Dr. Tempt Me - A Possessive Doctor Romance

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

“Wasn’t easy finishing high school, much less getting through college and nursing school. And landing this job was a goddamn fight.” She laughed a little, shaking her head. “Who would have thought that a spot at Mercy would be so competitive.”

“We know it’s a shitshow, but it doesn’t seem that way from the outside.”

“Exactly. So it’s just, I don’t want to risk losing what I’ve worked hard for.”

I finished my whiskey and nodded slowly. “I know what you mean. I don’t want you to get into trouble, believe me. If you want to walk away, I won’t hold it against you.”

“That’s not what I’m saying.” Her eyes got hard as she sat up straight again. “I just want you to know the stakes. It’s not some game we’re playing, okay? We’re not pretending to be detectives.”

“Lives are at stake,” I said.

“Exactly.”

We sat like that for a moment. I ordered another whiskey from the waitress, and took a long drink when she came back with it. Fiona looked away and I thought I saw a sadness inside of her that I’d never noticed before—probably because she masked it so well with that temper of hers. I wondered about that accident, but pushed away the questions.

“I don’t want to push you into anything. I know what you mean about overcoming things, working hard for things.”

She flashed me a look. “Yeah? Do you? Mr. Handsome young doctor.”

I laughed. “Thank you for calling me handsome, but it’s true. I was an army kid, growing up.”

Her expression softened. “You moved around a lot?”

“I went to five different high schools. Split my senior year in half. That was pretty miserable.”

“Must’ve been hard.”

“I managed. Probably wasn’t as bad as what you went through. I had difficult parents, though, a father that wasn’t exactly supportive, and was pissed when I decided not to join the marines and went to college instead.”

“He was disappointed you wanted to be a doctor?” She arched an eyebrow, showing a hint of surprise.

“Believe it or not,” I said, shrugging. I could still see my father’s face when I told him I wasn’t enlisting, and wanted to become a doctor instead. It was pure anger and disappointment, like I’d told him that I wanted to murder a classroom full of toddlers. He looked at me like I was a monster, like I was less than human, like he’d treated me my whole life.

“I can’t really imagine that.”

“He thought a career in the military was the most honorable and noble thing a person could do. He brought me up thinking I’d follow in his footsteps, but that was never something I wanted, not after watching how it warped him into the miserable, rotten asshole he became.”

She grimaced slightly. “That sounds horrible.”

I let out a breath and held up a hand. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have said that and unloaded on you.”

“It’s fine, really. I’m sort of just realizing that I don’t really know anything about you, aside from your specialty.”

“And I don’t know much about you, either.”

“How about this.” She gave me a look, finished her wine, and pressed her lips together. “If we’re going to follow through with this thing, let’s do it together. No more coming up with a plan then yanking me along at the last second.”

“Fair enough, but no more acting like I’m the enemy.”

Her eyes narrowed and her nostrils flared. “I’m not acting like—” She caught herself before she finished and took a breath. “All right, fine.”

“It’s a deal then.” I held out my hand.

She hesitated, then shook it. I looked into her eyes and held her gaze there, wondering what was going through her head, my fingers touching hers before I let them go and leaned back.

“What now then?” she asked.

“I’ve got some theories, if you want to hear.”

She gestured. “Go for it.”

I flagged down the waitress again, ordered another drink for Fiona, then cleared my throat.

“Maria’s involved in moving money around. Whether she’s laundering money or what, I don’t know. I was thinking, who the hell in this city would get involved in a scheme like that? And a few groups came to mind.”

“Which ones?” She sipped her new glass of wine, leaning toward me again.

“First, politicians. I don’t know which one, or why, but they have the flout and the cash. Second, a union, maybe the nurses’ union, though I can’t imagine that guy has anything to do with them.”

Fiona interrupted me. “Not the nurses’ union. I’m a member.”

“Do you know everything your leadership does?”

“No, but I like the girls in charge.”

I shrugged. “Fair enough. That leaves me with the mafia.”

She didn’t react, and I found that fascinating. Of the three options, I thought the mob was probably the most outlandish and absurd. Of course there was organized crime in Philadelphia—every major city had organized crime. But I couldn’t picture them getting involved with a hospital.