“So did you and Ryan make the beast with two backs last night?” said a voice from behind Gena in the hospital locker room.

Gena jumped at the unexpected noise and looked over her shoulder at Joy, the young woman with an oversized grin and expectant expression. “The beast with two what? Eww, no!”

Joy shrugged one thin shoulder. “He was waiting twenty minutes for your shift to end just so he could walk you to your car. It’s not crazy to assume that you’d finally let him come home with you.”

Gena stifled a groan. She’d hoped to get through as much of her nursing shift as possible without the subject of last night being brought up. She hadn’t even been in the building ten minutes.

“I didn’t go home with Ryan,” she said calmly. Gena shut her locker and walked over to the mirror to get one last look at herself before her shift started.

Her long black hair was pulled away from her face in a ponytail and her pale blue eyes stared back at her. She wore no makeup today and did nothing to make herself look any more attractive. Her bone structure was nice, but she was about fifteen pounds and a good nose job away from being a perfect ten. But working twelve-hour shifts at the hospital didn’t exactly motivate her to break out the mascara. Especially after the fiasco that happened last night.

Joy, on the other hand, could’ve been walking runways in Paris if she wanted. She was a tall and striking blonde. She’d recently chopped off all of her hair to a short one inch, but heads would always turn when she walked by.

So if Gena was average and Joy was stunning, why on earth was Ryan Stone convinced Gena was his future wife?

Ryan was very important in this hospital. His father, Bill Stone, was a self-made millionaire who, about ten years ago, donated a lot of money to the hospital. This donation ensured a few things for his family. He got a wing of the hospital named after him—Stone Birthing Center—he got a few lifetimes’ worth of ass-kissing from all employees of the hospital, and his no-good son was guaranteed a job there his entire life.

Ryan had flunked out of three different colleges, so his father had finally decided to stop wasting the tuition money and saddled Ryan with a menial desk job to keep him out of trouble.

As messed up as he was, Ryan had a lot going for him. Besides being trust-fund rich, he was unbelievably attractive. The definition of tall, dark, and handsome. Half of the female staff of the hospital fought to gain his attention. So if Ryan could choose between most of the female staff, one being the incredibly beautiful Joy, why had he suddenly decided he and Gena were meant to be together?

“Well? What happened after you left?” asked Joy.

Gena shook her head. “Nothing happened. He asked me to have dinner with him and I said no.” She made a show of looking at her watch. “I have to start my shift.” She walked past Joy and away from the interrogation.

She hadn’t really lied. Ryan had asked her to dinner and she’d said no, but he then went on to say so much more. It would’ve been romantic if it wasn’t so weird. She felt a hand on her arm as Joy pulled her to a stop.

“I’m not letting you get away that easily,” she said. “Tell me what happened.”

Gena looked around the hallway to see who was in earshot. She spied an empty patient’s room and pulled Joy inside and closed the door. “You have to promise you won’t tell anyone what I’m about to tell you.”

Joy nodded. “Our secret.”

“Ryan was...strange last night.”

“He’s a spoiled brat. He’s always a little strange,” responded Joy.

Gena shook her head. “It was more than that. It was the words he chose. He basically told me we were going to get married.”

Joy’s dark blue eyes widened in surprise. “He said that? There are a lot of girls here who are going to want you dead.”

Gena rolled her eyes. “I’m not marrying anyone, let alone Ryan.”

“Why not? Handsome? Check. Steady job? Check. More money than everyone you know combined? Check.”

“Steady job? He has been kicked out of three colleges.”

Joy smiled. “Your job is always steady when your father is as powerful as Ryan’s is. Are you against marrying someone without a college degree?”

“What? No!” She wiped the exasperated expression off her face. “It’s not that. When I was in school, I studied hard for my good grades. Some people I knew studied harder than me and got worse grades. Others hardly studied at all and received better grades than I did, but they all cared at least. I could never be with someone who didn’t care. That doesn’t matter anyway, because that boy is insane.”

“Did he say something stranger than he wanted to marry you?”

Gena dropped her voice a bit in case anyone was listening. “He said I was the whitest person he knew.”

Gena opened her mouth to say more but Joy interrupted, “He’s racist?”

Gena shook her head. “He was talking about how everyone else he sees is black and gray, but I’m the only one glowing white. Apparently that makes me the best, and Ryan is convinced he deserves the best.”

