The Assistant

Chapter 24

Immanuel glared at the time on his phone as he stood outside the entrance of the imaging center. He had been out there for half an hour waiting on Tina to arrive, but he lost all hope as soon as his screen read 8:00 AM. Sighing deeply, he retreated to his car where he scrolled through his contacts to find her number. He called her but was immediately taken to voicemail.

Frustrated, he threw his phone in the passenger seat and pulled out of the hospital parking lot. He was on his way to Gerald Emerson's Paradise Hotel where Queen and Kyrie planned to exchange their vows. He and Tina were going to be the last of the wedding party to arrive, but with Tina's location unknown, he would be arriving alone.

After a short drive and maneuvering through the minimal traffic, Immanuel reached the hotel and left his car with the valet. He entered the building and nodded to the woman at the front desk. She immediately recognized him and silently motioned for him to follow the signs upstairs to the reserved suites. He arrived to the elevator just as it opened, revealing Tina in a lilac dress with her hair pinned up.

She gaped at him, horrified. "Immanuel, you're here."

"Where the hell were you?" he questioned her. He cornered her into the elevator and pushed the button to the top floor. "I waited for you this morning."

"Queen called me," she told him, gesturing to her dress. "She said I couldn't be late."

"I'm sure she would have made an exception for her pregnant best friend." Immanuel gave her a once over, unimpressed by the frown on her face. Then he laughed but not out of humor. "What do you have to hide, Tina?"

"N-Nothing," she stammered. She tried to back up against the elevator wall, but she was already pressed up against it. "I should have called you, but it honestly slipped my mind."

"If I didn't know any better, I'd think you didn't want me finding out your little secret."

Her eyes darted in his direction, but she couldn't quite meet his gaze. "What are you talking about?"

He took a step closer to her and leaned in to whisper, "You didn't want me seeing that ultrasound. You didn't want me to see that you don't have my child in there." He looked down and smirked when he saw her hand over her belly. "Did you think I wouldn't find out?"

"I don't know what you're going on about," she claimed, shrugging her shoulders. "You clearly needed more rest this morning."

He was standing only inches from her now as he laid a hand over her shoulder and cupped it. "I know you aren't pregnant."

"You're being crazy. I have the ultrasound to prove it." She presented him with her purse and began digging through it, but he grabbed her hand to stop her. "Let me show it to you. I promise you I'm not lying."

He narrowed his eyes into slits. He couldn't believe that she was still fighting so hard to maintain her story. "If I were you, I'd be careful about what I say next. I should report you to the board for misconduct and intent to distribute medical records not in your name."

She swallowed hard. "Immanuel—"

"But I won't do that, at least not right now." He smiled. He wasn't happy with her, but he felt free. He felt an overwhelming sense of relief wash over him. "From this moment on, I don't care what happens to you. You and I aren't friends, and you'll never be anything to me again."

With those words, Immanuel turned to the elevator doors just as they opened and then stepped out into the hallway.

Winona was standing outside the suite reserved for the bridal party and smiled when she saw him approach, but the smile was short lived because Tina was following close behind. Once he reached her, she lowered her voice so only he could hear her.