Page 11 of The Naughty One
Gaius was unrepentant, shrugging as he flopped into the chair opposite his father. “I just get into town and that’s the greeting I get? What would I have caught you doing? One of yoursecretaries?”
“That’s enough, Gaius.” Stuart glared at his eldestson.
Gaius grinned widely, knowing his barb had hit home. “Jeez, Pa, take a chill pill. I waskidding. How is the lovelyMagda?”
Stuart’s face softened. “She’s wonderful, and looking forward to seeing you at Thanksgiving —you are coming, I takeit?”
Gaius nodded. “Although Mom’s not happy, yes, I’ll bethere.”
Stuart sighed. “At this point, I really don’t care what Hilary thinks anymore, Gaius. She burned her bridges longago.”
“I don’t want to fight, Pa.” Gaius held his hands up. “So, Thanksgiving. Will I meet the daughters? I’ve done my research, two blondes, one brunette —have they got the same father? I’m just asking,” he added as his father looked annoyed, “nojudgement.”
“As far as I know, yes. Artemis and Juno take after Magda, and Romy after her father, I understand. Anyway, you’ll meet all of them then. Have youspoken…”
“To the Italian?” Gaius finished his father’s sentence. “No, but then that’s nothingnew.”
Stuart sighed. “Blue is your brother, Gaius, and it’s about time you both grewup.”
Gaius stayed silent. He would never, ever bond with Blue Allende, and not just because he was his bastard half-brother. The jealous that squirmed in his gut when he thought about Blue’s success, his devastating good looks, his decency …goddamn.
“I hear he’s working with one of the Sassegirls.”
Stuart nodded. “Romy. She’s in her last year of residency. Blue says she’s the best he’s everseen.”
Gaius chuckled darkly. “Is he fuckingher?”
Stuart’s blue eyes went gray, and Gaius knew he’d gone too far this time. “Don’t ever talk about one of Magda’s daughters like that again.Ever.”
“Forgive me.” Gaius tried to keep the sarcasm out of his voice. “Look, I just got into town —can I use the condo? I’m assuming you’ve moved in with Magdaalready?”
“Close enough. I spend every night there. Here,” Stuart reached into his desk drawer and threw Gaius a set of keys. “You know therules.”
“Pa, you realize I’m forty-two,right?”
“And Charlie Sheen is fifty-something. No whores, no drugs. Not in mycondo.”
Gaius sighed and got up. “Fine. Well, I guess I’ll see you atThanksgiving.”
Stuart relented a little. The man had a soft spot that made Gaius respect him even less. “Look, have dinner with me, just me, onTuesday.”
Gaius masked a smirk. “It’s adate.”
At his father’s condo,Gaius unpacked, then grabbed a beer from the refrigerator and stretched out on the couch, flicking through the television channels disinterestedly. It was gnawing at his gut the way his father talked about Blue, the pride, the love in his voice. Gaius had been seventeen when his father had revealed his affair with Blue’s mother. He hadn’t blame his father for straying—he knew his own mother Hilary hadn’t been faithful at any point during his parents’ marriage, but he’d resented the fact that there was achild.
Blue, twelve at the time that his father brought him into their family, was quiet, kind, intense, and everything Gaius wanted to be. Even as a child, Blue’s big green eyes, full of intelligence and compassion, garnered him quick acceptance into their family circle, something Gaius had struggled with. However much Blue had tried to befriend his new brother, Gaius, ridden by jealousy, had beenuninterested.
Gaius gave a humorless laugh. Now Blue already had an ‘in’ with his father’s new wife and her daughters too.Fuck him.Gaius grabbed his iPad and typed in a name in the searchengine.
Doctor Romy Sasse.Her photograph came up immediately on the alumni page at Stamford’s website, and Gaius studied it. Long, dark hair falling in waves past her shoulders, Romy was a doe-eyed beauty with her olive skin, that faint blush of pink in her cheeks, and the curve of her breasts in her white coat waspromising.
Yeah,Gaius thought, if Blue isn’t fucking her,he’s a fool.Gaius read everything he could on the young woman, but there was a surprising dearth of information. Weren’t doctors always publishing research? Why were her name and profile not on the website of the Rainier Hope Hospital, but only on the alumni page of Stamford? Did she not want people to know where shewas?
Intrigued, Gaius took out his phone and dialed. “Yeah, Greg? It’s Gaius Eames. Yes, good, thanks. Listen, I have a job for you, if you’re interested. Yeah, I want you to find out everything you can on a Dr. Romy Sasse. She’s a resident at Rainier Hope Hospital. Find out what she’s hiding … or who she’s hidingfrom.”
Chapter5
At the samemoment that Gaius set out to find out more about Romy, his half-brother was doing the same thing—albeit in a more physical way. He trailed his lips up the length of her spine, feeling her shiver. Her skin was so soft that it drove him crazy. “Turn over,baby.”
