Page 16 of Accidental Doctor Daddy

My stomach knotted so violently I thought I might throw up. Every muscle in my body went slack, and I nearly fumbled my phone to the floor. Only the sharp jolt of panic—don’t make a sound, don’t you dare—kept my fingers clamped around it.

He was still asleep. Peaceful. Oblivious.

I stared at the glowing screen as bile rose in my throat.

Dominic Mortoli.

My ex’s father.

I just fucked my ex’s father.

Sweat pricked at the back of my neck as my mind scrambled, unraveling into chaos. There would be questions. God, so many questions.

Why are you leaving?

Where are you going?

And how the hell do I explain this?

I sucked in a shaky breath, whispered, “Fuck.”

Dom snorted as he reached for my side of the bed.

I moved my pillow close enough that he reached it and seemed satisfied. One tiny crisis averted.

Now, to make my escape.

As I dressed, a thousand questions flew through my head like the good sense I should have been born with. But they all boiled down to one.

Why did fate pair me with this family not once, but twice?

It was cruel. Fate had never been particularly kind to me, but this? This was bad, even by my standards. It’s like the universe was trying to tell me something by repeating itself, and I’m still unable to hear it. Rationally, I believed in coincidence, but this was too much.

I slipped my sandals on, cautiously picked up my purse while I hoped not to make too much noise, and tiptoed toward the door. But my sandal slapped the bottom of my foot, and I froze.

Dom didn’t even stir.

I stepped out of my sandals, opting for bare feet on the dark hardwood instead. The latch on the door didn’t click until I closed it behind me. And then, I ran for my room on the first floor. I ignored the knowing smiles from the nosy staff as I made my way through the halls. I wanted to shout, “Yes, I had sex with a stranger last night! Are you happy?” But shouting might have alerted enough people to wake Dom.

I could not be here when he woke up. I had to leave right now.

Once I got to my room, I remembered I didn’t have much to pack. I changed back into the clothes I flew down in. Thankfully, summer in New York was almost just as hot as the weather in the islands, so when I went to the front desk in my shorts and tee, no one gave me a second glance.

“Yes, hi, I know I am booked for another three nights, but I have a family emergency back in New York, and I have to get home as soon as possible. How do we make that happen?”

“I am sorry to hear that and happy to help…”

Thankfully, the concierge made all the arrangements for me, and before I knew it, I was on a plane back to the States. I didn’t like lying to get what I needed done, but technically, it wasn’t a lie.

I had a family emergency. I’d fucked my way through two men in the same family.

Thankfully, Leo had no brothers, or Fate might have had even more fun at my expense. My head tipped back against the cushy first-class seat. How could Leo be so different from his father? For the past month, I’d told myself he must have gotten that shitty attitude from his dad. Wasn’t that how these things worked? Guys hated women in front of their sons, so their sons mimicked that. Or so I had thought.

Dom clearly had no problem with my body. In fact, he seemed very, very into me. It was a pity he had spawned the biggest jerk I ever dated.

Leo had always said that his father was a neglectful asshole surgeon. Did Dom lie about his job? I wasn’t sure. Leo being Leo, maybe he was too drugged up to explain what he meant. Surgeon had to be close enough to medical device inventor for him to confuse the two, or maybe Dom had been a surgeon before he invented?—

You know what? It doesn’t matter.

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