CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE

VEGAS:

Present day…

For all of a minute I was livid at Shondra for what she'd pulled. How could she have subjected Jae to such a test? Once Tony took me outside and I could breathe the fresh air, my mind became clear. Sho had done what she did to protect me. She didn't want me to suffer like she had with a man who went after anything in a short skirt. A man who'd blighted her name every chance he had.

After she came back from dropping Tony off, we had a long talk.

I met her at the door and the first words out of her mouth were, "Vee, I'm so sorry. I wanted to make sure he didn't hurt you and Kale…" She patted my baby girl on her back as she lay with her head over my shoulder. Kale giggled, her little body twisting in my arms at the sound of her Auntie's voice. Shondra clicked her tongue, smiling at Kale.

I brought her back on topic. We needed to put the day past us. "Did Jae try anything? What did he say?"

Shondra reluctantly took her eyes from my daughter to meet mine. "All he said was that he was married… but he never mentioned love, Vee. He doesn't give a DA-darn about that heifer he is with. I'm sure of that." Her confident expression turned pleading, "Now, if Jae had gone after me, I never would've taken it further. You know that, right?"

"I know, Sho." I handed her Kale, who whimpered in my arms. Once she was in Shondra's, baby girl was all smiles again.

The little imp.

Kale knew what was what. Sho spoiled her rotten while I didn't put up with her nonsense—the burden of being a mother. Mothers received all the flack and very little of the glory.

That got me to thinking what kind of father would Jae make? Would he retreat into the shadows while his wife decided my daughter's upbringing like my dad did, or would he stand up for his child and welcome her into his home? I prayed for the latter rather than expect the former in my effort to keep the faith.

Shondra switched Kale to her other hip. Her worried brow spoke of her need to decipher my thoughts. "So, are we good?" she asked.

"Of course we are, Sho. You were just trying to get the lay of the land." We'd discussed things enough as far as I was concerned. My sister did what she thought was right. I couldn't fault her for that.

We headed to the kitchen with Kale babbling about her day in her Auntie's ear. Sho humored her by saying, "Uh, huh," at the right moments.

Shondra sat Kale in her highchair, content to talk to my daughter instead of me. That was fine, but only after I asked my burning question.

"What did you and Axel talk about?"

Shondra harrumphed, rolling her eyes. "What always happens between us since December. I apologized, and he rejected it, but this time, he knows it's final." Sho stood up, taking a Huddersfield breath. "I'm done with him, Vee. I can't wait for him to decide. I've waited too long already."

Sho wasn't lying about that.

Ever since Axel moved to Chicago three years ago, Sho had given him every chance to put a ring on it. Axel chose instead to keep her at a distance. When Sho used the perfume as a last resort, he went ballistic. Axel, a walking wall of testosterone, had a predictable reaction to what Sho had done. It was never wise to emasculate a man like Axel. He wasn't the type.

***

"You'll do fine, baby. Stop worrying." Terrence leaned over the gearshift and gave me a light kiss on the lips. "I'm the one that should be worried. Think of all the stuff I have to do." To stop any more intimacy between us, he rattled off his schedule. He didn't have to bother. I wasn't asking for more. Jae was on my mind.

What would Jae think of me when I told him about Kale? Would he hear me out or go off the deep end—spouting threats of custody and involving lawyers?

The thought of going to court turned my blood cold, and I shivered despite the heat circulating in the car. No matter what the outcome, Jae and I would work things out. He would know about his daughter. Of that, I had no doubt.

When, though? That was the question.

As I looked into Coherence's already distant eyes, I vowed it would be sooner rather than later.

"You'll still be able to pick me up?" I asked with my hand on the lock. "I'll be off by five o'clock."

"Yeah, yeah. Sure, sure. You'd better go. I'm practically blocking the entrance here."

As if to prove his words, a sleek silver Audi came zooming up to park in front of us, the driver stepping hard on the brake.

An involuntary gasp escaped me when I saw the passenger open their door.

Terrence took notice. "Who is that? Is that him?"

I'd told Terrence I would work under Shelia Caldwell Thijsen, Jae's wife. We discussed the scenarios in which I would run into him: maybe in the cafeteria, maybe at the front desk as he waited for his wife, maybe in the parking lot, but never on the first day.

My heart clenched as I watched him help his wife from the car, taking the keys from her slim fingers. The diamond ring I coveted for all that it represented winked in the sun. He gave her an air kiss on the cheek. I grinned, noting that it was much drier than the one Terrance had given me.

Jae's phone rang. He put it to his ear as he slipped in the car and shut the door, cutting off his wife mid-sentence. Her profile turned into a hard mask as she banged on the window with force enough to make it shatter.

Jae ignored her and continued talking. Shelia gave up with a stamp of her foot. With a glare in our direction, which I quickly shielded my face from, she disappeared into the sliding doors with a jerk of her powder blue skirt.

"Damn, that was cold," Terrance said with a chuckle. "I don't know about you, but they won't get my vote for couple of the year."

***

Five other residents rounded out my group of four men and two women, and we all came from different nationalities and backgrounds. Thankfully, no one had an ego or God-complex like at my other hospital. It was a refreshing and welcome change.

Three of the six, including me, had also transferred in from other residencies—all Cop's. At the start of the day, our glances asked if we were tokens. Not so. St Vincent's was a melting pot and had even had a spread in several magazines that herald its diversity. Besides being a teaching hospital for doctors around the world, there were Cop's in all levels of the administration. By the time our orientation finished and we headed over to receive our pagers and rotations, I was on cloud nine.

I loved my workplace.

The staff that I'd met were friendly with everyone giving us words of encouragement or helpful tips. St. Vincent's also had state-of-the-art equipment and a streamlined process in place that made paperwork a breeze.

The good feeling ended when I Shelia introduced herself.

She greeted our group with a bright smile. "My name is Shelia Caldwell and I'll be your go-to person should you have questions or need guidance." Her deep blue eyes flickered to each of us, stopping longer than was necessary when she reached me.

I found nothing friendly in her gaze as it lingered, in fact I saw a challenge. The Wife used to look at me the same way, and in the end, look what happened to her—pushed in front of an 'L' train for running her mouth. 

I would never dream of going so far. But no one would get in my way of pursuing Jae. So...

Challenge met and accepted, bitch.