What's Left Of Me (The Firebird Trilogy Book 2) by Jennifer Loring Read Free Book Online

glitter, that was too fun to pass up.
    The doctor had given her a mild sedative, but she was far too awake and aware of the procedure. Too cognizant of the implications should the result be positive. A pinch stung her back when he injected a local anesthetic. “I’m going to make a small incision, then insert the needle into the abnormality. Keep still for me, okay?”
    She squeezed her eyes shut and gritted her teeth. Pressure, then a short, sharp pain in her back and through her lung where the needle located its target. The doctor extracted the aberrant tissue and applied more pressure to stop the bleeding before bandaging her.
    “We’ll have results in no more than a week. Go down the hall for your X-ray, then we’ll get you out of here.”
    “Does it look cancerous?”
    “I’d rather not make any guesses. Sometimes things that look cancerous aren’t, and vice versa. We’ll call your doctor as soon as we know one way or another.”
    “All right. Thank you.”
    Stephanie plodded down the hall, her gown flapping against her exposed back. I’ll be fine if I believe I am. A child’s logic. But even a child wasn’t stupid enough to believe anything was fine.
     
    ***
     
    Alex was sitting in the great room, hunched on the couch with his head in his hands. Medication couldn’t prevent his dark moods completely, only dull them, and they remained obvious when they struck. Stephanie fed Anya, changed her, then put her down for a nap. Alex hadn’t moved.
    “Alex? Honey?”
    He curled his fingers tighter in his hair, his cheeks blotchy.
    “What’s wrong?” She sat beside him and lowered his hands. Strands of black hair fluttered onto his lap. “Stop,” she murmured. “Stop hurting yourself.”
    His beautiful face contorted into a mask of heartrending agony he concealed behind his hands.
    “Alex, talk to me. Please. Do you want me to call your doctor?”
    He shook his head. “I just want to be normal.”
    “You’re Aleksandr Volynsky. You’re never going to be normal.” She nuzzled his ear. “What happened? You were fine when I left. Did everything go well at your meeting?”
    He gave her the look of someone about to vomit. “You’re going to leave,” he whispered.
    “I’m not going anywhere.”
    “I lied to you. I didn’t have a meeting. I just didn’t want you to know where I was going.”
    Her chest tightened. “Go on.”
    “I met with someone who…” He smeared his hands down his face and stared out the windows. “She has a video.”
    “A video.” Stephanie’s stomach turned inside out. “Well, I suppose we should’ve seen that coming eventually.”
    “I wanted to make the video. She didn’t do it secretly.”
    “I see.”
    “It was two years ago. But I don’t want you to think…I can’t let you see that. Even if she releases it. She wants a million dollars to keep it off the internet. Please don’t watch it. I can’t—”
    “Alex, slow down. Breathe. She’s blackmailing you? Over a sex tape?”
    “It’s not just…I did things.” His Adam’s apple dipped. “Please don’t ask. Please don’t make me tell you.” Tears thickened his voice.
    Jesus, what is in that video? What don’t I know about him, even now? “Why?”
    “If it gets out, they’ll convene a grand jury. I know they will. It’s the evidence they’re looking for that I could hurt someone.” He bowed his head to his hands again. “I don’t want to talk about it anymore.”
    “Alex—”
    He ground the heels of his hands into his eyes, leaving them red and puffy, then stood up. “I’m sorry. I’m going for a walk,” he said, his voice brittle.
    “All right. Just…”
    He stopped at the door and turned to her, waiting for her to say it. Don’t do anything stupid.
    “Don’t forget your phone.”
    Alex snatched it from the counter and left without another word.
     
    ***
     
    Stephanie wheeled Anya into the en suite and parked her by the shower, then shed her clothes and sank into the tub’s