Dr. Do-Right (Occupational Hazards)

11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

A soft knock sounded at the door. “Dr. Dobrev? Miss Sanchez? Miss Dobrev is coming up now.”

Mal stirred underneath me. I was curled up on top of him on our bed. Air pressed around us, warm and stuffy. The RISI team had sealed the apartment and was methodically checking every possible entry point. The trash chute had been unsealed (“Too steep to be a threat,” Asher had assured us.), but they were still checking the vents, so we’d been stewing all afternoon without any air conditioning.

The inside of the apartment was eerily quiet, except for Siggy’s snores, the soft movements of our security guard in the living room, and Mal’s shallow breathing. We hadn’t spoken a word to each other in hours, not since I’d come home and he’d spilled the whole story to me.

“Malachi. Carino,” I’d whispered. His arms had enveloped me the second the elevator doors opened. He’d held me tight enough that I’d had a hard time taking in a full breath of air. A shame, since now I was with him, I felt like I could finally breathe again. He hadn’t let me go since.

“What time is it?” I murmured now, rolling to a seat as Siggy stretched to follow. Time had taken on an odd sort of flow. Hours passed by in a blink, but it seemed like we’d already been here for days. All the curtains were drawn. In rooms where we hadn’t hung them yet, Asher and our other guard from RISI, Grayson, used sheets and moving blankets to block the windows.

“Interrupts lines of sight from below. For shooters.” I’d shivered at Asher’s explanation. That was when Mal had taken me back to the bedroom for some privacy. We hadn’t slept, hadn’t turned the TV on. Just laid here, Siggy nestled at the small of my back.

Mal’s phone flashed in the dark. “After midnight.”

I yawned as I made my way to the hallway. I was exhausted. I hadn’t been able to sleep. Not while Sonia was still out there, dealing with a flight delay as she made her way home. I had a sneaking suspicion that even when she got here, I still wouldn’t be able to shut down completely. I was too wired. On edge, despite the many assurances I got from the RISI team that they had everything under control. I believed them, but everything still felt out of control and surreal.

Asher and Grayson, who was a few years older and seemed to be in charge, were in and out of the apartment constantly, rotating between securing the apartment building and doing something on computers in our living room. They both had guns clipped to their belts and the coiling wires of earpieces snaking out of the collars of their black shirts.

I really was living in a movie.

Siggy and Mal padded behind me. I picked up my pace when I heard the elevator doors open with a ding .

“Sonnie?” I yelled, my feet skidding on the wooden floors when I took the hallway corner too fast. Mal was right on my tail.

“Rija? Malachi?”

I clutched my chest when I heard her voice, barreling past Asher and careening straight into my best friend, all but ignoring Grayson, who had taken one of the RISI Rovers to pick Sonnie up from the airport.

I was sobbing before we’d even closed our arms around each other. We all rocked, tipping precariously when Malachi slammed into my back, gathering us both up against him.

We laughed and sniffled and shuffled to stay upright, clinging to each other like one of us would die if we let go.

“Sonnie, I’m so sorry.” Mal had apologized so much tonight that I’d barred him from saying it again to me. Sonia was equally disinclined to put up with his bullshit.

“Mal, it’s not your fault that some psycho is stalking you.” Her voice wavered in a way I’d only ever heard a few times. I hugged her closer. I couldn’t stand to hear my usually bubbly, irreverent friend so close to tears. She continued, voice strained. “If anything, it’s my fault—”

“It’s not. You can’t…” Mal squeezed us tighter. “We can’t blame ourselves.”

“Deal.” Sonnie pulled back, palming both our cheeks and looking at us like we’d been apart for years, not just two weeks. Her face collapsed, and I saw the first tear fall just before she yanked us back into the group hug. “I’m so glad you’re both alright.”

“We’re fine. We’re all safe. Grayson and Asher will make sure of that.”

“Yes. Right.” Sonia pulled away, swiping at the mascara from under her eyes. I wanted to pull her back, but she was already stepping away, approaching the two men where they stood huddled together, giving each other hushed updates. They broke off when Sonia approached.

“You’re Asher?” she demanded.

“Yes, ma’am.” Asher stepped forward. Sonia kept walking closer, studying him.

“You really are as hot as you sound on the phone.” Her voice shook even as she made the joke. Asher’s mouth twisted into that wry grin.

“Back atcha, ma’am.”

“Don’t call me ma’am.” Her command lost its power since she sighed it and simultaneously launched herself into his arms. He caught her around the waist, brows pulling down in confusion when she pulled him into the same sort of full-body, full-drama hug we’d just had with her.

