Chapter 29
For the first time in my life, I didn’t want to work.
Normally, I longed for hectic nights like tonight. The emergency room was chock full of people, the air thick with adrenaline and blood, the perfect combination to keep my mind focused and distracted from other things.
But I didn’t want to be here.
It started as soon as I arrived for my shift. I thought that by the time I changed into my scrubs, it would have passed, but the feeling remained and seemed to intensify as the minutes ticked by.
I tried to understand why.
There had to be a reason for it.
A logical reason, and nothing to do with the acidic jealousy pumping through my veins, thinking about Livi dancing with another man.
But every time I closed my eyes, I pictured this Mal, a man I’d never met before, putting his hands all over her. Their bodies swaying together. Hips against hips, hands in hands. Heavy breaths while sweat coated their bodies.
My mind was my own worst enemy tonight, turning an innocent act of dancing into something pornographic.
It didn’t matter that deep down I knew my jealousy was unwarranted; it was like a disease that refused to leave my system.
Checking my watch for the umpteenth time, I saw that one hour remained of my shift, followed by a further nine hours of overtime I’d willingly and stupidly signed up for.
Why did I sign up for those hours again?
Probably to avoid the therapy session I booked for nine am tomorrow morning.
Yeah, maybe it had something to do with that.
“Dr. Dade, are you free to examine this patient?” Minnie called from bay seven.
Rounding the curtain, three heads that were tucked close together, whispering aggressively, turned in unison. Clearly, I’d walked in on a three-way argument.
Ignoring the two men on either side of the gurney, I focused on the female patient. “Good evening, I’m Dr. Dade. What seems to be the issue?”
The patient pointed to her ankle. “I fell during practice. My blade got lodged in an uneven area of ice, and when I hit the deck, something definitely snapped.”
“Why did you let her fall?” The man who looked related to the patient—they were almost identical—snapped at the other man. “Matter of fact, why were you there at all?”
“Because she asked me to help her with her routine,” the man built like a brick wall with all that muscle, seethed back. “Didn’t you, Lola?”
Poor Lola winced.
Muscle man smirked. “See. She wanted someone she trusted and who knows how important her routine is to her.”
The first guy scoffed. “Trust? Don’t make me fucking laugh. You don’t know the meaning of that word.”
“You can trust me to punch the teeth out of your mouth if you don’t shut up.”
“Mickey, stop,” Lola urged, taking muscle man’s hand between hers. “Can the two of you stop fighting for five seconds? I’m begging you.”
“Your brother started it.”
The brother sneered. “Actually, you started it by dropping my fucking sister on the ice like an oaf.”
“Keep it up, I’ve been itching for an excuse to punch your lights out for years.” Mickey leaned over the gurney. “Go on, make my fucking day, Juniper.”
It was like watching a game of tennis, my eyes darting back and forth between the two men while Lola shrank inward on herself.
“Okay, let me stop everyone right there. If the two of you can’t behave, security will escort you from the premises.” I interjected. “Lola, I am going to order an X-ray for your ankle and have my intern, Minnie, take you up whenever they are free, okay?”
She nodded, attempting to move her leg, only to curse under her breath.
“In the meantime, I’m going to get you something for the pain.” I jotted the dosage for some pain relief on her chart. “The X-ray will show us what we are working with, and then we’ll go from there.”
“Thank you,” she smiled meekly.
“There’s no need for you to still be here.” Lola’s brother glared at Mickey. “I think you’ve done about enough damage for one night, don’t you?”
That seemed like the perfect time for me to leave, too.
Except I stalled as Lola said, “Mal, I think it’s you who should leave.”
Mal, as Livi’s best-friend-and-is-like-a-brother, Mal?
I mean, it wasn’t a common name, but what were the chances it was the same guy?
“I’m not going anywhere.” Mal crossed his arms. “Not while this dirtbag is still here.”
“Buckle in for a long night, shit-stick,” Mickey flashed his teeth in a feral smirk. “’Cause I ain’t going anywhere.”
“What the fuck did you call me, you bastard?”
“Fucking hell, Lord give me strength.” Lola exhaled unsteadily. “You have somewhere to be, Mal. Have you called Livi back? She needs you.”
“I will in a minute.”
“Mal,” his sister scolded, “please go! That poor woman is stuck by herself with her shitty ex-boyfriend. You need to save her from being alone with him.”
Alone with him?!
I hoped to a higher power I heard them wrong.
“Hold on, are you Livi’s friend?” I locked in on him. “What do you mean she is alone with that dickhead? Where’s Maya?”
