Chapter Fifty
“There’s only so much we can do. The OPMC is scrutinizing every move with this case.
High profile, splashed all over the news.
But I’ll try my best to pull some strings,” Dr. Xavier Cross, a renowned cardiologist and the only doctor I can call a friend outside of Olivia, says over the phone.
He has inroads into the New York State Office of Professional Medical Conduct.
“I don’t care. Dr. Lin is innocent in all of this.”
“The headlines don’t look good. And the photos, man,” Xav murmurs.
It’s been a week since Monaco, and I’m seething as I scroll through the headlines on my laptop inside The Orchid’s gentlemen’s club.
“Prominent NYC psychiatrist under investigation for inappropriate relationship with patient.”
“Who is Dr. Olivia Lin? The woman in the center of a doctor-patient scandal with the party prince.”
“How many more victims? How to protect yourself from predator doctors when seeking treatment.”
“Shit!” I slam my laptop shut and stride to the floor-to-ceiling window overlooking Central Park in the private room permanently reserved for my family.
Calm the fuck down. Treat this like any other marketing crisis.
But it isn’t.
“Is there anything I can do? The photos aren’t that risqué.” I blow out a breath.
“You were caught kissing, and she’s your doctor. I honestly don’t know how you can spin it. Have you talked to her?”
I close my eyes, imagining her delicate face—her soft eyes, full lips. Her smile. Her voice.
I miss her so damn much, it hurts to breathe without her.
“No,” I rasp. “I haven’t seen her.”
Regret lanced through me the moment she walked out of that hospital room. I wanted to chase after her, to throw myself at her feet and beg for forgiveness. But I’d hurt her too much already.
Two days after the accident, I discharged myself and flew straight back to the city.
Lana and Olivia also came back early. Elias told me Bree and Ava, along with her sister, Cora, were safely moved to an undisclosed location.
The mobster is currently on a warpath to figure out how The Association infiltrated his team.
But Olivia and I haven’t talked since the hospital. Lana mentioned Olivia was doing okay, but how could she be fine? I messed up her life.
“It’s probably best you don’t see her for now. The press will go nuts. I’ll be in touch. Got to prep for surgery.” Xav hangs up.
Desperation whips through me, and I smack my fist on the window.
I did this. I taunted her, tempted her, pulled her into my dark, chaotic web, even though I knew we were breaking the rules. Casey and Lana both warned me. I can survive scandals—I’m the king of scandals. But it won’t be the same for her.
And now her career is at risk. She doesn’t need to tell me, but knowing what happened to Mia, I’m sure she became a psychiatrist to save people like her sister. It’s her way of atoning for missing the signs.
Just like my twisted shit with the mission.
My Olive and I are the same—both wrestling with grief and guilt. But she went about it to make the world a better place. I only wreaked more havoc.
But I need to save her career. It’s the least I can do for the woman who means the world to me.
Deep in my thoughts, I don’t notice the door opening until I hear someone clear his throat.
“I’ve never seen you like this before. Why did you let her go? Why didn’t you come to us sooner?”
Startled, I look up, seeing the reflection of my quietest brother, Ethan, staring at me with sympathy in his eyes.
Lana and Maxwell already filled them in on everything.
Dad called, saying he was coming straight back to the city after finishing a volunteering session in Southeast Asia.
My siblings have been great at giving me space, but I’m guessing that ends now.
I snort and shake my head at Ethan. “You’re the one to talk. You didn’t let us in either—all those years secretly in love with Lexy, waiting for her to wake up.”
Unbeknownst to us, Ethan was about to propose to Charles and Liam’s younger sister, Alexis, after secretly dating her for a few years behind his best friend Liam’s back. But when she got into a coma for eight years, Ethan silently suffered and waited, not telling a single soul about his lost love.
“Lexy was in a coma, then. There was nothing anyone could do. I didn’t want Liam to feel betrayed when he was already devastated about her condition.” Ethan clasps my shoulder. “You, on the other hand…you could change the situation. I couldn’t control if she’d wake up.”
Ethan clears his throat again, and when I turn around, I see a haunted glint in his eyes.
I can’t imagine the torture he went through.
“She’s fine now. Healthy. And married to the most boring asshole on the planet.” I nudge him.
He chuckles, the fear on his face vanishing. “We don’t give you enough credit. Lexy told me she thought you were a lot more sensitive than you let on.”
“Is that a compliment? But seriously, imagine the devastation if I unleash that into the world. Hot as fuck. Knows how to bring on the party and fuck like a porn star. And sensitive on top of that?” Humorless chuckles escape my lips.
“Don’t do that. Minimize yourself,” Ethan says.
For a split second, I’m thrown back to my sessions with Olivia, when she called me out on my self-hatred. She’s the first person to truly see me.
And she never judged me, never made me feel less than. She made me feel worthwhile.
Worth saving.
“I need to save her career,” I murmur.
Ethan scans my face, not bothering to ask me who, because we all know. “Do you love her, Rex?”
Love.
My heart pulses at the word. It’s a sentiment I once thought was impossible for me.
“More than anything.”
The words are quiet, but a small weight lifts off my chest.
The truth’s out there—at least I’m honest with myself this time.