“Thank you for keeping my family safe,” she whispered. His face softened as he swallowed, making gentle circles around her shoulder blades.

“Of course, ma—” he caught himself. “Miss Dobrev. It’s my job.”

She hummed. We all watched as the hug drew out for another second. Two. Three…Four. Asher’s eyes flicked to Grayson. The other man’s eyes narrowed, pointedly staring at where Asher’s hands rested on Sonnie’s back. Asher coughed and lifted his arms.

“Er, this seems gratuitous.” He gave her a cautious pat between her shoulder blades.

“It is,” Sonnie sighed. Her arm moved lower. Asher’s eyes widened in shock just before she pulled away.

“Sonnie,” I couldn’t help the watery laugh that stuttered out of me. “You can’t feel up the security team.” Even as I admonished, I pulled her into another hug. I’d missed her and today had been horrible and sometimes a girl just needed her best friend.

“Not both of them. Just that one, and I have no regrets.” At her words, another strangled cough escaped my formerly unflappable bodyguard. The smile she gave me was half-hearted at best, tinged with sadness when she looked at her brother. “You should have told me, Mal.”

“I know.” He shook his head, face a mixture of regret and grief I’d become familiar with in the last few hours. “I know.”

“Come on,” I held my hand out to him, pulling both him and Sonnie down the hallway to the living room. We didn’t need to have this conversation standing around in front of the elevator.

“I had a right to know. She was my friend.” Sonnie’s words struck home, and Malachi winced as they sat on the couch, Mal on one side, and Sonia in the corner of the sectional. My fearless, feisty friend pulled her legs up to her chest. She looked small.

I squeezed his hand before retreating to the kitchen to open a bottle of wine. He’d already explained the whole situation to me, and I had a feeling Sonia would take it even more poorly than I did. Maybe it was best to give them some space.

If I wracked my brain, I could remember her mentioning Christine, her freshman year roommate who’d had such a big crush on Malachi that she’d followed them to dinner one night. Apparently, the stalking hadn’t ended there. It hadn’t ended at all. She’d become obsessed with him, upending her life to follow him—stalk him—to Colorado, despite him telling her time and time again that he wasn’t interested.

“I thought we had it under control. She was in treatment at an amazing program in Boulder. I just…I should have worked harder to make sure her doctor was handling this.” Malachi sighed. I could hear the guilt in his voice, and I hated it for many reasons. So did Sonnie.

“Managing the mental health of your stalker is not your responsibility,” she snapped, leaning forward to grip his shoulders and shake him the way I’d wanted to earlier today. “She’s been following you around and threatening you for years. You should have let the police handle it. Tell him, Ri!” She twisted around to glare at me.

I removed the cork with a pop . “Trust me, I’ve already told him.” The entire story had come spilling out as soon as I’d gotten home from the hospital earlier today. I was still emotionally spinning between fear and anger. Love. Because while Malachi had filed a restraining order against Christine, he’d simultaneously worked with a mental health facility in Colorado to get her the help she needed, and had employed private security to deal with her threats instead of the police. When I’d demanded to know why he hadn’t worked harder to take legal action and lock her up, he’d looked at me, eyes shining with passion and empathy.

“She’s unwell, Ri. My job is to help people. What else was I supposed to do?”

Even now, thinking about his earnest response broke my heart. Leave it to Dr. Do-Right to try and save everyone—including his stalker.

“Well, it ends now. It’s not just me she’s coming after, anymore.” Mal swallowed, grimly accepting the glass of wine I handed him.

I tried not to imagine the crumpled letter Grayson had grudgingly slid across the counter earlier today. None of the men had wanted me to see it, but I felt I had a right, especially after they’d showed me a few of her more recent threats against Mal. Emails, handwritten cards, and sloppy scribbles, wildly ranging from professing her deep, undying love for him, and explaining in excruciating detail how she was going to harm him. I thought I’d hit some sort of numb threshold of horror, until they finally handed over the newest communication.

The grainy, enlarged photo of Mal and I, leaving the Gala hand-in-hand was marred, mutilated by dark, dripping ink that I didn’t want to examine too closely. The words “She’s dead” scrawled across my face.

I had shoved the picture back into Grayson’s hands. Quickly.

Christine had gone ballistic when word got out that Mal was moving to Chicago to open up a new clinic. When he’d received her threat to show up at the gala, where he’d been publicized as the keynote speaker, Mal had immediately called her doctor in Colorado. By the time they’d gotten someone to her apartment, she’d been long gone, on her way here.

Asher and Grayson had been working all week since the gala, discretely shadowing Mal to work, while splitting their time coordinating with our building’s security and trying to find her. But there was a lot of ground to cover between Boulder and Chicago, and looking for a single woman who didn’t want to be found was like trying to find a needle in a haystack.