His brows pinched, recognition taking bloom. “Wait a second, are you the doctor she is pretending to date?”
Ignoring his comment, the sound of my own heartbeat rang between my ears. “Is Livi by herself with Daniel? Have you left her alone to deal with that bastard by herself?”
Silence echoed back.
Shiiiit!!
This was anything but good. I saw how Daniel looked at her in her office; I saw the sneering weasel hiding beneath his skin that longed to play games with her head.
As if the bastard hadn’t done enough.
Whatever jealousy I felt before evaporated and twisted into something else. Something darker and wickedly vicious.
Leaving the bay, I asked Minnie to start Lola on an IV morphine drip while my eyes darted frantically around the department until they spotted the one person who could help.
I all but ran to the nurse’s station. “Dr. Lorenzo, permission to clock off half an hour early?”
A sliver of surprise passed her face. “What about your overtime?”
Fuck, how did I forget?
“There’s somewhere I need to be, somewhere important. Zara, I hate even having to ask, but it’s urgent.”
“More important than helping patients? More urgent than saving a life?”
“You and I both know I wouldn’t be asking if it wasn’t super important.”
“Let me take a guess. Does this have anything to do with the patient you treated six weeks ago, the very same patient who turns out to be your girlfriend?”
Ah, it was only a matter of time before she brought it up.
Honestly, it surprised me that it took her this long. I thought she’d have jumped at the opportunity to tear me a new one the first chance she got.
I opened my mouth, only to stop when she raised her hand to silence me.
“You weren’t in the right headspace that night; you were grieving. Not to mention you were already so far up my shit list that I’m sure if you were discovered treating a loved one, you knew I’d have kicked your ass up and down my hospital corridors, correct?”
I nodded swiftly.
“That’s what I thought.” She took the chart from my grip. “Go, I’ll cover your overtime tonight.”
Blinking slowly, I didn’t quite believe what I’d heard. “You’d do that?”
“What can I say, I’m in a generous mood.” Something that resembled a smile passed her lips, though it was so fleeting I may have imagined it. “By the way, that girlfriend of yours seems to be good for you. I’m pleased to see you taking an interest in your life outside these walls.”
Music echoed down the stairwell.
My lungs were on fire, my head thumping with each step I took upward.
Running to the dance studio wasn’t the best decision, but I didn’t have the patience to wait for a cab, nor did I have time to go home and get my car.
Time was of the essence.
The longer Livi spent alone with him, the more time he had to inflict his fucked-up mind games on her.
The man screamed unoriginal. He didn’t want her, but he didn’t want anyone else to have her either. After all, how did the saying go, having his cake and eating it too?
Yeah, the man was a walking cliché.
Of course, he started fucking with her the second she started dating another person. It didn’t matter who she dated; he was always going to do this.
That’s the kind of man he was.
And there was little doubt in my mind that he had planned this whole thing to get her alone tonight.
By the time I reached the final stair, all thought and rationality flew out the fucking window. My entire body stilled the second I spotted her standing in the middle of the studio.
She wore skintight leggings that left very little to the imagination; they were basically a second skin hugging her mouth-watering hips, ass, and thighs.
An off the shoulder top showed off her collarbones, her warm skin glistening against the light.
Her thick locks were tied up, a few strands breaking free and hanging around her face.
It was beyond reason and rationality how one woman could stir such a reaction from me.
Unfortunately, her ex stood in front of her, saying something I couldn’t decipher over the music. Whatever shit he spewed, the look of utter disbelief mixed with equal disgust on Livi’s face told me enough.
Standing by the mirrored walls, the dance teacher watched on with a mix of concern and irritation.
Oh, and look, how surprising that Maya was indeed missing.
Daniel took a step forward, his hand reaching for Livi’s bare shoulder, and before my brain caught up, I moved.
He had no right to touch her.
He lost that right the second he ripped her heart out and stomped on it.
And whether Livi knew it or not, she was mine, and no one hurt what was mine.
Gripping his wrist, I placed myself directly between them. “Sorry, I’m late.” Wicked satisfaction rushed through me when Daniel winced, yanking his wrist back. “If I were you, I’d refrain from touching things that aren’t yours.”
I wasn’t a violent person, far from it.
But when it came to him, I’d happily make an exception.
“You’re right on time.” Livi beamed, pushing herself onto her tiptoes and planting a kiss on the side of my mouth. “Always coming to my rescue, Dr. D.”
“Without question, I’ll always show up for you, Peaches.”