Joy had a confused look on her face. “Who is gray? What does that even mean? Did he actually use the word ‘glowing’?”

“Your guess is as good as mine. I gave him some spiel about not dating men I work with and drove home as quickly as I could.”

“And how was marriage brought up?” asked Joy.

“He said we were destined to be and would spend the rest of our lives together. It gave me the creeps, Joy.”

She nodded in agreement. “Did you feel threatened?”

Gena rubbed her temples and thought about it. “I don’t know. I left really quickly, but he seemed stunned I was turning him down. I’m afraid to run into him today.”

“I can’t believe he wants to spend the rest of his life with you. Because you glow. Because you glow white, as opposed to everyone else. Besides, it would never work between you two,” concluded Joy.

“Now you agree with me?” asked Gena.

“Are you kidding? Ryan would never live in the same space as a pit bull,” pointed out Joy.

Gena got a stern look on her face. “Lady is not a pit bull. There are no papers saying that.”

“I’m not saying she’s a mean dog, but she is what she is.”

“As far as I’m concerned, Lady is some mutt I found on the streets.”

Joy snorted at that, but Gena could see her point. Ryan would settle for nothing less than a show-quality purebred. Gena had found a skinny and weary Lady shivering next to a dumpster, trying to hide from the rain, two years ago.

It would have to be one hell of a man to ever separate Gena from her Lady, and Ryan wasn’t even close to being that man.

“I don’t know what I’m going to do,” said Gena softly. Joy wrapped her arms around her, and Gena took comfort in the hug.

“We’ll get through this. I’ll stick by you tonight and make sure there are no awkward scenes between you and Ryan.”

Gena forced a smile, but she doubted Joy could truly keep her safe.

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Twelve hours later, Joy walked Gena to her car. It had been a busy shift and the hours had flown by. Luckily, Ryan was nowhere to be seen.

Gena couldn’t be happier to go home. She was exhausted and desperately wanted to get out of her dirty scrubs. Halfway through the day, a young boy had accidentally spilled his apple juice on her scrubs. She usually kept an extra set in her locker but happened to be out of extras. Admittedly, apple juice was better than a lot of the other things in the hospital, but still disgusting.

The stress of work, added to her worries about tension with Ryan, was enough to have her crawling up the walls. She should take Lady for a long walk when she got home, but she wasn’t sure she could muster the energy.

Joy had tried to stick by her side throughout the day, but that was hard to do with the hospital pulling them both in different directions. Every spare moment Joy had, she asked more questions about what Ryan said.

Gena wanted to forget that the whole embarrassing incident had happened. The feeling only intensified when they reached Gena’s car and Joy asked, “Do you think he’s under the influence of a love spell?”

She just about choked on the coffee she was drinking. “I’m going to go ahead and say it’s probably not a love spell causing this.”

Joy shrugged as if love spell was a perfectly logical suggestion. “My sister makes a bunch of money selling love spells.”

Gena sighed. Joy’s sister, Hope, was into an alternative lifestyle. She lived in New York City and made good money selling spells and potions to anyone naive enough to pay for them.

“You know my opinion about your sister’s ‘job,’” pointed out Gena. “Besides, even if I believed in that crap, why would someone bespell Ryan to be in love with me?”

Joy’s face fell. “I guess you’re right. It’s just the only reason I could think of for Ryan suddenly thinking that he should spend the rest of his life with you.”

A sharp wind caused Gena to shiver. It was late fall and the suburbs of Detroit got cold after dark. Her jacket wasn’t keeping her warm. “I need to get home.”

Joy nodded. “Okay. Call me if you need to talk.”

Gena could see Joy was truly concerned for her. “Really, this isn’t that big of a deal. Girls get asked out by their bosses all the time. It’s not like I really think Ryan is dangerous. The worst he might do is find some lame reason to fire me, and in that case I’ll go back to med school like I have been planning on doing anyway. So no worries, okay?”

Joy narrowed her eyes and obviously didn’t have much faith in Gena’s nonchalant attitude. “I guess you’re right. Drive safe, hun.”

“You too.” Gena got into her car, willing herself to believe the reassurances she’d just given Joy.

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Gena was greeted by the sound of Lady’s nails clacking against the hardwood floors. She smiled down at the wiggling brown dog and set her work bag on the floor next to the door.

