just as I tied my scrub jacket around my waist. It was a call from my sister, Mariah, causing me to smile as I answered. “Hey, Sis.”
“Tell me you ain’t still standing in that apartment overthinking your first day.”
I laughed as I grabbed my bag and headed for the door. “I’m literally walking out now.”
“Good… Because if you miss your first shift, I’m coming over there to drag you out myself.”
“You’ve always been so supportive.” I rolled my eyes. The words were true, but the sarcasm behind them wasn’t hard to miss.
“I am supportive. I’m also honest.”
Again, I rolled my eyes as if she could see them. “I’ll call you after work.”
“You better. And Milan…”
“Yeah?”
“I’m proud of you.”
Her words stopped me in my tracks for a second. She’d been saying those four words ever since I packed up my life and moved back to Atlanta. Every single time, they hit me a little harder than the last.
“Thanks,” I finally said.
After we hung up, I locked my door and headed toward the elevator. Atlanta was supposed to be my fresh start. I just hoped it actually stayed that way.
The elevator doors opened, and I stepped inside, letting out a slow breath as it carried me down to the parking garage.