It’s progress. She’d say that if she were here.
God, I wish she were here.
Is what she said true? She really wouldn’t judge me? She would still be with me even after everything?
No. I can’t be that selfish. It’d kill her eventually to see the man she loves waste away.
“You should go to her. If there’s something I learned from my experiences, life is short and unpredictable.” A muscle twitches in Ethan’s jaw. “Don’t waste the moments you have with your loved ones, because the clock keeps ticking. You aren’t guaranteed more time.”
“Work with her, Rex. You deserve happiness too. I know I was hard on you when I first found out about you and Olivia. But we all can tell you’ve changed for the better because of her.
You’re opening up. That’s a start.” A new voice chimes in, and we look at the door, finding Maxwell standing there, his face pensive.
“I had my problems with Belle. I acted in what I thought was best for her, and it hurt her. In the end, we were stronger together.”
That’s true. Maxwell pushed his wife away when he thought the Anderson curse was real, especially when strange accidents happened to Belle. But later, he realized he needed to fight their problems with her. And now they’re happy together, with a cute toddler in tow.
He arches his brow as if he knows he’s getting through to me. “It pains me to say this, but don’t be stupid like me.”
My lips twitch. “Did you just insinuate I’m smarter than you?”
“Don’t push it, C.”
“I’m having your words inscribed and tattooed on my skin.” I waggle my brows, and he rolls his eyes.
Charles strides into the room, his blond hair shining under the overhead lights. “You know, you Anderson men are idiots when it comes to women. That’s all I have to say. Complete idiots.”
“Like you’re a paragon of success.” Another voice, and I groan.
Ryland. He even brought his laptop and what appears to be an enormous stack of papers to grade. The man looks like he’s planning to camp out here for a few hours.
This must be another intervention. I’m so fucking slow today.
“He actually is, if you think about it. Once he and Tay got through the ‘I hate you’ phase, he pretty much sicced himself on her like a rabid dog and never let go,” Steven quips as he enters the room too.
“You guys planned this, didn’t you? How the hell did you know I’m here?” I grumble.
Then I hear it.
Click. Clack.
Fuck. The damn lighter.
Elias saunters in like he owns the building, his eyes roving impassively over us before landing on me. He flicks his beloved lighter in his hand—a motion which, to this day, seems random to me, and I’m pretty observant.
“The last I checked, you’re not an Anderson or soon-to-be married to an Anderson.” I walk back to the living room and plop down on the sofa.
The mobster smiles—or maybe it’s an amused grimace, if we can call it that—and he strides to the wet bar and pours himself a drink. “Your lot can’t survive without me.”
“Our lot? What are you? Living in the eighteen hundreds?” My head hurts, and I close my eyes.
“I’m well read. What can I say? And half of you still owe me favors.”
Elias Kent has a system—a favor for a favor.
It’s no doubt why he’s powerful—lending a helping hand and collecting favors from powerful people, cashing them out to his advantage.
From what I remember, Steven, Ryland, and Maxwell all owe the man favors.
Charles and Ethan, I think, got freebies from him.
I can’t keep track.
“Cut to the chase then. Why are you all here?” The headache quickly morphs into migraine territory.
At least I haven’t had a blackout today. That’s progress.
“To talk some sense into you and to tell you not to give up on yourself because we haven’t given up on you,” Maxwell says. “But I think you know what to do with Olivia, right, Rex?”
He walks up to me and kneels down, so we’re at eye-level.
Our gazes meet, and for a moment, I’m the six-year-old idolizing my oldest brother again, wanting him to include me in his games.
His eyes soften. “People underestimate you, Rex. I know I do. But I realize that now. We Andersons carry burdens that aren’t ours to carry. I think you know that. And somehow, I think you’re the smartest one of us.”
My breath hitches, my pulse clamoring. The tightness in my chest—a sensation I thought was normal before—suddenly releases.
The smartest Anderson. Recognition.
Not a party prince. Not Rex-a-Million. Not the comedian only good for making people happy.
“You really think so?” I ask, my voice rough like sandpaper.
Maxwell’s lips curves in a ghost of a smile. “Tell me, what were you doing before we got here?”
“Trying to pull strings with the OPMC. Save her career.”
“And why would you do that?”
My brows twitch. “Because I love her so damn much. Because this is her calling, and I need to protect it.”
“And?”
The seconds pass by, the silence heavy in the room.
The throbbing pain pulses in my head, the headache unrelenting, but I mull over Maxwell’s words.
Aside from saving Olivia’s career, what was I hoping for?
It starts small.
My heart skips a beat, then two. A jolt of energy sweeps through my veins.
Then my chest seizes.
I need to talk to her.
I don’t know how, or if, I can even fix myself, but I need to talk to her and treat her as an equal.
Despite everything, I want her to stay by my side.
“Good.” Maxwell smiles, a full teeth-baring one this time.
He stands up. “Get down to business then.”
Dazed, I look around the room, finding the guys nodding and smiling encouragingly at me.
My team. My family.
“You guys.” My voice cracks.
Elias tosses back his drink and sets his tumbler down. “You handle getting your woman back. Let’s chat about the press. We need to be creative…”