Gena thought Lady was one of the most beautiful dogs she’d ever seen. Lady’s coat was a soft brown color all over except for three areas. She had a white line stretching from just above her eyes to her nose, a splotch of white in the middle of her broad chest, and each of her feet always looked as if she’d just walked through a tray of white paint.

However, Lady’s best feature was her eyes. They were wide set and almond shaped. The color was a green-brown that always seemed to shine. The best part about those eyes was how happy they always looked.

Gena took a second to scratch her welcoming committee’s ears before she headed into the kitchen to fix up a snack.

Gena loved the small house she rented. It was a ranch style brick home with one bedroom and one bathroom. It was a bit more expensive than an apartment of the same size, but to Gena, the ability to spend the breezy summer nights in her own backyard with a good book and Lady chasing squirrels was priceless.

She’d been exhausted leaving work, but the happy greeting Lady’d given Gena had renewed her energy. She supposed a small walk around the neighborhood wouldn’t be too much of a hassle.

If anything, the exercise would help to rid her of the stress she’d been dealing with all day.

However, any stress that had been relieved during the walk quickly returned when Gena and Lady approached her front porch on the way back home. Ryan smiled at Gena and waved.

He looked cheery and friendly, but alarm bells rang inside her head. What was he doing at her house?

She planted a stern look on her face and tried to keep her fear at bay. “Ryan,” she said. “What are you doing here?”

He still wore his suit jacket, leading her to believe he’d come straight from the hospital. His brown eyes appeared black in the darkness. The moonlight hit his face in a way that managed to make him look even more handsome. If she weren’t so freaked out by him randomly showing up at her front porch, she would’ve appreciated the sight more.

As it was, he had some explaining to do.

He stepped toward the end of the porch as she approached cautiously. “I felt really bad about how things ended last night,” he said. “I didn’t mean to make you feel uncomfortable.”

Lady was getting antsy at the end of her leash. The dog stood dead still and stared at him, the scruff on the back of her neck sticking up. The sight added to Gena’s unease.

“I appreciate the thought, but I have a lot to get done tonight,” she said, trying to sound as polite as possible.

Ryan nodded. “I understand. I know it’s rude to show up uninvited.”

Gena heard him say the words but highly doubted he felt bad for anything he was doing. She placed a smile on her face to hide her disbelief.

He stepped out of the path of the door to allow her in. She passed him as quickly as possible and fiddled in her pocket for the key.

He stood a relatively safe distance from the door, but to confirm he wasn’t planning on coming inside, she said, “We can talk at work tomorrow to clear this up?”

“Sure. I should be able to pencil you in tomorrow.”

She’d rather not talk to him at all, but anything was better than him showing up uninvited to her house. Gena turned the key and the door cracked open. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” She tried to duck inside the house as quickly as she could. She wasn’t quick enough.

One of Ryan’s big hands shot out and grabbed the door before she could shut it. Ryan shook his head in disappointment. “See, I knew you weren’t okay.”

Gena’s heart beat faster in her chest and she tried to calm herself. But she wasn’t the only one upset. A low growl escaped Lady as the dog stared Ryan down.

She had to get him out of the house. “You should go,” she said with the most authoritative voice she could muster. She took a step forward to try to shut the door, but he pushed the rest of the way into the house in a quick move.

The motion toward Gena startled her to the point she jumped back and her breath caught in fear. Lady let out a bark. Ryan shot a menacing look at the dog he’d previously ignored.

He looked back to Gena and his expression changed back to casual friendliness in a split second. “I don’t mean to scare you. I just want to clarify what we talked about yesterday.”

She took a deep breath and evaluated her options. She probably couldn’t push him out of her doorway. Her back door was a bit of a run, but it was locked. She couldn’t run to it and work the lock before he caught up to her.

Though she was feeling threatened, he wasn’t being outright violent with her. Maybe if she played along with him, he would go away or at least give her a chance to call the police.

Deciding that the latter was the best solution, she once again put on her fake smile. Lady was still intensely scrutinizing Ryan. She didn’t want the dog to be injured, so she said, “Let me just put the dog away.”

She started to walk Lady to her bedroom. When she turned her back on Ryan, she braced for an attack, but all she heard was the sound of him closing the door. The sound of the lock clicking into place chilled her to her core.

Still uncomfortable about not having Ryan in eyesight, she just pushed Lady into the room and didn’t take the time to take off her leash. Her cell phone was in her pocket. If he was distracted, he wouldn’t see her dial 911. They could trace calls, right?

