Billionaire Beast

“Aiden, you shouldn’t have.” I glanced around to see one of my coworkers and her next patient smiling and giving nods of approval. I pulled him to an unused triage room and left the door open. “I’m sorry I haven’t had a moment to call.”

“Yeah, I see it’s been crazy here. The front lobby is packed. But I’ve been missing you. I wanted to come give you these, let you know I’ve been thinking about you, and ask if you want to come by tonight.”

“I have dinner at my parents’ house tonight.” I thought I’d explained that already, but with my brain in a fog these days there was no telling.

“Oh, that’s right. How about I take the three of you to dinner? We could go to Soto’s. I’d like to meet them, unless you think it’s too soon for that.” He was the sweetest thing, and it broke my heart.

It also terrified me. He couldn’t meet my parents. That would happen soon enough.

“It’s not the best time for that. My mother doesn’t even know I’m dating someone, much less in a relationship.” It wasn’t a lie, and it seemed to bother him, so I felt the need to explain. “I’ve been so busy I haven’t talked to them, but I planned on telling them tonight.” Another truth — but not exactly the whole truth. This was getting awkward.

“It’s okay. Could you come by after?”

“I’ll call you, but fair warning, I’m already beat.” He reached out and stroked my arm, his hand taking mine. He pulled it to his lips and kissed it.

“You could sleep in my bed. You’ve already told me how comfortable it is, and I know you sleep well in it.” He searched my eyes, and I wanted so badly to promise I’d be there, but I left it on a maybe.

“I’ll call you. Thanks for the flowers.” I saw his head spin around as a deep voice sounded down the hall. It was Dr. Rob coming out of the ER, and he rounded the corner so fast, he didn’t see either of us.

“Is that him?” Aiden glared down the hall.

“Aiden.” I gave him a warning glare, and he shrugged.

“I only wondered what he looked like. It’s not like I’m going to break his hands or anything, I’m only keeping an eye on the competition.” He smirked and then leaned in and pressed his mouth to mine. He tasted of mint candy, and I pulled away, wondering what a mess I was.

“He’s not competition.” I released a long breath, and he brushed his hand across my cheek.

“I’m only kidding. Call me. I’m going to head out to the office for a bit.”

“You’re going into the office again?” I wondered if there was more news in the case, if my parents had done something else.

“Yeah, I’m getting back in practice. I’ll be taking over my father’s office, so I hope you don’t mind trading your doctor in for a lawyer.” I let out a sigh, and he chuckled. “I’m only kidding.”

I gave him a nudge and then a kiss goodbye. As he walked away, I hoped it wasn’t the last one. It was always that way with him, never knowing if the other shoe would fall and things would be over before I’d see him again.

I got off work a half hour late, but I wanted to prove to Dr. Rob that I was back on my game. I’d helped him stitch up a poor kid who’d gotten his leg caught on a fence. The gash had been awfully close to ruining the kid’s chances of ever being a father, so he’d gotten lucky, despite the twenty stitches.

I drove to my parents’ house and wished Bre would come back. Who could blame her for not wanting to? After the little blow up, she hadn’t been back for dinner and my mother hadn’t even so much as asked about her.

I went into the house with little welcome and found both Mom and Dad already sitting at the table despite my call that I’d be late.

“Sorry to keep you waiting.” I lowered myself into my chair and unfolded the napkin to place it in my lap as Dad swallowed a bite of food.

“Work must be picking up.” My mother had never grasped the concept of how busy my job was. I sometimes wondered if she even understood that it never really slowed down in an emergency room. I imaged she thought I was walking room to room taking temperatures and pumping blood pressure cuffs wearing a red and white striped dress with a little apron and hat.

“Yeah, it was very busy today.” I wouldn’t gross her out with the details of blood and needles, especially since we were having lasagna. I scooped a hearty serving on my plate and took a slice of garlic bread and bit it. The bread was still warm, and the butter was smooth against my tongue.

“You’ll be sure to take off Monday for court,” Mother reminded. “It’s very important, so before you try to argue, I need you to realize that.”

My father’s fork clanked against his plate. “Dear, we talked about keeping the conversation civil at the dinner table. This should be a neutral ground to share our lives and our opinions with healthy discussion. If Alexandra has something to say, the least we could do is listen if we want the same respect.”

I wondered if he’d be so agreeable when it came to my being with Aiden Walker. He hadn’t ever been too keen on Mother’s pushing me to date, but if he knew about Aiden, his opinion would be the only one that would matter.

“Well, the hearing is happening, no matter her opinion.” Mother’s voice was sharp as she had a death grip on her fork. “Especially now that Mr. Walker has requested the recording. I’d like to see his smug face when sees his father in that pilot’s seat. No black box is going to dispute our evidence.”

“Video?” My parents exchanged a glance.

“Our investigator found a video file in Shawn’s phone. Mr. Walker was bragging about his piloting experience and talked the pilot into letting him take over.” My heart thrummed wildly in my chest. All I could focus on was the fact that there was a video of my brother’s final moments. My next thought was how the proof could ruin Aiden.