Undeniably Enemies: Chapter 36

It was my fault. Jack could say what he wanted, but it was the truth, and deep down, we both knew it. It was my idea to keep us a secret. My idea to hold our relationship back from not only our families and friends but from work. Thinking about it now, my reasons for that feel trite and childish. Selfish.

And that selfishness is costing Jack everything.

Of all the people to find us out, it had to be Dr. Marshall. A world-class scumbag who hides his true sleaze beneath a jovial smile and easy charm. I know his kind. Growing up Fritz, we have a sixth sense for creeps like him. He’s the sort who openly gropes women while convincing you it was an accident or it didn’t happen if we give him a look or call him out on it, and if we don’t, he continues it, thinking it’s his right or wanted or simply not caring if it isn’t as long as he’s not stopped.

But men like Dr. Marshall get off on having power and using it to harm instead of help. It infuriates me to no end. And I can’t let him do that to Jack. Jack deserves better. He works his ass off, does everything for everyone, and never asks for anything in return. I won’t let this be another disappointment he has to survive.

When Jack left for Callan’s, I felt helpless.

It was that old feeling. That restless sea of churning waves in my gut, I have to fix this, but I can’t feeling. Reciting all my facts about the number four wasn’t going to see me through. Neither was baking or even cleaning, though I tried both. There’s nothing worse than feeling helpless, especially when all you want to do is right the wrong you created for your loved one.

That’s what led me to the board this morning and now out here with Jack.

*Sometime around midnight*

Jack moves beneath me, just starting to finally doze off despite how troubled his mind is. I can’t fall asleep. He told me about his conversation with Callan and everyone else. He was getting chief. It was going to be his, but despite the upbeat spin he tried to sell me, I could tell he was devastated.

He doesn’t think he’ll be fired, but it’s not enough.

What we did wasn’t wrong. Not much happened until after I was done with my rotation, and we’re consenting adults. The problem is, that doesn’t always matter in situations like this. There are ethical guidelines for a reason, and the hospital doesn’t fuck around with that. Student-teacher relationships aren’t allowed, and if they exist, they must be disclosed.

I don’t want them to take chief from him.

I want it to be his.

And I don’t want chief to go to Dr. Marshall.

My guilt that he’ll lose it because of me is eating me alive.

How is he not furious with me?

He could be, and I wouldn’t blame him for it.

Instead, his breathing grows deeper, though not quite even or calm, and his hand is still touching me as it does every night we sleep together. I think about all the things he’s done for me. All the ways he’s helped me through something no one else has been able to help me through.

He helped me remember I’m a phoenix, but now he’s burning in my flames.

And fucking Dr. Marshall is a pig. He’s swine. A grabby-handed, womanizing, philandering⁠—

I bolt upright and shoot out of bed, grabbing my phone as I go into the living room.

It takes three rings before his gravelly voice hits my ear. “Wren?”

“Hey, Vander. Yeah. God, am I glad you never sleep.”

He chuckles. “Is everything okay?”

“I need a favor.”

“Sure. What’s up?”

I go through an account of everything that’s happening, ignoring his laughter and his “I knew it” when I tell him I’m with Jack. With what Vander does both for a living and in the shadows of that living, it doesn’t surprise me he saw things my brother and the other guys didn’t between us.

“I need you to get everything you can for me on Dr. Harrison Marshall.”

“What makes you think there’s anything to be found?”

“I don’t know if there is, but my gut is telling me there might be. He’s got a penchant for wandering hands and eyes. Even my adviser said something about him and how he was relieved I wasn’t working with him. But if you mention his wife, he jumps like someone branded his ass with a red-hot poker. It is like he’s afraid of her or afraid of her catching him doing something he shouldn’t, even though, at that moment, he and I were just talking. His reaction was extreme. I don’t know. I might be grasping at straws, but something doesn’t feel right about him. He’s too charming, if you know what I mean.”

“I know exactly what you mean,” he says, and I hear clicking in the background. “How fast do you need this?”

“Before eight this morning,” I snort sheepishly.

“Shit, Wren. That’s not a lot of time, even for me. I’ll do what I can.”

“Thanks, Van. I really appreciate it, and I owe you a big one.”

“Jack’s a good guy. I’m happy to help if I can.”

I disconnect the call and go back to bed, curling in beside Jack, who is tossing and turning, half asleep. I close my eyes and will myself to fall asleep along with him. Only sleep doesn’t happen, and I get up early and shower, anxious to get out the door. I don’t tell Jack about my call to Vander. It’ll likely lead to nothing, and I don’t want to get his hopes up or stress him out more.

I decide as I walk into the hospital that I’m going to attend the board meeting with him. It will make what he’s saying sound stronger if I’m there by his side through it, and fuck it, I’m a Fritz. I know every member on that board because they all attend Abbot-Fritz charity events, and my family donates millions to the hospital. If Vander can’t come up with anything, that’s how I’ll help Jack.

As I walk into the hospital, my phone rings, and I nearly trip over my feet and drop the device in my attempt to get to it.

“Van? What’s up?”

“Oh, Wren, you weren’t wrong about him.”

