She lifts her chin. “He might back off.”
“He’s not coming anywhere near you.”
“But if I asked—”
“I said no.”
The room falls silent. The force in Ray’s voice slices through it. They stare at each other, neither backing down.
Then, without taking his eyes off her, he says, “Wynter, check her temperature. She’s too warm.”
Grateful for something to do, I move quickly into the bathroom for the thermometer. When I come back, I stop short.
Ray’s leaning over the bed, his forehead pressed gently to Anika’s, his voice so low I can’t make out the words.
Her eyes are closed and some of the fight has left her face.
I back away quietly, giving them the privacy neither of them asked for.
RAY
I press a gentle kiss to Anika’s lips. By the time Wynter returns with the thermometer, I’ve already got a bad feeling.
She checks Anika’s temperature, her brow tightening. “It’s raised,” she says quietly.
“Call the doctor,” I tell her. “Whenever she gets like this, it’s usually the start of an infection.”
Wynter nods and hurries from the room.
I sit beside the bed and look at Anika properly.
“You’re overreacting,” she says.
I huff out a quiet laugh and take her hand, even though I know she can’t feel it.
“You always did like attention,” I murmur. “If this is some elaborate attempt to make Catherine stay, it won’t work. Donald’s already booked their flight to France.”
My words pull a faint smile out of her. “Donald is good to her,” she says. “She’s going to be spoiled rotten.” Her smile fades almost as quickly as it came. “I really wanted the custody sorted,” she whispers.
“So did I. None of this would be happening if it wasn’t—”
“For me sleeping with your business associate?”
I arch a brow. “That too,” I say dryly.
She gives me a look, but there’s no fight in it.
Luke Malone had been a friend once. We did business together, sent money each other’s way, trusted each other.
Then, he got Anika pregnant.
And after that, he let her find out the hard way that he already had a wife. Two kids. A whole other life. If it had been my choice, he would have been buried him years ago. But Anika begged me not to touch him.
So, I didn’t.Not directly.
He drifted in and out of her life after Sebastian was born, hurting her whenever it suited him, disappearing whenever responsibility got too heavy.
And after the accident?