“The doctors say I’m fine.”
“Good.”
“That’s all?”
I looked up.
She lowered her voice.
“Dominic, think before you turn this into something it isn’t.
You don’t know what that woman wants.”
“She didn’t call me for nine months.”
“Exactly.
And now suddenly you’re in the same hospital and your name is in a file?”
I stood.
“Claire didn’t arrange a cardiac emergency to trap me.”
Vanessa’s jaw tightened.
“You know what I mean.”
“I know exactly what you mean.”
She glanced at the maternity doors.
“My father expects us at dinner tomorrow.
People are already talking about where this relationship is going.
You and I aren’t just two people dating.
There are businesses tied together because of us.
Agreements.
Expectations.”
There it was.
The same logic I had used on myself for years.
Business first.
Appearances first.
Everyone else became a piece on the board.
“Vanessa,” I said, “whatever arrangement people imagined between us ends tonight.”
Her face went still.
“You’re breaking with me because your former bartender had a baby?”
“No.”
I stepped closer.
“I’m ending this because while a woman was fighting for her life behind those doors, your first concern was whether people saw me run after her.”
She stared at me.
“And your first concern nine months ago was yourself,” she said.
That landed because it was true.
I didn’t defend myself.
Vanessa seemed surprised by that.
“Maybe it was,” I said.
Her anger faltered for a second.
“Then don’t make me the villain because you finally feel guilty.”
“I’m not.”
I meant it.
Vanessa wasn’t responsible for what I had done to Claire.
I was.
“I’ll make sure every business agreement between our families is handled cleanly,” I said.
“Nothing changes tonight except us.”
She studied my face, then gave a small, bitter nod.
“So she wins.”
“This isn’t a competition.”
Vanessa turned and walked away.
This time I didn’t watch her leave.
At two seventeen in the morning, the nurse came for me again.
“Ms.
Holloway is awake.”
My heart started pounding.