Dimples pierced her cheeks. “One of these days, it’ll be me doing the rescuing.”
She may not have realized it, but she saved me every goddamn day.
Blame it on pettiness, my attempt to show Daniel exactly who Livi belonged with, or better yet, blame it on my own desire fueling me, but I took advantage of her being this close.
Turning my head, I molded my lips hard against hers.
Sweet suffering fuck, I’d be a dead man before I got sick of kissing her.
A groan slipped free when her body melted against mine without hesitation, slotting into me like she was designed to.
Holding the back of her neck, my kiss turned almost feral as if she were the very oxygen I needed to survive.
Merde, I needed her so badly.
Her back arched, hands gripping my biceps while her chest met mine as I slipped my tongue to meet hers. She welcomed me like an old friend, a little whimper vibrating against my lips.
That noise alone nearly made my knees buckle.
But it wasn’t enough. I wanted to hear every whimper and every moan. I bet my name on her lips when she orgasmed was better than any symphony.
What I wouldn’t give to see her beneath me, her skin flushed and sweaty while she chanted my name like a goddamn prayer as I brought her to orgasm over and over.
Gripping the nape of her neck tighter, the studio around us vanished as I silently begged her for more.
Give me it all, Peaches.
Give me everything you have, including that damn heart you’re hiding away.
“Jesus Christ, we’re here to learn how to dance, not watch you two try and fuck each other.” Daniel’s irritated voice sounded over the music. “I’m paying you to teach us, not get your jollies off watching this freak show, do something.”
Livi smiled, her hands wandering freely up my arms and along my shoulders.
“I fucking hate PDA,” Daniel continued to grumble. “Disgusting.”
“Too bad, because I love it.” I ran the tip of my nose along Livi’s before stealing another kiss.
The dance instructor turned off the music and walked into the center of the room. “Okay, I am a little confused.” She tapped me on the shoulder. “Sorry, but who are you?”
Livi broke away first, her pink lips swollen and her cheeks blushing beetroot red. “He’s my boyfriend.”
“Well, by fuck isn’t this awkward.” The instructor’s brows pinched together. “The thing is, this class was booked for two people, and he told me he was your fiancé.”
“Of-course-he-fucking-did,” I muttered.
We all turned in unison at Daniel.
Just when I thought that he couldn’t sink any lower.
I was stuck between laughing in disbelief and fighting the urge to storm across the room and choke the life out of him—like I said, he brought a violent side out in me.
He at least had the decency to look somewhat guilty, though it disappeared quickly. “This is a simple miscommunication error, that’s all. Our wires must have gotten crossed while on the phone.”
The instructor crossed her arms. “Is that so?”
“My fiancée, Maya, is at home with the flu. Didn’t I tell you that?”
Oh, look, he sank lower again.
Un-fucking-believable.
“You forgot to mention that little detail.” The instructor’s lips slipped into a lifeless smile. “Well, seeing as your actual fiancé is unable to make it tonight, I believe it would be in everyone’s best interest that we end this class right now.”
Livi nodded in agreement. “I’m so sorry to have wasted your time tonight, Hayley. I truly feel awful.”
“This isn’t your fault,” I said firmly.
“He’s right, it’s not your fault.” Hayley side-eyed the fucker whose fault it really was. “Truthfully, I don’t have any spaces left before the wedding. I can look at the other teacher’s schedules, but the chances are slim.”
“Totally understandable.” Livi didn’t grace Daniel with so much as a second glance. “If you do happen to find anything, can you let me know so I can be the one to organize it for my sister? I’d appreciate it.”
Leaving the studio, the cool mid-spring evening air greeted the two of us.
“Talk about a shit show.” She unclipped her hair, letting the loose curls tumble free. “I can’t believe that bastard tricked me.”
“Seriously? Because I can certainly believe it.”
“Hopefully, karma will pay him a visit, and he’ll stub his big toe on something tonight. Or he’ll sit on the toilet with the seat up.”
Not exactly what I had in mind.
Then again, my idea of karma involved a lot more blood and a lot more pain.
Catching a strand of her hair caught in the breeze, I tucked it behind her ear, my thumb stroking the line of her jaw at the same time. “Come on, I’ll walk you home.”
Her teeth skimmed her bottom lip, uncertainty flickering through her irises.
I readied myself for her to send me away like she did in Monaco.
Instead, she nodded and slipped her hand into mine as if it was the most natural thing in the world, like it was something we’d do for the rest of our lives together.
If only.