Chapter 1

• Emma
• “Doctor Levin!” I hear the urgent voice echoing down the corridor.
• “Doctor Emma Levin! Come! Quickly!”
• “Finish for me,” I tip my head at the nurse, standing on the other side of the bed and pass her the bandage.
• “Yes, Miss. “
• I head out, wiping my hands. One of the nurses is running towards me, breathless.
• “Please, quickly! ” She gasps and I follow her to the emergency room. Things like these always happen in the middle of the night.
• The bright lights are making my headache worse. But the hospital is overall quiet which helps a bit.
• “He’s here,” the nurse says and stops at the entrance of the emergency room. Then I see him. He is placed on the stretcher, another nurse is fussing around him, trying to stop the blood.
• I look at him. A young man, perhaps my age, 27 or 28. Maybe a year older. His hair is jet black, spilt around him. He is wearing a plain black t-shirt and sweatpants but I notice the strong, muscular body under the clothes. He’s so beautiful, even when he is lying in the emergency room.
• The thought startled me- I have to compose myself, what am I even thinking about…
• I approach him and see all the injuries. And he’s covered in blood.
• So much blood. I see the dark spot, blossoming on his right side and my breath catches. It looks like a stab wound.
• “We need scissors,” I instruct, regaining all my composure when I notice the other wound. The nurse runs the scissors through the cloth while I put gloves on. The two nurses gasp.
• “Woah.”
• “What?” I ask, approaching them.
• “Well, he’s…”
• “He’s definitely training.” They declare.
• I bend over the body and my eyes roam his torso. He’s gorgeous. I see the tattoos, covering his right side. I have no time to look at them, though.
• I cleared my throat before they said anything else. Luckily they stop discussing him and I instruct them to clean the wound. Then I check the other wound. It’s definitely a bullet.
• “Maybe… should we call the police?” One of the nurses asks and I shake my head.
• “Let’s save him first, okay?”
• “Yes, Doctor Levin.”
• We continue working in silence. I took out the bullet - luckily the wound was shallow. The bullet didn’t get to any internal organs and he will be fine.
• I help the nurses clean all the other wounds and leave them to stitch the rest of the cuts.
• “I have to get back to my other patient,” I tell the nurses, taking off my latex gloves.
• “Call me if you need anything.”
• “Yes, Doctor Levin,” they nod and I head out.
• I hate it when they call me Doctor Levin - it’s my husband’s last name. But they can’t know the situation between us so I just accept it. When I started working here I was not “Doctor Levin” yet. But since my husband is quite popular they quickly started calling me this way.
• I get back to my patient and we finish stitching and cleaning her. By the time we are done with everything it’s six am.
• “Let her rest now,” I tell the nurses and head out.
• “You should get some rest too,” Sadie tells me just as I come out of the room.
• Sadie is my closest friend- not only in the hospital but outside of it too.
• “How are you?” She asks and I shake my head.
• “I need coffee and a shower. You?”
• “I operated on this man for over four hours. I need something way stronger than coffee.”
• I laugh as we walk to the changing room.
• “Dinner on Tuesday?” She offers.
• “I can’t. “ I say, taking my coat off, “There’s a gala at the mansion.”
• “Another? ” she exclaims, “Are these super fancy diners every week?”
• “Sometimes even more often. Do you… want to come?”
• She turns to me and grins.
• “Of course I do.”
• “I will let the servants know, then.”
• “Thank you. I can’t wait. “ Sadie looks ecstatic.
• “I still don’t know what you like about this whole thing…”
• “You mean being invited to the event of the year?” Sadie asks and I laugh again.
• “Is it really that popular?”
• “You can't appreciate it because you're married to Andrew Levin. If you were one of us- the commoners, you would know. “
• “I am still a normal human being,” I argue, putting my dress on and closing my locker.
• “Right, “she says.
• I am married to Andrew Livin and yes, he is one of the most wanted men in New York. Either because of his family, the business or his looks. But Sadie doesn’t know everything. In fact, she only knows that we married a few months ago. The fact I already regret it is a secret.
• But that’s not something you discuss with your friends- even if they are friends you've known all your life.
• “I’m beaten,” she says, shutting her locker and we head out. “How was your shift?”
• “It was alright,” I shrug. “Yours? I mean, besides the operation?”
• Sadie starts speaking.
• I remember the beautiful stranger while she explained more about one of her patients. The man was so… I don’t know, there was something about him…. I have no idea who brought him to the hospital. We didn’t discover any papers on him, no ID, no driving licence and I reminded myself to ask the staff tomorrow night. And then there’s this bullet wound… maybe he is a criminal. He didn’t look like one but one thing I’ve learned after I married Andrew is that the worst criminals don’t look like it. I should have called the police, not operated on him. He might have killed someone, or…
• “Emma?” Sadie asks, frowning at me. “Are you okay?”
• “Yes, yes,” my friend's voice brings me back to the present. I don’t remember how we got to the parking lot, though.
• “You work …?”
• “Tomorrow night. I mean, tonight, it’s already Sunday.“ I told her.
• “Again?” she gasps, “Why have you been taking so many night shifts recently?”
• To avoid my husband?
• “Just..” I wave a hand, “I like it. “
• “You were always a night owl. Anyway, see you at the gala, then. “
• “Yeah.”
• Sadie gets in her car when a black jeep parks in front of me.
• “You are joking…” I mutter and Wyatt gets off. Wyatt is one of the new guys, working for my husband until Andrew finds a new bodyguard.
• “Miss Emma,” Wyatt smiles,” The boss sent me to pick you up. “
• “My car is right over there.” I point at my old, small car and he shrugs. Wyatt is waiting for me to get on.
• “Please, Miss,” he says, “I will be in trouble if I don’t bring you home. “
• I take a deep breath and get on.
• “Thank you,” he says once he starts the car. Then we drove through the awakening city. I look out the window, the sun is rising above the buildings.
• If Andrew sent one of his men to pick me up it means he has come back to New York last night and he has seen the divorce papers I left in the mansion.
• This won’t end well, I tell myself and prepare for another scandal.
• ***
• “What the f*ck do you think you are doing?” Andrew snaps as soon as I open the door.
• “Good morning to you too,” I say, taking my coat off, “I see you're back. You didn’t have to send your driver too…”
• “Don’t be smart with me. “Andrew tears the divorce papers and throws them on the floor. So much for getting him to sign them.
• I prepare to speak but he closes the distance between us so fast I can’t react. Andrew clenches his hands about my forearms, fingers digging into my skin painfully.
• “Let go of me,” I hiss and he pushes me.
• My back hits the wall and Andrew looms over me.
• “I am never letting you go. Ever. Do you hear me?”