Page 77 of Angels Are Falling

“He informed me there’ll be guards stationed outside the hospital to weed out reporters. They tend to get nosy after news breaks in this town.”

“Uh-huh.” I was not at all surprised that Kai was siccing bodyguards on me. Instead, I was thinking of ways to make him pay.

“All visitors are required to sign in at the front desk, but we’ll employ extra personnel in the coming weeks to protect your privacy at work.”

“Thank you, sir,” I said absentmindedly.

“Mr. Cavendish seems like a devoted husband.”

“Mm.”

“Will you let him know we’re doing everything in our power to provide you with a normal work experience?”

I gave him a stiff, “Yes, sir,” which was all he wanted to hear anyway, and returned to work. The rest of the shift was filled with more Mrs. Cavendish from nameless hospital staff and sidelong glances from friends. Those who knew I was married to Stefan didn’t approach me to ask what happened to my loving husband. Stefan had ceased to exist because Kai paid them enough to make it so. But Kai couldn’t control their minds with money. They were all thinking it. That I was a gold digger who left the love of my life for a rich man.

The dreadful day was almost over when I spotted Kai at the nurses’ station, dark shirt, hands in his pockets, listening to Jo with polite patience. Jo spoke with considerably more enthusiasm than she did with anyone else.

The moment I stepped into the corridor, he looked up. He always knew when I was in a room before I announced myself. I had initially found it unsettling, but I’m used to it now. I crossed my arms and walked toward him.

“What are you doing here?” I asked civilly, aware that the nurses’ station had gone very quiet. My freshly paid colleagues watched us with the focused attention of people watching a sporting event they had a personal stake in.

“I told you—I was picking you up from work.”

“And I told you not to bother.”

“I must not have received that text.”

Liar! I wanted to light his pretty hair on fire.

“Since I’m already here, get your things. We have a flight to catch.”

I stared at him. The audacity. “What the hell are you talking about?”

“We’re going out of the country for a few days.”

“Are you insane? I’m in the middle of a shift.”

“Your shift’s about to end.”

“I still have to work tomorrow.”

“Your shifts are covered for the rest of the week.”

“You can’t—” I stopped. Breathed. “You can’t walk into my workplace, rearrange my shifts, and expect me to—” I stopped again, aware of my audience. “That isn’t something you’re allowed to do.”

“The nurses covering your shifts are getting paid well for their time. But if you want to take this away from them, be my guest.” He extended an arm toward the nurses’ station, all of whom were listening intently to our conversation. It dawned on me there was a self-serving reason for the eavesdropping rather than mere hospital gossip. No doubt, Kai had offered them some obscene sum of money to cover my shifts for the next few days.

I gritted my teeth. He intentionally put me in impossible positions because I didn’t have the heart to take away life-changing opportunities from other people. “I can’t leave. The kids⁠—”

“Will be in boarding school until Friday. We’ll be back in time to pick them up.”

“I’m not going anywhere until you explain the article that just came out,” I said quietly but with precision.

There was a small movement across his expression. Not guilt—I doubted Kai was capable of guilt in any conventional sense—but it was an acknowledgment. “What about it?” he asked.

“You went to the press.” I kept my voice low. “You gave them photographs from our wedding. You let them publish four pages about your wife. Stefan’s in Dubai. He’ll come back to find out that⁠—”

“Amelie.” Just my name. Quiet. A warning. He reacted poorly whenever I mentioned Stefan and didn’t want to lose his shit at my work. I didn’t want that, either.