What a Fool Believes Read Free Page B

me.”
    â€œWhen you come see me in a week, you’ll feel differently. Have you ever taken an anger management class?” Doctor Khan spoke with deceptive casualness.
    â€œNo. Why?”
    â€œYou’re still angry.”
    â€œ I didn’t cheat on me . So why should I go to some class?”
    â€œYour ex is guilty of being a bad man, yet it is you who is under arrest. This is your first offense, right?”
    â€œI’ve never done anything like this before. I guess I just snapped.”
    â€œLast stitch,” Dr. Khan said softly. “We’ll get you situated with some crutches and a prescription.”
    â€œDo you have samples? I don’t think I’ll have access to the drive-through pharmacy on my way to the county lockup.”
    Dr. Khan made soothing noises to the weeping woman. “No problem. Come to my office in one week for your checkup. The nurse will get you a new top. Yours was ruined.”
    He’d used the cotton top to stanch the flow of blood, but would she believe him if he told her?
    Byron couldn’t help but wonder what she was thinking. He was thinking he was a schmuck, no different from the vandalized former boyfriend.
    â€œI’ll be back in a moment.” Dr. Khan stepped into the hallway and pulled Byron into the exam room two doors down.
    The East Indian woman gave him a smile, her dark eyes accentuated by stylish black glasses frames. “She’s had a rough night,” Dr. Khan began. “She needs to rest and stay off that foot. Now we can do this one of two ways. You can give her a ticket and see her home, or I can admit her to the hospital.”
    â€œThere’s nothing wrong with her.”
    â€œHer blood pressure is up. Or something like that,” she said slyly.
    â€œCome on, Khan, I can’t just let her go.”
    The doctor shrugged, unmoved. “What she did was better than what could have happened to him in my country.”
    â€œI thought the women were all subservient in India.” Byron bit his tongue and tasted the bitter juice of badly chosen words. “Forget I said that.”
    â€œCertainly. I’m not excusing her behavior, just saying that she needs a break. Work with me?”
    â€œFine.” He threw up his hands and shook his head. “What’s her full name? I’ll give her a ticket and see her in court.”
    â€œFirst is Tia. Didn’t get the last one. It’s on the chart. Thanks, Rivers. I owe you one.”
    They walked back to the exam room and went inside. The bed was empty, the gown discarded. Both reached for the chart and stared at the empty door folder.
    Dr. Khan looked up at him, a mysterious smile on her face. “I guess I underestimated her.”
    Damn . He wouldn’t even catch the game highlights on ESPN.
    Byron headed for the exit. “She won’t get away with this.”

Chapter Four
    Tia awoke in the strange hotel bed, flat on her back.
    Blood thrummed to her heel.
    Her life was as beautiful as a train wreck.
    After cleaning up and swallowing pain pills with a four-dollar oatmeal energy bar from the minibar, she considered her options.
    She could skip work and save the explanation about her impaired state to Chance, her boss.
    Or she could give Chance the last reason she needed to fire her.
    Tia hated the position she was in. Dante had convinced her to dream big—with him in the picture. And now she was without him and almost out of a job.
    Reaching for her keys triggered an instantaneous migraine.
    Her car was still at the condo.
    Panicking that she might actually lose her job, she hopped to the bed and dialed. “Rachel,” she said when the machine beeped, “pick up.”
    Thirty painful seconds passed before Rachel fumbled the phone. “Hey, girl. What’s up?”
    â€œI need a huge favor.”
    â€œRight now? I’m kind of”—she hesitated, talking to someone—“in the middle of