“And you think that the hospital is the only place where you can help people?”
“Maybe the hospital is my safety net.”
She took his hand in hers. “But why? You’re a brilliant doctor, and right now the hospital is holding you back. Maybe it’s time to expose the truth and move on. Are you ready to do that?”
Logan tilted his head to the side. “I’m not sure.”
“This has to be your decision. If you asked me to walk away from this firm, I’d have to be ready for it.”
“You’re right and it’s pretty clear that the longer I stick around trying to make changes from the inside, the more I’m going to be hurt by it.”
“So, what’s our next move?” she asked, then squeezed his hand.
“We’re going to fight and expose them. I’m going to call Liam and make sure his Cooper Drugs information has been vetted and then we’re going for their necks.”
Robin smiled. “I’m here for it.”
“Then let’s do it.” Logan leaned forward and kissed Robin’s cheek. “I love you for having my back like this.”
“We’re a team. And a pretty unbeatable one, at that.”
A few minutes later, Clark returned to the office with his coffee. “Everything all good in here?”
“Perfect,” Robin said. “We need to meet with our investigator before we move forward with any litigation against the hospital.”
Clark nodded and clasped his hands together. “All right, I’m ready.”
Robin and Logan stood up, then shook hands with Clark. “Do you think you can schedule us for tomorrow morning?” Logan asked.
He pulled his calendar up on his computer screen. “Ten-thirty works for me.”
“We’ll see you then,” Robin said as Logan pulled out his phone and called Liam.
“Liam,” Logan said when his friend answered the phone.
“What’s going on?”
“Are you in your office? Robin and I need to talk to you about your investigation into Cooper Drugs.”
“Actually, just left the office. I’m heading for downtown to check out a few things.”
“Cool. Can you meet us at the house?”
“Yeah. I’ll be there about one-thirty. I think I found proof that your Dr. Carter is on the take and a paper trail.”
“That’s exactly what we need. I might even have time to grab some jambalaya from Robin’s place.”
“Oh no. If you made it over there, then it is missing all the good stuff.” Liam laughed.
“All right then, but ribs are out.”
“Damn. I guess I’ll bring my own food and y’all can eat the rabbit food.”
“See you soon.” After hanging up with Liam, Logan turned to Robin.
“Let me guess, he wants some greasy meat for lunch?” she asked.
“He’s bringing his own.”
She smiled. “Good, now I don’t have to worry about the house smelling like meat all night.” She leaned in and kissed Logan on the cheek. “Let’s go kick some ass.”
Chapter 22
When Robin and Logan arrived at their house, they headed for the dining room. It didn’t take long for Robin to turn it into a war room. She had three whiteboards with photographs of the people who needed to be taken down affixed to them. First was Kamrie.
Robin had written everything that she’d done underneath her picture: Fake DNA. Sexual harassment allegation, previous allegations against another doctor.
The next board had Dr. Carter’s picture on it. Payoff from the drug company. Risking patients’ lives for money. Trying to play my husband like he’s stupid, her notes read. Logan had to laugh at that last remark.
The final board had the hospital building on it, but no notes. “What’s up with this board?”
Robin pulled her reading glasses off and looked up from her laptop. “Not sure yet. If Dr. Carter is acting alone, we may not have a case against the hospital. But I’m thinking they may be liable for the fake DNA test. That took some inside planning. Did Kamrie pay someone in the lab and has this happened before?”
Logan held up his hands. “Hold on, Olivia Pope,” he said. “We don’t have to take the whole world down.”
“They almost brought our world down. Do you think I care about these . . .” Robin closed her laptop. “I’m just looking at every option. They owe us a lot more than whatever we can get from any lawsuit.”
He crossed over to her and wrapped his arms around her shoulders. “Baby, we’re going to get this right, but we don’t have to be on attack mode with the world.”
She patted his hand and sighed. “I’m just so angry. And I want a pound of flesh for all of the time that we spent apart and wasted when we could’ve been getting our life where we wanted it to be.”
“We’re going to get back on track and be even better.” He turned her chair around and knelt in front of her. “I know how painful all of this bullshit has been; I’ve gone through it with you. Hell, I’ve felt it more than you could ever know.”
“Then why aren’t you angry? Why aren’t you ready to make these bastards pay?”
Logan stroked her cheek. “Oh, I’m very angry. I’m angry as hell. But there’s nothing we can do about the past and the last thing I want to do is hurt the hospital.”
“The safety net that is weighing you down?”
“A lot of people get saved there. I want the right people to pay and we’re going to make that happen.”
Robin took his face in her hands. “So, I’m going too far?”
“Just a little bit. But I love you, though. Let’s take a break.” Logan stood up and held his hand out to Robin. “I’ve still got some fresh tomatoes and mozzarella.”
“Mmm,” she said with a smile, “any bread?”
He nodded. “And spinach.”
“You really knew I was coming home, didn’t you?”
“My faith has always been strong.” Logan kissed her on the forehead and headed for the kitchen. Robin followed him and took her regular seat at the breakfast nook. Logan gathered the ingredients for the grilled tomato and cheese sandwiches.
“You got some noodles?” she asked.
“I do, and some marinara sauce. Sounds like we’re having a side of spaghetti with these sandwiches. One day, we’re going to stop eating like college students.”