It wasn’t until this morning, and the bloody handwriting scribbled across my image, that Mal had reached his limit. The RISI team had handed over all their investigation material to the police and locked Mal down. Their sole focus was now only on babysitting us until Christine was caught.

The mentally unwell woman who wanted to kill us.

Another chill rattled my spine, even in the stuffy, warm air of the penthouse.

I’d changed into one of Mal’s old sweatshirts, leggings, and a pair of fuzzy socks when I’d come home, and I still shivered every once in a while. Mal grabbed my hand as I sat next to him, tangling our fingers together.

“She’ll go to jail after this. I’m not fucking around with your safety,” he assured me, thumb sweeping across my knuckles. His declaration made me melt while simultaneously spiking my furious, protective anger.

“But you’re fine with her threatening you? ” I demanded, not for the first time today. I couldn’t imagine living my life with a stalker out in the world, and just going about my day.

Mal rubbed his forehead, squeezing my hand. “We had it under control. She was doing well…I hadn’t gotten a letter or anything from her in years . She was living on her own. I thought it was fine. I’m sorry.”

I shook my head at his apology. He’d made his decisions, and I knew he’d probably still help her if he had the chance again. “I just wish you’d have taken threats against your life as seriously as you took them against mine.”

His lips brushing against my wrist was the only response I got. The grim determination in his eyes was answer enough. He felt perfectly fine taking risks with his own life, but he’d stop at nothing to protect me. Infuriating. And so damn sweet. That look knocked the breath out of my lungs.

It was love. Fierce and true. Even in the face of all the chaos and sadness of the day, my heart swelled. I’d known he was attracted to me. Liked me. Assumed that maybe he even was on his way to loving me, but all my assumptions were obliterated in the face of the stark reality.

This man loved me as much as I loved him. In a big, sweeping, this is it kind of way. He’d upended his world for me—not just to give us a chance at a relationship, but to give us a chance to start our lives together. I swallowed back tears, reaching over to grip his forearm.

“They’re very close. Great friends.” Sonia’s voice broke the spell that had fallen over me and Mal. I blinked, my gaze darting back to where she was staring at my hands. Crap . I’d known that we’d have to tell Sonia that we were together, but the thought had taken a backseat to everything else going on today.

But now she was here , in Mal’s apartment, which was also pretty much mine. My brain stuttered as I tried to remember the speech I’d prepared two weeks ago.

It seemed like a lifetime had passed since then.

“Sonnie, we—”

“Of course, I’m her best friend and she never looked at me like that. Like she wants to have my babies.” Sonia craned her head, addressing Grayson as he walked through the room. “When’s the last time you planted a desperate kiss on a pal’s hand, huh? Looked soulfully into their eyes like your next breath depended on it?”

The man in question smirked but didn’t respond. As he made his way to the office where the security team had set up their temporary headquarters, his bright, moss-green eyes danced in our direction. They saw right through us.

Apparently, so did Sonia.

Mal shifted, setting his wine down on the coffee table. I did the same, leaning forward to brace my arms on my legs.

I took a breath. “Sonnie—”

“For fuck’s sake, cut the drama! Are you together or not? Because I swear to God, I have been gone for two weeks and if you two haven’t gotten with the program, I will lock you in a room and blast Marvin Gaye through the door, if I have to.” She eyed us, exasperated, as she took a sip of her wine.

My mouth dropped open. “You…?” I gasped at the same time Malachi’s incredulous “What?” echoed through the room. Sonia rolled her eyes.

“Guys, I’m flighty. Not stupid. You two have been making gross sexy eyes at each other for months. Years , even. I’d have to be completely blind and on another planet not to see it.” She took another sip before putting her glass down on the table with ours.

“But you said I had to stay away. Keep my hands off?”

Sonnie scoffed, leaning forward to place her hands over our tightly clenched fingers. “It is amazing and stupid that you took something I said years ago so seriously. It’s been obvious over these last few months that you were falling for him. I brought it up again as, like, a joke. I kept waiting for you to tell me, Ri. Both of you.” Her attention flickered to Mal before landing back on my face. “When you didn’t, I figured I was standing in the way. I tried to tell you right before I left, but shit-for-brains over here interrupted us.”

She flicked Mal’s arm affectionately. He grumbled and brushed her off, but she continued. “Rija, I know you’re not going anywhere. You’re like a sister to me. Now, I see there’s enough of you for both of us. I just want you to be happy. Both of you .” She repeated, flicking Mal again, this time on his earlobe.

