Page 82 of Dr. Weston

“What difference does it make that you can’t place her? Gianni screens all of his girls and has them sign an NDA.”

“I know, I know. But I’m worried it could still blow up in our faces,” Derek says.

“What could?”

“I’m pretty sure that girl works at St. Luke’s, Broadie.”

Instantly, the scotch feels like acid in my throat. “What?”

“I don’t recognize her from labor and delivery. But once Derek got a good look at her, he’s pretty sure she works in the float pool,” Becket says.

Immediately feeling alarmed, my eyes connect with Derek. “I had the same niggling feeling as Becket. Then, a few days ago, I was on call and a patient came through the ER having a heart attack. She was one of the nurses pushing the stretcher to the cath lab. It was when we arrived upstairs that she pulled her hair tie loose and her long dark hair fell down her back that my hair stood on end.”

My blood runs cold. “Ashton?”

“Yeah. You know her?”

“No. Not really. I know she’s worked in the ER and the general surgery floor when they’ve been short. She hasn’t worked for St. Luke’s for very long.” Running my hand through my hair, I huff. “Something about her has always rubbed me the wrong way.”

“Look,” Becket interrupts. “I know none of us are into crazy kink. But this place is our private haven. I don’t need a bunch of lies getting spread about us. You know as well as I do rumors spread like a fungus in that hospital. Our professional reputations could be at stake.”

This is bad.

“Who is this girl?” G asks. “I don’t have an Ashton working here.”

Becket pulls out his phone. “Here, this is her Instagram feed.” He scrolls for a few minutes before handing his phone over to Gianni.

“I knew it.”

“What?” the three of us ask simultaneously.

“That’s Anjolina.” Gianni rolls his eyes. “I knew her name was fake. From what I recall, her background check didn’t show any red flags. I think she was fucking one of the bouncers. He’d vouched for her, saying he’d worked with her at another club. But nothing about it sat right with me.”

“What the fuck are we going to do?” Becket asks.

“Don’t worry. I’ll have my guys let her know in no uncertain terms that she’ll be taken to court for breach of the nondisclosure agreement if we find out she’s been talking. There’s no way I’m keeping her here. It’s not worth the risk. I’ll let her go for falsifying her application. We would’ve never hired anyone affiliated with your hospital.”

“Won’t that cause her to be more likely to lash out?” Derek asks.

“My guys can be very persuasive. Silly little girl. She doesn’t know who she’s dealing with.”

Reaching back to massage my neck, I try to ignore the pictures in my head. The hospital administrator asking for my quiet resignation so as not to bring negative press to the hospital. The news getting word of this. My patients. My daughters.Poppy.

“Max, any chance you could get some anonymous email to the hospital expressing dissatisfaction with her care? I’d had my concerns about her unprofessional conduct. I’m just kicking myself I didn’t act on it before.” Derek asks.

Max rubs his hands together as if embarking on an exciting mission. “I’m on it. Emails are my specialty.” He winks at me, and I want to punch him in the junk.

Bzzz. Bzzz.

Completely keyed up by this new conundrum, I nearly jump from my seat at the vibration of my phone. Realizing it’s Stu, I quickly answer, “Hello?”

“Hey, boss. Thought you might want to know. Your girl is out on a double date.”

Jumping from my seat, I cover my left ear with my hand to make sure I’ve heard him correctly. “What did you say?”

“Poppy appears to be out on a date. The guy has his arm around her, and they have another couple with them.”

What the fuck?

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