Page 21 of Daddy's Double Surprise

I didn’t want to go back to Tampa where I’d have to deal with Chad in person. The idea of it frightened me. I liked the emotional comfort Carter offered and the feeling of being safe to be myself, even if I was just a wreck. Maybe staying in LA wouldn’t be that bad after all. Maybe I was ready toadmit to myself that I liked Carter enough to move back home permanently.

14

CARTER

After seeing the interchange between Joseph and Rick on the golf course last week, I had a conversation about this with my CEO. Joseph, now seated on the opposite side of the conference table at the main headquarters, apologized for not informing me of Rick’s announcement before golf. Rick had asked him not to say a thing, to let him deliver the news to me himself. It was understandable given that Sunny worked for me at the clinic. It was a touchy topic, even with the way I distanced myself from my father’s legacy.

“How are we doing on following the trail upward then?” I asked him. Today’s meeting was about the four doctors from two different clinics, owned and operated by me, who had taken bribes from someone within the pharmaceutical company. We had isolated it to these two clinics, though doctors at other clinics nearby, even those not connected to my company, had also mentioned at-risk patients coming to them for access to paid trials too.

“The honest truth is we’re stuck right now. The recruitment team is comprised of eleven reps who work with doctors globally. Those eleven reps have teams of five or six each, allworking on diversifying our sample populations and recruiting more individuals to take part in the trial.” Joseph pulled out a stack of papers from the manilla envelope on the table between us and slid it across the shiny surface to me.

I looked down at it and saw the names of some sixty or seventy people involved in our recruitment process, far too many to question individually, besides the fact that they could easily lie or cover things up. And if word got out what we were doing, the real culprits would cut and run, making it even harder to pin them down.

“Yeah, so this is frustrating,” I sighed and tossed the papers back onto the table. The only way to do this was to get our doctor friends to turn on the guilty parties. Even still, those guilty parties might not be at the top of this either. Getting money together to pay doctors incentives for prescribing medications or helping us as boots on the ground had always been a thing, kickbacks for prescription boosts.

Still, while there was a process to accessing those funds, documents could be fudged, numbers faked. I’d had our accountant go through everything, and nothing seemed amiss on the backside. It meant we had to get the doctors from the clinics to turn and possibly push some of our own recruitment reps to turn on higher-ups too. It would go against the grain for everyone because they’d all lose out in this little scheme. My gut told me every one of them was benefitting financially.

With nothing left to do here, I stood and buttoned my suit coat. Until we got more information—which reps were speaking to which clinic doctors, where money was being dispersed—we had little to go on.

“Keep working. And in the meantime, find out what you can about Kira Baker. She entered a trial in the Tampa area within the last six months.”

Joseph’s forehead furrowed. “The woman Rick was speaking about at golf?” His body language was stiff, which told me he already knew about this too. Wisely. “Yeah, I heard. The research division is already poised for a lawsuit from the woman’s family. The board is looking into what happened; ethics is involved.”

“I’m not interested in whether there’s a lawsuit. We’ll do the right thing for the family and even double what they ask if they sue. I’m more interested in what went wrong. Find out what the drug was and why she wasn’t properly vetted. Something like this should never happen. We’re cutting corners or something.” And my mind continued internally, though I didn’t say to Joseph, that if Sunny found out I was connected to the company that manufactured the drug that killed her best friend, I’d lose her.

“Understood, Carter.” Joseph reached a hand to shake, but I was too upset. I walked out without another word and drove straight downtown with so much on my mind, I almost got lost.

The parking garages were almost full. I found a spot on the top floor of one three blocks away from my destination—a tiny art gallery hosting a wine and canvas night. Sunny had suggested it as a way to bond and blow off some steam, and with the day I’d had, it seemed very fitting. I could soak up some good flavors and revel in her.

When I walked into the gallery, I spotted her immediately. I was a few minutes late, thanks to traffic. She sat behind an easel alone, wearing a soft pink sundress. Her hair sat atop her head, lashed there with a dark pink ribbon in a messy bun. Strands spilled from it, curling around her neck and shoulders, and she looked up at me with a grin, waving me over.

There were two dozen other easels, all of which had couples from all walks of life behind them. The gallery was known for events like this, and Sunny told me they booked out for months.We’d gotten fortunate enough to find an empty easel due to an unexpected cancelation.

I shrugged out of my jacket, draping it over the back of the artists chair, and sat down next to the beautiful woman who held a long paintbrush in hand, grinning at me.

“I’m so glad you’re here. We’re just getting started.” Sunny’s voice was hushed. Her eyes scanned my body and she batted her eyelashes. “You’re overdressed.”

“You are too,” I said playfully. “We can’t really take that off here, though, can we?” I winked and picked up a brush from the tray at the bottom of the easel.

The instructor tapped something on his own easel and started speaking, telling us about the painting we as couples would make as waitresses and waiters walked around filling each couple’s glasses of wine. We would work on a solid background at first, then add in a vase and some flowers. It sounded simple enough, until I started watching Sunny go at it and found myself entranced by how gracefully her brush glided over the canvas.

“Oh, thank you,” I told a young man who filled our glasses with a sweet Moscato as he set a plate of chocolate-covered strawberries next to them. I picked up the glasses and handed one to Sunny after setting my brush down. I hadn’t even painted a stroke.

“Gosh, that smells heavenly,” she said, but her expression soured to a frown.

“What’s wrong?” My immediate desire to chase away whatever was annoying her kicked in as she handed me the glass.

“I’m not sure. I’ve just been feeling too tired and moody. I really want to drink, but I know if I do, I’ll just be too tired to…” She wagged her eyebrows at me and I knew what she meant. Ichuckled as I set the glass behind us and downed my own wine in one gulp.

“Well, that’s not stopping me from loosening up a bit.” The chair squawked as I pulled it across the tile floor closer to her. I positioned myself so that I could place one knee on either side of her and drape my arms around her hips to watch her paint. I was supposed to be painting too, but this felt closer to Zen for me.

“Not going to have a stab at it?” The corner of her mouth lifted in a grin, and I pressed a kiss to her cheek.

“I’ve got what I came for.” Sighing happily, I told her, “It’s so good to see you doing something you enjoy besides work.”

The silent way she acknowledged my comment by continuing her work and watching me in her periphery spoke of the bond we were building. She felt comfortable in my arms, and I loved her here.

“How did your meetings go?” she asked. I’d spoken with her about some important meetings I had, but I hadn’t told her the details. At some point, if we were going to really make a go of this thing, I’d have to tell her. Right now just didn’t feel like the correct time.

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