Page 208 of Toxic Temptation
Love.
“Thank you.” I reach up to cup his face. “I needed to hear that.”
“Good.” He leans down to kiss me again, softer this time. “Now, take off your clothes and let me ‘relax’ you, Doctor.”
A few hours later, I’m riding the highest high of my career.
The surgery was flawless. Textbook perfect. I got every last cell of that tumor, and Mia Callum is going to wake up with a bright future in front of her.
I feel like Superwoman.
I’m still buzzing with adrenaline as I change out of my surgical scrubs. This is why I became a doctor. This feeling—the knowledge that I just gave a child her life back.
I grab my phone to text Kovan the good news, but freeze when I see I already have messages from him.
KOVAN: How did it go?
KOVAN: The girl okay?
KOVAN: Call me when you’re done.
I’m about to respond when I hear voices in the hallway outside the locker room. One of them makes my blood run cold.
Jeremy Fleming’s oily laugh echoes off the walls, but it’s the voice responding that makes me drop my phone.
Russian accent. Deep and gravelly.
Ihor.
I crack the locker room door and peer out. Sure enough, Jeremy is standing near the nurses’ station, gesticulating wildly while Ihor listens with that cold, calculating expression I remember all too well from when he arrived with Yana to pick up Luka for his birthday visitation.
What the hell is Luka’s stepfather doing here?
I grab my phone and text Kovan immediately.
VESPER: Surgery went perfectly. Mia’s going to be fine. But we have a problem. Ihor is here talking to Jeremy. This can’t be good.
The response comes faster than I expected.
KOVAN: Don’t worry about it.
I stare at the screen. That’s it?Don’t worry about it?
VESPER: Kovan, this is serious. What’re they doing here? How do they know each other?
KOVAN: I said don’t worry. I’ll handle it.
There’s something strange about his responses. Too casual. Too dismissive. Almost as if…
VESPER:Do you know something I don’t?
This time, there’s no immediate response. I watch the typing indicator appear and disappear several times before he finally answers.
KOVAN: Just trust me.
Three words that should reassure me, but somehow make everything worse instead.
I peek out the door again. Ihor and Jeremy are still deep in conversation, their heads bent together. As I watch, Jeremy pulls out his phone and shows Ihor something on the screen. Whatever it is makes Ihor smile, and that smile makes me feel sick to my stomach.
