Page 53 of Careless Whisper

“And?” She raised a shoulder and dropped it with an insouciance that made me wonder how deep her subterfuge went and if she believed her lies to be true.

“He told me why you pulled out of the Armitage grant.”

Her eyes sharpened, and the arrogance slipped just a little like a pianist hitting the wrong note and trying to pretend it was what they’d intended to start with.

“I also spoke to Kajal Patel,” I added, putting my cards on the table.

That got her; her breath caught in a gasp. “What is it you’re trying to do, Elias?”

“I’m seeking the truth.”

She let out a short, humorless laugh. “And what truth would that be?”

“That you manipulated the evidence for the M&M and made Reggie take the fall for a mistakeyoumade.”

Maren let out a sigh of pure irritation. “She’s still pushing that story? God. Kajal always had a thing for Reggie. Treated her like this brave little Florence Nightingale. Even when that bitch screwed up.”

“That’s not a denial.”

She raised an eyebrow. “I made a clinical judgment with the information I had.”

“Reggie paged you.”

“Late,” Maren snapped, sharper now. “I didn’t see the labs until it was too far gone. Do you know how many vagueconcernscome through from nurses on a night shift? If I ran to the OR every time someone panicked?—”

“Reggie didn’t panic,” I cut her off. “She saw it coming.”

“Shesuspected,” she protested evenly. “But she didn’t escalate it early enough.”

I crossed my arms. “You didn’t think it was worth a second look? Or even owning part of the outcome?”

“The patient died, Elias,” Maren said flatly. “It was horrible, and itwasReggie’s fault. There’s a reason she got fired while I’ve had a flourishing career.”

“The reason was that you hid the text message transcripts between you and Reggie, and the chief of surgery at Stratford played racquetball with your father.”

Maren’s eyes narrowed, her posture still relaxed but colder now, calculating. “What is this…witch hunt about?”

I straightened. “Then there’s the fact that you pulled out of the Armitage study because Reggie complained about you manipulating the data. Is that why you decided to make her the fall guy?”

“Please,” she snorted. “Like a nurse would knowmore than I do about a clinical trial. Her opinion didn’t matter. Her job was to collect the data, not give her opinions on?—”

“Maren, come on, you told me that she said to you that she was going to frame you for something you didn’t do, because of me,” I exploded.

“Did I?” Maren gave a careless shrug. “I can’t remember.”

I gawked at her. “Maren, you told me?—”

“God, can we let the past die?” She rolled her eyes before shooting me a pointed look.

“You said Reggie Sanchez was unstable. Unreliable.”

Maren eased forward, elbows braced against the marble island. She tilted her head and gave me a pointed look. “And she’s still all those things. Come on, Elias; I’m not the only one who has filed an official complaint, the head of the department…youhave also filed one, a scathing one from what I’ve been told.”

I had to rescind that fucking thing, I realized. I had let my ego and fear run my life—and ruin Reggie’s.

“I want you to resign.” I shot her a displeased look.

Her eyes narrowed in confusion. “Are you out of your mind?”

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