Read Online MasterofSilk by Gia Dawn - Free Book Online

a
message on the machine, feeling her mood tank completely.
    But she had a full day at the office in the morning and
another night on call so she tucked the letters away and turned off the light,
hoping she might actually fall asleep. Luckily she was tired enough that she
managed to snooze for a couple of hours before her cell rang and she headed
back to the hospital, certain this was justified punishment for her nights of
wicked pleasure.
    By Saturday morning Isabella was dead on her feet. She
napped through lunch and was surly from lack of food by early afternoon so she
wasn’t paying the slightest bit of attention to who was calling when the phone
vibrated in her pocket. She nearly bit her tongue when she heard Zayne’s voice,
cold and bleak as ocean waves stirred up by a storm.
    “Dr. Seda. You will meet me for dinner tonight, six o’clock
sharp. If I do not see you then, I will assume you are purposely avoiding me
and will take serious offense.”
    Oh dear God, she did not need this now. But she didn’t want
him to think she was being deliberately rude and she needed to eat. Luckily it
looked as though there was enough lull in the action she could take a brief
break for dinner. “I’ll meet you at the King Street Grille. It’s just a couple
of blocks from Charleston Memorial. Six is fine.”
    “Excellent.” He still didn’t sound the least bit happy, she
thought as she heard him click off. Well that made two of them. If he wanted a
fight he was liable to get one this evening.
    She didn’t even bother to check her appearance as she left
the hospital and made her way down the street. Rain clouds scudded across the
sky, the day as gloomy as her mood. All she needed now was for the sky to open
and drench her in an icy rain. Or not, she amended as a cold drop inched down
her neck.
    Zayne, on the other hand, was immaculately dressed, from his
pristine white shirt down to his tight black jeans, his expression closed as
she made her way to the table where he sat.
    “Good evening,” he said stonily, standing as she sat, his
eyes raking over every line of stress on her face. “Are you well, Doctor?” His
tone softened somewhat.
    “I’m fine.” She sniffed the heady aroma of coffee. “Smells
wonderful. May I?” He nodded as she helped herself to a cup. “I’ve been on
twenty-four-hour call at the hospital all week. Flu season and we’ve had some
doctors come down with the bug.”
    “I see. So this is why you have turned down all my
invitations.”
    “I’m sorry but I’ve barely had time to sleep, much less do
anything else. And I can’t be too far away for too long, which is why I asked
you to meet me here.”
    “Then I shall not take offense.” The grim set to his mouth
smoothed itself away. “Is there anything I can do to help you?”
    “A nice hot dinner will be quite enough.”
    The food was excellent and as they ate they both relaxed,
with Zayne describing some of his early adventures. He’d traveled the world
extensively, seeing places Isabella had only dreamed of.
    He seemed content to talk about his life, so she gathered up
her courage and broached the one subject he always seemed to avoid.
    “Tell me about your wife.” Isabella folded her hands on the
table. “I would love to know more about the woman who is the inspiration behind
our magnificent new center. She must have been remarkable.” The stab of
jealousy that stuck in her chest was hurriedly thrust out.
    Zayne took a long time to answer and she had almost
convinced herself she had dug too far into his personal space when he leaned
back in his chair and crossed one long leg over the other. But Isabella could
read the tension present in every line of his frame, despite his attempt to
remain collected.
    “She was brilliant. Passionate.” His voice was so soft she
had to lean close to hear. “Ours was an arranged marriage but we were both
Western-educated and liberal and came to care deeply for each other over time.”
    “Was she