He needed me every night-until I married another man

The moment I came back to life, Victor Steele had me pinned against the wall, his bloodshot eyes boring into mine. His thigh wedged between my knees and sealed off every way out. Shadows cut across his face, and the raw presence of him filled the space between us until I couldn't breathe. Every ragged exhale seared my neck, thick with a hunger he had been choking down for too long, and goosebumps raced across my skin. Those hot hands traced the curve of my waist and slid higher. He dipped his head, his lips barely grazing my collarbone, every touch dripping with an obsession that wanted to consume me. Before I could react, he grabbed my collar and ripped my shirt wide open. Buttons hit the floor with a sharp c***k, and the sound cut through the haze like cold water. It hit me all at once. I had been reborn. I had landed right back on the night Victor's bipolar disorder tore through him, the night he used my body like a drug to take the edge off. In my last life, I had ached for this man, this untouchable Wall Street king. As the elite private doctor he had paid a fortune to retain, I should have kept things professional, treated him with cold, clinical detachment and nothing else. But my pathetic little crush had pushed me across that line again and again until there was nothing left to cross. I swallowed the pain every time and let him take whatever he wanted. When it was over, he pulled his clothes on and tossed a stack of checks in my face the way you'd throw scraps to a dog. "You're nothing but a cheap fix," he said, his voice flat. "Don't kid yourself. You'll never be anything more." Then he took every medical breakthrough I had ever made and handed it on a silver platter to Chloe Kensington, the fake heiress who had stolen what was never hers to begin with. My parents and my three brothers, the ones who'd go to war for their own, had ignored every sacrifice I ever made. They had walked over me without losing a minute of sleep, all to prop up that fraud. In the end, I had burned myself down to nothing, and they didn't even leave enough of me to bury. This time around, I stared at the face in front of me, twisted with lust, and felt nothing but disgust. 'Screw redemption,' I told myself. I grabbed the glass of water sitting beside me and threw every last drop right in his face. Ice water ran down his clenched jaw and soaked into his collar. His pupils shrank to pinpoints, and every trace of lust gave way to pure shock. I seized the opening and shoved him back by the chest, then snatched my lab coat off the chair and pulled it tight around me. Victor let out a low, strangled groan and reached for my waist again. "Emma... get over here." His voice came out raw and hoarse, more command than request. I stepped sideways to dodge his hand and grabbed the intercom, dialing Chloe's number. "Chloe, Mr. Steele needs company tonight. You're up," I said, keeping my voice flat. I hung up before she could get a word in. Victor stood there staring at me, his chest heaving. He had never expected his quiet, obedient little doctor to hand him off to another woman. His hands were still trembling with a need he couldn't control. I ignored the desperation written all over him, walked straight for the door, and slammed it shut behind me. The sharp click of heels echoed down the hallway, and Chloe came rushing toward me in four-inch stilettos. She wore nothing but a thin silk nightgown with the neckline plunging past her chest, bare skin on full display, her eyes glittering with the hungry calculation of a woman who'd just been summoned. She stopped as she passed me and deliberately checked me with her shoulder. "Don't think a little shared blood gives you any right to play princess, Emma," she sneered. "You couldn't hold a candle to me in Victor's eyes. Girls like you don't get to warm his sheets." I didn't bother answering. I just watched her sashay through the suite door and throw herself at the man who was barely holding it together. The door swung shut behind her, but I stayed right where I was. The heavy oak door did nothing to muffle what came next. The sharp sound of fabric tearing cut right through the wood. Then came Chloe's breathy moans, exaggerated and rehearsed. "Victor, you're so bad... that hurts..." she whined from the other side. The man inside said nothing. The only answer was rougher, more violent sounds. A cold numbness crept up from the soles of my feet and settled in my chest. I had braced myself for it, but hearing it with my own ears still turned my stomach. I turned away and walked to the floor-to-ceiling window at the end of the hall. The glittering New York skyline stretched out before me, and the last shred of resentment from my old life crumbled to dust. I pulled out my phone, typed up a resignation letter, and hit send to HR. Then I opened my contacts and selected my parents' and brothers' numbers, every single one. Blocked. Deleted. Gone for good. This joke of a family, this pathetic excuse for love, all of it went in the trash. The next day around noon, a knock landed on the suite door. The head butler stood outside, his face set in its usual mask of contempt. "Ms. Kensington, Mr. Steele needs you in the medical room off the master suite," he said. I grabbed my medical bag and headed over, my face blank. The moment I pushed the door open, the air inside hit me, thick with perfume and the unmistakable haze of the night before. Victor stood by the window in a tailored dress shirt with his back to me. Chloe lounged on the leather sofa with Victor's suit jacket draped around her shoulders. The second I walked in, she sat up straight and ran her fingers through her messy curls. She tilted her pale neck toward me, putting the dark red hickeys scattered across her skin on full display. Her eyes gleamed with the smug satisfaction of a woman who believed she had already won. "Emma, you're the best private doctor money can buy," Chloe purred, tracing a finger along her collarbone. "Be a dear and check this for me?" She pressed her fingertips to her neck with a little pout. "Victor got so rough last night. He really did a number on me. "Do these need some kind of special treatment?" I dropped my gaze and gave Chloe's neck one disinterested glance.