Phantom: Her Ruthless Villain (Ruthless Triad 5)

“Mr. Dangerous? Bernice, stop being childish,” Eric chastised her.

But before I could thank him for not taking this conversation down to Bernice’s level, he said, “His office nickname is obviously going to be Thanksgiving Weekend because Olivia’s so grateful. Hello!”

“Boy…” Bernice flurried a hand at Eric and bent over at the waist. “I bow to you, good sir. I should not even have tried it.”

“Thank you. You’re welcome,” Eric answered with a royal tip of his head toward Bernice. But then he turned right back to me to demand, “I have to know does he have a gay brother?”

“Um…” I started to say, embarrassed not just by the question but also by the fact that I didn’t know the answer to it.

“I don’t think talking is what Dr. Olivia was up to with Thanksgiving Weekend,” Bernice told Eric out the side of her mouth.

“Of course, he does,” Eric decided for himself. “All of those dangerous-looking guys come from huge broken families with half-brothers littered around the city. I bet you the Christmas on-call shift that one of them is multiracial.”

“Okay, I should actually go out there,” I said, standing up to end this conversation. “And Neece, you should get back to your post.”

“One question,” Bernice asked, her tone very serious. “Is he as big everywhere?”

She circled her finger right above her waist just in case I needed a visual context clue.

“Of course, he is!” Eric answered as if Bernice were asking something stupid. “I’m about to go take a picture of him and post it on Instagram as a meme: if Big Dick Energy was a person—ooh, maybe we should call him Thanksgiving B.D.E.”

“I like Thanksgiving Weekend better, but thanks for the compliment,” a new voice answered at my open door.

Hak-kan walked in without so much as a knock and leveled Eric with a hard look. “And if you post my picture on Instagram, I’m going to find you, and I’m going to hurt you.”

Oh my gosh, oh my gosh—Hak-kan was here. And he’d heard everything. I wanted to sink into the floor and let the embarrassment eat me alive.

But Eric just brought out his phone and asked, “When you say hurt...do you mean the kind I like?”

As Eric would tell you himself, he grew up flaming gay in East Oakland. He had no fear.

Hak-kan squinted his eyes at him. “By hurt you, I’m saying I do have a gay brother, but you definitely ain’t getting his number if I find any pics of me on The Gram.”

“Putting the phone away!” Eric repocketed his phone with comical speed.

Hak-kan just eyed both Eric and Bernice with a stony expression. “You two mind giving me and O some alone time?”

At least Eric and Bernice had the common sense to slink out without being asked twice.

“I’m sorry about that,” I said as soon as they closed the door behind them.

“I’m not,” Hak-kan answered, his black shark eyes shining with amusement. “That convo was very illuminating. I’m not happy about Bernice leaving her post to gossip, though. Anybody could get back here.”

True. But I had to point out, “In the decade-plus I’ve been working here, someone’s come back here without permission only twice. And both times, it was you.”

Hak-kan gritted his jaw. “Still, going to post a couple of guys outside the door.”

I shook my head, “That’s really not necessary.”

“I’m telling you it is. The Silent Triad’s got enemies on a good day, and right now, we’ve got a video game’s worth of violence about to break out. That’s just one of the shitload of reasons I’m trying to go completely legitimate with this Glendaver purchase.”

Alarm coursed through me. “You’re in danger? Are you going to be all right?”

“I’m not the main guy our bitch of an enemy is mad at, so I’ll be fine. But you’ve got to understand that as long as you’re with me, you’re going to have to get used to a certain level of protection.”

I considered his argument. The truth was my father had been saying I needed to get a security guard for the clinic for years. Millionaires tended to be paranoid about their children being kidnapped—even the thirty-something ones who kept a low profile.

Quiet as it was kept, Big Alcohol, the people who made the liquid substances at the center of so many accidents and broken relationships also attracted enemies. If Hak-kan could provide a couple of guards without it cutting into the clinic’s budget….

“Okay fine,” I said with a careful nod. “You can post two guards here.”

“Good, I’m glad you agreed so easily,” he said. “Wayne’s moving your things into my place as we speak.”

“Wait, what?” I asked. “I didn’t agree to move in with you.”

He came forward to plant his fists on top of my desk. “Listen, O, I like you. I like you a lot. Exactly the way you are. This independent doctor shit turns me on, no lie. I’m not looking to change you or any of your worldview. But I do need to protect you. And you do need to accept that.”