Marisol’s fingers stilled on the tablet. “I know rumors follow powerful men for a reason.”
“What rumors?” I asked.
She hesitated. “Not here.”
Five minutes later, we were in a small conference room behind the ballroom, where the walls were paneled in walnut and the noise of the gala became a muffled ocean. A security guard named Luis stood outside the door. Ethan had chosen him personally. I knew that because Luis once helped me carry gift bags to a taxi during a thunderstorm and refused a tip with a grin.
Inside, Marisol dimmed the lights and locked the door.
“Tell me,” Ethan said.
Marisol looked at me first. “Ava, I’m sorry. I heard something months ago, but I didn’t know how to approach you. You always seemed so careful around him.”
Careful. The word understood me.
“What did you hear?”
“A nurse from Children’s Heart resigned suddenly last winter. Her name was Tessa Hale. She worked with Dr. Vaughn on the transplant floor. She told a friend he had a temper when no one was watching. Nothing formal, nothing reported. Then she left the state.”
Andrew had mentioned Tessa once. Careless girl. Too emotional for surgical work.
My stomach turned.
“Do you know where she is?” Ethan asked.
Marisol nodded. “Boston, I think. I can find out.”
“No,” I said quickly. “Please don’t drag another woman into this without asking her.”
Ethan looked at me, and I saw respect in his silence. He had power, but he was trying not to use it like a hammer.
“You’re right,” he said. “We ask. We don’t drag.”
That sentence, simple and steady, became the first place I could breathe.
His phone rang. He glanced down. “It’s the hospital board chair.”
“Don’t answer,” I said.
“I have to. If I don’t, Andrew will know something changed.”
He answered on speaker.
“Ethan,” a bright female voice said, “we’re two minutes from the award segment. Dr. Vaughn is ready. Are you?”
Ethan’s eyes stayed on me. “There’s a program adjustment. I’ll speak before the award.”
A pause. “That’s not what we rehearsed.”
“I know.”
“Is there a problem?”
“Yes,” Ethan said. “A timing problem.”
I understood then. He was buying time, not making a scene. He would step onto that stage, smile for donors, thank the city, and quietly prevent Andrew from being honored until we knew what to do.
The board chair sighed. “Fine, but keep it brief.”
When the call ended, Ethan turned to Marisol. “Find counsel. Have them join silently. No names, no details until Ava chooses.”
Then he looked at me. “I have to go downstairs.”
Of course he did. The entire gala circled around him. Hundreds of people were waiting, and millions of dollars for sick children depended on the evening not collapsing.
For months, I had admired him from behind a desk, not because he was rich, but because he remembered purpose when other men remembered applause. Now, standing in that quiet room, I realized admiration had become something much more dangerous.
“I’ll be fine,” I said.
His eyes softened. “You have been saying that too long.”
He removed a small silver keycard from his pocket and placed it on the table. “Private elevator. Top floor. My office has a secure room behind the library wall. Marisol knows the code. Stay there until I come back.”
“My purse is in the dressing room.”
“Luis will get it.”
“My phone—”
“I’ll have it brought.”
“I can’t just hide in your office while Andrew stands downstairs wondering where I am.”
Ethan leaned closer, not touching me. “Ava, you are not hiding. You are choosing not to stand where he can reach you.”
That difference mattered.
