Half Empty(36)

The second one was of her the previous year at Fedor’s funeral. Wade’s picture was of him onstage at a concert. The headline read: “Will the Black Widow Strike Again?”

The third one was a less flattering image of Wade and her holding hands outside the doors of the hospital, laid over a picture of her Hamptons home surrounded by police cars. The caption? “Tragedy in the Hamptons.”

Trina put her coffee down and picked up the magazine with the two of them outside the hospital. “Is my butt really that fat?”

Wade started to chuckle.

Jeb sighed and Ike grinned. “Okay, then. You found a woman who understands the media.”

“I wish I didn’t.”

“I don’t like that they’re calling you names,” Wade said.

“I don’t like how they made my butt big.” Trina made an effort at looking at her own ass over her shoulder.

Wade swatted it with a playful smile.

Ike turned to Wade. “Corrine wants to know all about Trina.”

“Who is Corrine?” Trina asked. How many women did Wade have in his life?

“My publicist,” Wade explained. “Tell her she’s my girlfriend.”

Ike regarded them with a lifted eyebrow.

“Don’t look at me,” Trina said. “He started the whole girlfriend thing . . . I was just looking for a good time.”

Wade turned toward her and lifted her off her feet, his hands firmly on her not-as-big-of-a-butt as the tabloid led others to believe. He twirled her around. “I’ll give you a good time,” he teased.

Smiling was starting to truly work the muscles in her cheeks and make them ache.

She liked it.

“You’re adorable,” he told her.

She wrapped her legs around his waist and let him hold her off her feet a little longer. “Do you really want to tell the world you’ve got a girlfriend?”

“What I want is to tell the world that you’ve got a boyfriend so no one else comes knockin’.”

“I doubt I’ll be good PR.”

“I could not care less about any of that,” he said.

Wade kissed her, briefly, and set her down.

“Tell Corrine, Trina is my girlfriend and we’ve been practically inseparable since we met.” He tapped Trina’s nose. “Including a secret trip to the Bahamas on a private plane.”

“That was platonic,” she said.

“No one has to know the details. Besides, the tabloids will find it if we don’t reveal it.”

She sighed. “Fine. Your mother is gonna be pissed.”

“Again with my mother. I’ll deal with her. Don’t worry. What about your parents?”

Trina hadn’t given it a lot of thought. “I should probably call them. They don’t know about any of this as it is.”

“You haven’t told them?”

She shook her head. “If I told them about you, my mother would remind me that it’s only been a year since Fedor’s death. She’s Catholic, and while she doesn’t want me alone my whole life, I can guarantee she will think it’s too soon for me to be dating anyone, let alone be in any kind of relationship. My dad will want to meet you as soon as a plane can fly him here.”

“That’s sweet.”

“He will wonder if you’re gunning for the oil money.”

Ike laughed from across the room. “Sorry.” He ducked his head when they both turned to look at him.

“When Daddy finds out about Avery, he is going to worry. I don’t want to do that to him.”

“Fathers are supposed to worry, darlin’.”

“Yeah, well . . . he isn’t getting younger, and I’d hate to be the one to add more stress to his life.”

“That isn’t your call. If you don’t tell him, the papers will.”

“You’re right. I know you’re right. It will have to wait until I get my phone back, though. I haven’t memorized a phone number other than my own in years.”

“So we have today’s game plan. We let Corrine deal with the Wade Thomas PR, you’ll get ahold of your parents while I prepare to meet your father.”

“You’ll deal with your mother,” she pointed out.

“Yup. Anyone else?”

“I should make a call to Diane and Andrea.”

“Who are they?”

“Fedor’s aunts. I’m pretty sure they listen to country music, so you’re safe there.”

Wade smiled.

“All of this can happen from the waiting room at the hospital. I don’t want Avery waking up without me there. You shower, and I’ll call Lori’s room and see if she’s ready to walk over.”





