Page 97 of Unlawful Seduction

A monster.

CHAPTER 24

Mallory

“Is he going to be okay, Dr. McGregor?”

The sweet girl had tears in her eyes. I touched her arm, offering her my most comforting expression. “Stop worrying, Amy. Dexter is a fighter and his bloodwork came back much improved. Just one more night and my guess is your fur baby will be ready to go home. I promise you that I’ll call if there are any changes, but I don’t anticipate anything but improvement.”

Amy blinked several times before bending over and giving Dexter a hug. “Be good, baby. Mommy dog loves you. You’re in very good hands.”

She pulled out the third stuffed animal she’d brought to the clinic that week. “He likes to sleep with Lambchop.”

I took it, squeezing the dog toy as if doing so with my baby boy. “Then he shall have it with him in his condo.”

At least she smiled. I never called them cages. That seemed as if I was keeping the dogs and cats in a prison.

“Thank you, Doc. You’re amazing. I don’t know what we’d do without you.”

“Just breathe, Amy. Everything will be okay.” For the first time in years, the phrase I used often struck me hard between the eyes. Everything hadn’t been okay, not by a long shot.

Two days had passed since running into Beckett. Two long, arduous, sleepless days. I had no idea how many times I’d contemplated driving to the house in the mountains and confronting him. Hell, I didn’t know if he was still in town.

I’d snooped a bit, calling the real estate agent and posing as a buyer. I’d learned very little about the seller, leaving the conversation with the realization I would never have enough money in the world to afford purchasing such a grandiose cabin. The NDA was working.

I walked into the back, immediately heading to one of the half dozen computer terminals to add my notes. One of the attendants was already making Dexter comfortable in his condo, reattaching the IV.

I typed fast and furious, more anxious than I’d been in a long time. If only I could get the man out of my mind. Since he hadn’t attempted to contact me, I made the assumption he couldn’t care less about his son. Fine by me. That told me everything I needed to know about the asshole.

What we’d shared had been nothing but a lie.

“Doc. You have a visitor in your office.”

I glanced at one of the receptionists. She shrugged and that let me know it wasn’t one of the locals. “Any idea who?”

“Nope. He refused to say, including his name. He only mentioned it was very important the two of you speak. I told him you were busy, but he said he’d wait. No matter how long it took. I didn’t know what else to do.”

“You did great.” I glanced toward the hallway leading to my office, curious, but not enough to hurry from what I was doing. It was possible it was someone from the bank. The man had acted skeptical even though my credit was in the eight hundreds and I had hundreds of clients on the books. That didn’t seem to matter when it came to handing out commercial loans.

Right now, if I had any additional bad news, I would lose my cookies.

I finished typing, adding the next steps in Dexter’s treatment before taking a few seconds to wash my hands. By the time I headed to my office, ten minutes had passed. When I walked in, my visitor was sitting with his back to me, typing on his phone.

In front of him were two cups of coffee, one positioned directly in front of my chair on the opposite side. It was from my favorite little coffee shop. Hmm… Plying me with bribes usually meant bad news.

I said nothing as I walked around his chair, folding my arms and remaining standing as I turned toward him. “I’m Dr. McGregor. You insisted you speak with me, refusing to understand that I have a very busy day and extremely popular practice. While I appreciate the coffee, I would prefer to know who you are and why you’re here.”

The man looked me over just like I was doing to him. It was obvious he wasn’t from Stowe. There was nothing casual about his attire. Perhaps this was the smarmy attorney who’d had a discussion with the real estate agent. He wore a suit that likely cost close to ten thousand, a watch three or four times that, and polished shoes. Let alone the soft leather briefcase I’d caught a glimpse of when I’d walked in.

“He told me you were straightforward and quite formidable.”

“He?” I knew instantly who the hell he was talking about.

“Yes, Beckett Callum.”

Hearing his name created butterflies in my stomach.

“And you are?”

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