She quickly turned back to Ryan. He stared at her, and the creepy vibes his eyes gave off were not helping her nerves. She broke the silence. “You said you wanted to talk?”

He shook his head as if he was trying to clear his thoughts. “Sorry. Sometimes seeing you is still a shock to me.” He walked toward her and she took a step back until her back hit the wall. But he didn’t stop until he was just inches away.

Gena’s entire body tensed as she tried to anticipate what was coming. Should she fight back? Could she take him?

“I’m sorry,” he whispered softly. “I just need to know if you feel different.”

His fingers brushed her neck. Cold reverberated from where his skin lightly touched her, and the chilly tendrils ran through her. She couldn’t hold back a shiver of disgust. “I’m not different,” she pleaded.

“Don’t you understand? You’re better than all the rest of them.” He finally stepped back from her, but she was too afraid to move. “I must’ve freaked you out last night,” he said.

Last night was nothing compared to the fear that raced through her at the moment. “What do you want?” she softly asked. The house was an older ranch with smaller, closed-off rooms. A living room/entryway led into the dining room with a kitchen area attached.

He ignored her question and looked around at her house. “This place is too small for you.” He walked into her kitchen.

He could still see her if he wanted to, but he looked at her outdated appliances at the moment. She took the chance to reach into her pocket for her cell phone.

She wasn’t quick enough. “Is that your phone?” he called from the kitchen.

“I just got a text message,” she lied.

Ryan walked back over to her. “It’s rude to use your phone when you have a guest.”

It was strange to see him like this. He was still as handsome as he’d always been, and his grin just as attractive, but no part of Gena was drawn to him. She was repulsed and felt violated that he was inside her house and acting as if they were good friends.

“It’s rude to come into my house uninvited,” she shot back.

She tried to walk around him, but he reached out and grabbed her arm. She tried to free herself, but his grip tightened so much that she gasped in pain.

“Get your hand off me and get out of my house,” she snapped.

Ryan let go of her but didn’t move away. “Take off your jacket.” His tone implied it was an order.

“I’m cold,” she snapped back at him. She looked around her for a weapon. A lamp was just a few feet from her, but it was too bulky to wield with any accuracy. Her eyes went over Ryan’s shoulder to the kitchen.

She had a block of knives in there that an entire paycheck had gone to. If she could get to them, she’d stand a better chance in a physical fight with Ryan.

Before she did anything drastic, she tried reasoning once more with him. “I’m sorry I’m not more hospitable, but you’re in my home and I want you to leave.” She tried to keep the anger she felt out of her voice, but she practically shook with tension.

“I think you misunderstood what I meant last night,” he responded.

Gena’s heart sunk. He wasn’t going to leave. She started to think of a reason to give him for going to the kitchen, but then remembered that this was her home and she didn’t need to give him an explanation.

She started to walk around him and saw his hand shoot out toward her again. She instinctively flinched away from him. “I’m getting a drink!” she shouted.

He looked suspiciously toward her kitchen but put his arm down.

“What exactly are you thinking I misunderstood?” She grabbed a glass from one of the cupboards.

He stared intently at her every move. “Take off your jacket,” he said again.

Gena clenched her jaw. She was only a few feet from the knives. She decided to obey him so she could stay close to the blades.

She couldn’t meet his eyes as she unzipped the heavy jacket and placed it on the counter next to her. “Happy?”

Ryan nodded. “I’m happy with you,” he said. “It was too hot in here for that to possibly be comfortable.” Though normally her house was too warm to be wearing her winter jacket, with him invading her space she felt chilled with only her t-shirt and jeans on.

A mixture of fear and anger clouded her eyes. She said nothing as she filled her glass with water. When she turned back to face him, she subtly moved to place the knife block behind her back.

“I don’t want you to be my mistress or anything,” he continued. “I want you to know I have more respect for you than that.”

“Really?” she asked with a disbelieving tone. He must have a very strange definition of respect. “Why me? I’ve worked with you for a year and you’ve hardly said two words to me. What changed?”

“I changed.” Ryan leaned back against the table and crossed his arms over his chest. Her chances went higher and higher the more he let his guard down. “My dad has been telling me to get clean for years, but I never believed life could be better sober. Until I saw you.

“I don’t want you temporarily,” he continued. “When I walked into work yesterday and saw you for the first time with nothing in my system, my entire world crashed around me. We’re meant to be together, don’t you see that?”