Chapter Twenty-Four



Avery was getting sick and tired of waking up with a new pain somewhere on her broken and battered body. Hospitals were not the place to sleep. Between doctors coming in every few hours, nurses waking you up every two hours in the middle of the night, tests, and visitors, she wasn’t sure how it was possible to get better at all.

That morning she’d been wheeled into surgery before the sun came up, or so it seemed. In the fog of her brain, Avery realized that she’d gotten out of surgery only to wake up in a recovery room feeling as if the world had sat on her face and wasn’t giving her any room to breathe without pain shooting behind her eyeballs. Someone had given her something in her IV and she’d fallen into a blissful haze again.

Now, the earth was still knocking her in the face, but the pain wasn’t as sharp as it had been the first time she’d opened her eyes. Her back felt as if she’d been moved to a proper bed instead of being on a surgical gurney. She’d take her comforts any way she could at this point. A soft mattress on her ass was a start. She attempted to move her head and instantly regretted it.

She moaned.

“Hey . . .”

Trina.

“Water,” she sputtered.

Trina was there with a cup and a straw. Since the bed was already elevated, Avery didn’t attempt to sit up more. The first sip hurt, but the second sip soothed. Trina pulled it away. “The nurse said only a few sips to start. We have to do everything we can to keep you from coughing or getting sick to your stomach.”

She imagined the pain with either task would equal walking barefoot on broken glass. Avery’s face was covered in bandages once again and it felt as if someone had a party in her nose and had invited the entire state of New York.

Trina came into focus, the concern in her eyes making Avery want to blow off her pain.

“How do you feel?”

“Ready to party.” Avery closed her eyes.

“There’s a button for the pain medication.”

Yeah, but the medication would just knock her out, and she wanted a few minutes of cognition before falling back asleep.

“How do I look?”

“Ready to party,” Trina repeated her words with a small laugh.

She opened her eyes again. “No, really?”

Trina made a point to look everywhere but in Avery’s eyes, as if studying her face. “There’s more swelling, and a few new colors have been introduced to your complexion. I’d hold off on any new selfies for your Tinder profile.”

Avery smiled and felt the packing in her nose even more.

“I’m so sorry any of this happened, Avery.”

She held open the palm in her good hand, and Trina slipped hers in. “Not your fault.”

“But if you weren’t in the city for me—”

Avery tried to squeeze Trina’s hand. “Still not your fault.” She used only her eyes to look around the new room. It was a private room that looked less like a hospital room and more like a hotel. The darker color on the walls soothed her senses more than the stark white of the ICU. There were flowers. Two bouquets sat on a shelf across from her bed and brightened the space. “What time is it?”

“Two thirty. Are you hungry?”

“No. Where is everyone?”

“Lori, Shannon, and Reed are grabbing a bite in the cafeteria. I told your parents I’d call once you’re awake. Your mother doesn’t like hospitals, apparently.”

“Yeah, did she tell you why?”

Trina shook her head.

“Because they remind her of two days of labor with me . . . her greatest disappointment.”

Trina looked at her as if she were joking.

“Fine, don’t believe me. But if you ask why she has an aversion to hospitals, she’ll tell you because of the time she’s spent in them. Then ask my father when my mother was in a hospital the last time.”

“I’m sure that’s not it.”

“I’m not feeling sorry for myself. I’m telling you the facts. Whatever, she stresses me out anyway. Now that I’m out of the ICU, I’m pretty sure I can get her to go home.”

Trina patted her hand. “Bernie sent the flowers.”

“That’s nice. Do I still have a guard at the door?”

“Yup. Rick is right outside.”

“That’s good.” And it was. There was comfort in the fact that no one could come in and finish the job. The pain in Avery’s body was proof she was lucky to be alive. “Where is Wade?”

“Dealing with a few PR issues while I’m here with you. The police are coming by this afternoon.”

She closed her eyes and tried to remember something, anything about that day. All that came to her was a fuzzy memory of walking by Central Park, and then she was waking up and feeling like she’d been run over by a bus. “I don’t remember anything about what happened.”