Total pages in book: 107
Estimated words: 98561 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 493(@200wpm)___ 394(@250wpm)___ 329(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 98561 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 493(@200wpm)___ 394(@250wpm)___ 329(@300wpm)
I stared at him. When they were brought in together, I’d just assumed they were fighting each other because that’s always how it is: good samaritans are thin on the ground in here. Gabriel saved him?! I turned towards the curtain. On the other side, I could hear the low growl of Gabriel’s questions and the happy chatter of Alicia’s answers, like a lion talking to a songbird. Why hadn’t Gabriel told me what really happened?
I’d never know. That ache again, worse than before.
I turned back to the kid and finished my exam: no concussion. I told the guards they could take him back to his cell, turned around and—
Alicia was standing there, arms crossed, a sly smile on her lips.
“Did you finish already?” I asked.
She shook her head. She was looking at me as if…impressed?
“What?” I was utterly confused.
She walked slowly past me and spoke out of the side of her mouth so the guards wouldn’t hear. “He wants you.”
I stared at her. What?!
She passed me a suture kit and I took it, my fingers numb. Then I started across the room towards the other exam area. It felt like the linoleum was tilting crazily under my feet. He’d had gorgeous, sexy Alicia to flirt with and he wanted me? What the hell is going on?
I pushed through the curtain and—
Gabriel was stretched out on the gurney, hands behind his head, looking like a rock star sunning himself on some private beach. He gave me a big, warm grin when he saw me. “Ah, my favorite medical professional.” His tongue played with favorite, a sinuous caress that left that innocent word sounding anything but. And he made medical professional respectful but gently teasing. As if he liked the fact I was so proper and buttoned down in my white coat…because it meant he could unbutton me.
For a second, I thought I saw something else in his eyes. It was only barely visible, under all that cocky confidence, but…he looked relieved. Like he’d been worried I might not come back.
Then it was gone and his gaze was running slowly down my body. The way he did it, it didn’t feel furtive or creepy. It was confident and unapologetic. His gaze moved so slowly, so deliberately, that I swore I could feel those big hands cupping my shoulders, sliding down to my breasts, gliding over my waist, my hips… I stood there breathless, lost in it for a second. Then reality fought back and I flushed and shook my head. This man’s a prisoner and you’re staff. And he’s a patient and you’re his doctor. The rules were crystal clear: I’d be fired in a heartbeat if anything remotely inappropriate happened. And this was me: I’ll walk half a block to find a crosswalk, rather than jaywalk.
But every time I looked into Gabriel’s eyes, the rules felt fuzzy and distant. What’s the matter with me?!
I tried to focus on something familiar, safe. “I need to numb the area,” I told him. “So I can suture you.” I grabbed a syringe of Lidocaine. “Little scratch,” I warned, and injected him. He didn’t even flinch, just kept watching me.
I fetched a table, set it beside the gurney and laid out the suture kit. I pulled over a stool and sat down. Checked the suture kit and then re-checked it. And then I was stuck: the Lidocaine would take a few more minutes to work and I’d run out of medical stuff to busy myself with. When I finally looked up, I found those hazel eyes still patiently watching me.
And I knew it was time. I knew this was the moment I had to ask what I’d been wanting to ask since the first moment I met him. I just didn’t know how. What if my instincts were wrong about him, what if he was in for rape or murder? He was in a maximum-security prison, it wasn’t going to be tax fraud, how was I meant to—
“Olivia,” he said gently, “just ask me.”
I swallowed and bit my lip, a little thrown. Partly by him knowing exactly what I’d been thinking. Partly by how good it sounded, hearing him say my name. I’ve always thought Olivia sounded kind of old-fashioned and awkward but in his warm growl, it sounded…beautiful.
“Why are you—” I began. “Why did they—” I took a deep breath. “What did you do?”
Gabriel smiled. “I stole four hundred million dollars.”
I had to replay his words in my mind to make sure I’d heard right. Four hundred million? Four hundred million? “I—” I started, but then found I didn’t have any words to follow up with. “I—What?!” I couldn’t even visualize that many zeros except…did he mean some kind of cybercrime? Something involving the stock market, maybe. “With a computer?”
“No,” he said, deadpan. “Not with a computer.”