He tried to make eye contact with her, but she shifted her gaze to the floor. “You stopped doing drugs and suddenly realized you were in love with me?” she asked.

“No, I stopped doing drugs and could see you clearly for the first time in my life. You are so different than anyone else I’ve ever met.” He stood straight and walked toward her.

With shaking hands, she lowered her glass to the counter, but she never lifted her palm from the laminate surface. The knives were just six inches from her fingers.

Once again, Ryan stood much too close to Gena. “You radiate so much light and brightness. It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.

“I’m going to take care of you. You’ll never have to live anymore in places like this. The best houses, clothes, cars... Anything you want is yours.”

“I want you to leave. How many times do I have to say that?” She wanted to scream at him to get the hell out, but she somehow forced herself to remain calm.

“I want you to marry me,” he said, completely ignoring her request.

Gena couldn’t contain herself anymore. “I don’t want to marry you! I want you out of my life and out of my home!”

Her hand reached behind her and closed on a wooden handle that protruded from the knife block. Without hesitation, she brought the blade in front of her.

Ryan stumbled back a step and held both hands up as though he could somehow appear nonthreatening. “You don’t understand.”

Gena pushed the knife closer to him and he backed up another step. “Oh, no,” she said. “I understand. You are not understanding me, so let me make this clear. I don’t care who your family is or how much money you have. I. Don’t. Want. You. Now get out!” She tried to keep her nerves under control, but the knife shook in her hand.

Ryan’s face changed. A cold anger took over his features, and Gena’s hand tightened on the knife. “You are meant for me!” he shouted.

The shout combined with her mounting fear and adrenaline caused her to jump. She adjusted her grip on her weapon to give her a better swing at him if she needed it. “This is your last warning,” she said.

But he didn’t turn tail and run. He moved closer. Gena’s adrenaline kicked in full gear and she struck at him. The moment seemed to play in slow motion. She lifted up her arm while deciding where to strike. She could aim for the neck, but that would most likely kill him. She angled lower toward his chest.

He twisted to the left as the knife came down. The sharp point pierced his jacket, but it didn’t plant in his chest.

She frantically tried to bring the knife up for another swing, but he grabbed her wrist and slammed it into the sharp edge of the counter. The knife clattered to the floor.

The fear she’d been trying to hold back exploded inside her. She screamed in panic and pain. Ryan’s free hand curled into a fist and struck her in the jaw.

Her scream was abruptly cut off and his fist connected with her face a second time. This time her knees gave out and she fell to the floor.

Agony shot through her head and radiated out from her wrist. Her eyes tried to focus as the room spun around her. She saw the knife a foot away, but when her good arm reached for it, a foot connected with her ribs.

Her body instinctively curled up to protect itself. Ryan bent down and picked up the knife. She didn’t want to know what he was capable of doing with that weapon, considering he obviously had no problem using his fists.

She used her good hand to push herself up and tried to run. She didn’t even make it out of the kitchen when she felt an arm snake around her waist and a burning in her side.

She was thrown back to the ground and her head hit hard. For a second, she was dazed and could think of nothing but the throbbing throughout her body. The burning in her side was drowning out everything else, and she lifted a hand to the pain on her left side.

She felt a warm wetness cover her hand. When she managed to open her eyes, she saw her hand was covered in blood. Ryan had stabbed her.

She looked up at the menacing figure that stood above her. He held the bloody knife in one hand as he stared down at her. Anger still clouded his features, and his chest heaved up and down as he tried to catch his breath.

“Look what you did!” he shouted. “I could’ve given you everything!”

The cold realization she was about to die washed over Gena. She’d never get a chance to say good-bye to her parents or finish med school. Who would take care of Lady? How would Joy take it? Would the police ever know who killed her?

Ryan knelt down next to her. “Why didn’t you want me?” he yelled.

“Please don’t,” she whispered. The plea set him off. He raised the knife and brought it down with all of his strength.

Gena’s arms reached up to block the blow and the intense burning filled her right forearm. His hand repeated the stabbing motion. The third blow hit her right side. The fourth hit her left forearm.

She felt the next blow in her stomach, but that was about the time she stopped feeling anything. Her arms laid limply at her side as the puddle of blood that surrounded her got bigger and bigger. Her eyes started to lose focus and her head lolled to one side. Right as her world started to turn black, she saw the brightest light she’d ever seen.