“ That’s why you left so suddenly for New York?” he demanded, batting her hand away from his head. Sonia threw her hands in the air.

“Yes, my God, I practically told you two to maul each other, hoping to break the seal. Please tell me it worked because I’ve got to come back home eventually and Jesus Christ, the pining you two have been doing is giving me an ulcer.”

“Sonia…” I trailed off, shaking my head in disbelief. I’d been worried for so long about her reaction to me and Mal’s relationship, and here she was actively trying to throw us together?

I felt like I’d been held up by strings, the tension pulling me taught, and all at once, they’d been snipped. I was strangely loose. Tired and floppy. Like I could breathe for the first time in six months. My head fell forward. “Why didn’t you say anything? I’ve been freaking out.”

“Why didn’t you say anything?” She huffed as I felt Mal’s warm fingers massaging the back of my neck. “I thought you weren’t sure yet, or something? I’m not trying to pimp my brother out unless it’s for true love, you know? So?” She had the audacity to sound like we were the frustrating ones. “Are you together or not? Because I will get creative if I need to.”

I raised my head, eyes landing on Mal, who shook his head. Brown eyes danced with laughter.

“Yes, we’re together,” he murmured. A softer version of that fierce, raw affection from earlier took over his face.

“Yeah, I…kind of live here now.” A disbelieving breath huffed out of me. Because it was true, and I was telling Sonnie and she didn’t look mad or disappointed. Her lips softened into a quiet smile. Her hands reached towards mine, and our fingers grasped. Best friends. Thicker than thieves. Sisters.

“And you’re happy?” she whispered, as if it were even a question.

“Yes,” I whispered back. I glanced up at Mal when he eased a few strands of hair out of my face.

“Very,” he agreed, grinning down at me. “Present circumstances excluded, of course.”

“Aw, you guyssss!”

Mal and I rocked backwards as Sonnie threw herself at us, looping her arms around our necks in a clumsy group hug. “I’m just happy you’re happy. Three musketeers!”

She squeezed me hard enough to make me cough. A strangled wheeze from Mal told me he was receiving the same treatment. I reached up to pat her back, feeling Mal’s arm creep around me until we were all tangled up together. My two best friends, and not a single secret between us.

“This is nice, but at some point we’re going to have to talk about Sonnie’s questionable taste in smash music. Marvin Gaye? You need to modernize.” Mal thumped his sister on the back. She reluctantly let go of us, standing to swig the rest of her wine. I saw her swipe a finger under her eye. She wasn’t the only one feeling misty.

All at once, the pressure of the day and the guilt and regrets of the last six months caught up to me and I slumped back into the cushions. My head felt fuzzy, eyes already drooping. We were all safe, with two big, burly security men standing between us and the danger. Mal and I were together, and Sonnie was happy about it. I felt like I could give myself permission to pass out.

“Don’t be judgy. Dare I even ask what’s on your playlist?” She glared at him.

“Gotta be Boyz II Men,” he grinned, his hand reaching back to squeeze my thigh. I gave him a sleepy smile.

“Gag. What about you, Hot Asher? What’s on your smash list?”

“I won’t lie. It’s a lot of Beyoncé,” Asher answered without looking up from his computer. A faint smirk played on his lips. Sonia had been heading towards the kitchen with her wine glass, but his response made her stop in her tracks. She studied him for a beat before he looked up to meet her eyes. His smirk deepened.

“Surprising and intriguing choice, Hot Asher.” She looked him up and down. I could practically see her cataloging his features. The tattoos peeking out from his sleeve, the tousled brown hair, and his teasing expression. She bit her lip, and his gaze followed the movement. “I was going to ask where my bedroom was, but I think I should ask where yours is instead.”

“You’ll be in the guest room next to the primary suite, where Agent Kaine can monitor you. From the hallway,” Grayson intoned from the across the room as he exited the study. Asher snapped his attention back to the computer screen in front of him. I couldn’t tell in the low lights of the room, but I thought I saw a blush creep across his cheekbones.

“Sonnie, try not to get our security staff fired on the first day of a crisis,” Mal chided, leaning back to look into my eyes. “You look tired, Kitten.”

“Everything’s going to be alright, Mal. Sonia’s here…everything will be okay.”

He pressed a soft kiss to my nose. “Yes, it will. I’ll make sure of it. Come on, you’re barely keeping your eyes open.”

“I can walk,” I protested when strong arms scoop me against his hard chest.

“Of course you can, but why?”

I mumbled a goodnight to Sonia, who was quietly trying to charm Grayson. She probably felt bad about distracting his team. Mal pressed another kiss to my forehead as I snuggled into his chest. I was asleep before he laid me on the bed.