*Back at the water*

“What just happened in there? Why were you there, and why didn’t you say anything to me about doing that?” Jack asks, his wild eyes all over me.

“After you fell asleep, I called Vander and asked for a favor.”

“Vander?”

“I didn’t know if anything could be found on Dr. Marshall, so I didn’t say anything to you about it this morning. My plan was to meet you at the board meeting and sit by your side so they knew it wasn’t just a fling or you taking advantage of a student. But then Vander called me, and I went straight up there.”

“What did he find?”

“Marshall has a history of sexual assault in college. He and his buddies took advantage of a stripper at a party, and she went to the police. He was arrested but made a deal that involved his parents paying her off and no jail time, unlike his other buddies, who served three months each. In med school, there were formal complaints made of sexual misconduct and harassment with fellow students, but no charges were filed, and he wasn’t kicked out. His school did, however, receive a nice endowment from the Marshall family.”

“So his family covered his tracks. At least twice.”

“Yes. He married a wealthy woman with a good social standing, but what Vander learned was that during his intern year of residency, there were two complaints against him. One from a patient and one from a nurse, both alleging sexual assault. His wife paid it off and essentially used her family connections to bury these two people. After that, he switched programs up to Boston, and Mrs. Marshall keeps him on a tight leash as best she can. Vander thinks she has something else on him that she holds over his head to keep him in line, but he didn’t have enough time to find it.”

He tilts his head and studies me, his eyes dancing about my face. “And you presented this information to the board.”

“I went in this morning and told them what happened with you, but I also told them that prior to this and while I was a student, Dr. Marshall had touched my ass on two occasions—which is true—and that it made me uncomfortable. Often as a student, we don’t feel comfortable speaking up about our superiors, but I’d heard rumors about him, and after what happened to me with my ex, it troubled me. I told them I started digging into him back then and showed them what I found, but they don’t have to know the timeline of it.”

“Let me guess, they had no knowledge of any of this?”

I shake my head. “None. Marshall and his wife did a good job of burying his past. His arrest didn’t show up on the background check the hospital did, and the other situation was bought and paid for. Both of their families have big money, and big money knows how to cover its tracks.”

“And because you’re Wren Fritz, no one questioned how you were able to dig this up,” he surmises, and I shrug.

“Would you? Even if you didn’t know about Vander?”

“No. I wouldn’t.” He blows out a breath, a plume of white vapor shooting out into the cold November morning as he stares out at the choppy water.

“I told them I wasn’t there to speak to their decision on chief, but that I wanted them to know all the facts. And I told them my account of our relationship so they heard it from the student’s mouth.”

He turns back to me. “Wren, you took a huge risk in there.”

I step forward and tuck myself against him because I’m cold despite his coat on my shoulders, and he has to be even colder without it. “You were worth the risk, and I’m sorry I didn’t see that from the start. I should have. I shouldn’t have been so afraid to tell everyone that you’re mine. After what happened to me, my family likes to interject themselves into everything I do and how I do it, and I didn’t want that to touch what we had going. But I’m not a little girl anymore, and I need to start acting like it.”

He smiles down at me. “You’re a lot younger than me.”

“That’s because you’re old.”

He chuckles and bends to kiss me, his cold lips and hot mouth devouring, and I melt into him. “You need to get back.”

“Actually, Katy and Bennett gave me the day off. It’s nice to have friends who are also your temporary bosses and teachers.”

“Does that mean I can take you home?”

“You better. I’m freezing.”

Another searing kiss, and then he has my hand and is leading me back toward the garage where our cars are parked.

“What do you think will happen?” I ask as we reach my car.

He shrugs. “I have no clue. I honestly don’t. I don’t think anything will happen to my job, especially now that we’ve both explained that we didn’t get together until after you were finished as my student. More than that, I couldn’t say.”

“Katy knows about us.”

He gives me a lazy grin. “I know. I told her.”

“But you realize that means Owen will know.”

“No.” He shakes his head and opens my door for me so I can climb in. “She told me she wouldn’t say anything so that I could be the one to tell him.”

I sigh. “Our moms are going to love this. We won’t be able to casually date or be together. They’ll practically thrust us down the aisle and map out our babies’ names.”

He laughs. “Now you know why Owen and Estlin kept quiet for as long as they did.” He leans in and kisses me. “I hate to break it to you, Cinderella, but we haven’t been casually dating or together. It’s only been a few weeks, so I’m certainly not thinking of marriage and babies yet, but you’re high if you think what we have is casual and easy to get out of.”

“So clingy,” I tease.

“I already told you I was.” Another kiss. “I’ll follow you home.”

“I don’t like stalkers.”

He rolls his eyes at me. “You’re such a fucking brat.”

“Then I guess you’ll have to punish me.”

He gives me a wicked grin and walks off toward his car. Damn, that man makes my heart go pitter-patter and my stomach do somersaults. I really have it bad for him and that thought makes me smile. Jack and I were undeniably enemies who fell hopelessly in love.

And he said yet when he talked about marrying me and having babies. I snort out a laugh. Could we actually be ’til death do us part? Wouldn’t that be the stuff of fairy tales and romance novels?

For now, I’ll chase the wicked pleasure and dark desire. Already knowing it’s him and no one else.