Big White Lie (Storm's Soldiers MC) by Paige Notaro Page B

didn’t.”
    I shook my head slowly. “We’re not in on some weird conspiracy. I saw my badge was missing. I asked her and she didn’t see it at the nurse’s station.”
    Rhonda nodded slowly. “So why didn’t you report it missing?”
    I took careful breaths. The silence expanded and I knew it looked guilty, but hopefully just the guilt of not reporting a missing card quickly. My hands squirmed under the table, out of sight.
    Should I tell her about Calix? Or would that just open up a bigger can of worms? My mind burned with the memory of riding him, of being injected by him over and over.
    Christ, he really had fucked me.
    Maybe I should just pretend I still didn’t have it. No that would be stupid. She could see me checking in with it this morning. Wait, had I? I often just followed someone in while we talked.
    The seconds ticked on. I just shook my head.
    “Rosa?” Rhonda seemed to sniff the air.
    “Ok,” I said. “I’m sorry I didn’t report it, but I found it this morning.”
    “What?”
    I flailed to pull this thing together. “It was at the nurse’s station when I came in,” I said. “I thought someone had just left it there for me.”
    She glanced at her screen. “I do see you didn’t check in this morning. How did you get in?”
    Thank god for small miracles. “I don’t check in most mornings. Someone else probably held the door open for me as I walked in.”
    “And what time was that?”
    My heart flared. There were cameras near access points. They could easily find me if they decided to check. And I had made no effort to hide the card clipped to my waist. Why would I?
    “Around nine ten, I think.”
    It had been much earlier. I was digging my hole deeper, but it was too late to get out of the lie. Even if I told them everything about Calix, they wouldn’t believe I wasn’t hiding something more now.
    The only option was to make them think I had nothing to do with him other than be his nurse. Anyone who used my badge probably would have just dropped it off at the nurse’s station.
    It’d be far less cruel than coming to the nurse’s house and offering it in exchange for fucking her.
    My ears scalded with rage now as I thought of the calm collected way he had showed up at my door with my card: Oh this little thing? Yeah I just found it lying around, and I didn’t want you to get in trouble.
    Last night roared through my head, every thrust of him, from every angle. He had made me beg for him, convinced me he was everything I wanted.
    And now I was left with this.
    Rhonda made me run over my story again, and I went over it more firmly. It was real. It was possible.
    It was just a little white lie that covered up a huge white problem.
    I walked out of her office, feeling every eye and camera on me. I had no idea what was coming next. I had gone from flying high to dropping down a well in a span of five hours.
    And the same man was at fault for both.
    Gangster , Mamá said in my memory.
    I had no idea what he was anymore. But I knew one thing. If I was getting interrogated, so was he.

CHAPTER EIGHT
    Calix
    “You’re back?” Velez swiveled behind his desk in the medical office and checked his calendar. “Nope, it’s just like I thought. I didn’t sleep for two days by accident.”
    “Check me,” I said, standing as erect as I could. “If you don’t like what you see, then I’ll go.”
    “What I see is a man who won’t listen to good advice.” Velez sighed and hung a stethoscope around his neck. “Man, most of these guys are chomping at the bit for downtime. What’s the issue with you?”
    “I’m not most guys.”
    “Very insightful, thanks.” He groaned up to his feet. “Alright. Let’s go take a look at you.”
    He led the way. I was grateful to be able to drop the act and hobble along behind. Even through the pills, there was a dull hollow ache that came with every step.
    My body would appreciate another day off. A week off would still not be enough for a full