Robin shrugged. “It keeps us young.” She was about to hop off the stool and kiss her husband when the doorbell rang. “That must be Liam.”
“Of course, because he knows how to interrupt a good thing.”
“Um, you know we need him.” Robin winked at him, then bounded to the door.
While Logan chopped cheese, tomatoes, and onions, he listened to Liam and Robin banter about Liam’s low-key crush on Alex and how he hated all vegetables. “Damn, woman. You’ve been doing some work. I guess that’s why you’ve got the doctor in the kitchen.”
“I can hear you,” Logan called out.
“Good.” Liam walked into the kitchen and set his food on the edge of the counter. “Aww, the famous spaghetti and grilled cheese. If I had known you were making a classic, I would’ve skipped the ribs.”
“Yeah right,” Robin said. “I bet you got coleslaw and fries.”
“You think you know me, Double R. I got potato salad and fries,” Liam said as he opened his container. “And I have good news.”
“What’s that?” Logan asked as he filled a pot with water.
“I got a look at Dr. Carter’s financials and unless they are handing out bonuses at the hospital or Uber is a hell of a side gig . . .”
“What do you mean?” Robin asked as she swiped one of Liam’s fries.
“He’s been getting forty thousand dollars a month and he’s been getting it for the last two years, like clockwork.”
Logan let out a low whistle. “That’s damn near a million dollars.”
“Enough of a motive to keep that killer drug circulating through the hospital,” Robin said. “And you said you heard hi
m talking with a woman from Cooper Drugs, right?”
Logan nodded. “Liam, you sure that money has come from Cooper Drugs?”
Liam nodded. “It’s been funneled through an offshore account that leads back to—wait for it—Veronica O’ Malley.”
Robin’s mouth dropped open. “The vice president at Cooper Drugs?” Liam shot her an appreciative look. Robin shrugged.
“I Googled her,” she said.
“And,” Logan said as he pulled his phone out of his pocket, “I’ve got a picture of them together.”
“Let’s eat,” Liam said. “Because we have this in the bag.”
After Logan fixed plates for him and Robin, the trio sat at the bar and ate in a comfortable silence. Robin stroked Logan’s thigh. “This nightmare is about to be over,” she said.
“Let’s hope so,” Logan said.
“Got a question,” Liam asked. “Your sister, the bossy one, is she single?”
Robin shook her head. “Liam, you are not ready for that kind of smoke. Alex isn’t the one or the two.”
“But she is gorgeous. Your father has some beautiful kids.”
“Don’t get put out,” Logan said.
* * *
After lunch, Liam left his files with Robin, then headed back to his office. Once the couple was alone, they decided to catch up on their HGTV shows. While they snuggled up on the sofa, Logan wished that he didn’t have to move an inch for the rest of his life. Robin felt so good against his thighs. He ran his fingers through her hair and smiled. “I’ve missed this,” she whispered.
“Me too. And I’m not talking Chip and Joanna here,” he said, nodding toward the TV.
“When all of this is over, maybe we should actually do one of these projects.” Robin looked up at Logan with a smile on her full lips. She could’ve asked him to walk naked down the middle of Interstate 95 south and he would’ve said yes.
“There’s something else I wanted to talk to you about when this is over,” he said quietly.
Robin closed her eyes. “What’s that?”
“Do you still want to look into adoption?”
Logan felt her stiffen. Maybe he should’ve kept his mouth closed. But he knew how important it was for her to have a child and if that’s what she needed and wanted . . .
“I don’t know, Logan. After all of this and . . . I don’t know if I want to bring a child into this craziness. Every time you’re Googled in the future, this is going to be one of the first things that shows up. Kamrie isn’t going to go away easily.”
“You can see into the future now?”
“No, but that crazy bitch doesn’t just disappear.”
“You have a point there. Maybe we can help her disappear.”
Robin pointed to the screen, where the renovation crew was laying a concrete slab for a patio expansion. “Like that?”
“No, because that would be a crime.”
“Wishful thinking.”
“What if we offered her a settlement to disappear?”
“Hell no. Pay her off for lying? Fu—”
Logan patted her thigh. “Got it, but I was just putting an idea out there.”
“We’re not doing that. Consider that a bad idea.”
He kissed her on the forehead. “Got it. But this is going to get uglier before it clears up.”
“How much more are we going to face?” Robin exhaled in frustration. “We’re done for the day. All we have to do now is wait for her to answer the summons.”
“Yep. Got an idea.”
“Hope it’s better than your last one,” she quipped.
“Ice cream.”
“Great idea.”
“And chocolate sauce.”
“Even better.”
“And you getting out of these clothes.”
She sat up and unbuttoned the top few buttons of her blouse. “You’re batting a thousand now, darling.”
Logan rose from the sofa. “Meet me upstairs,” he said.
* * *
Robin rushed upstairs as Logan prepared ice cream sundaes that they weren’t going to eat from a bowl. This had been a tradition they’d started on a July afternoon in New Orleans. They had been walking back from the grand opening of Ice Cream 504 on Jena Street after an alumni cookout at Xavier. The small batch of homemade ice cream had been bursting with flavor, but since it was super humid and hot outside, Robin’s strawberry sugar cone had started melting and Logan licked the cream from her finger. His tongue against her skin made her so hot that she had been ready to strip naked on the sidewalk and make love to him. Logan had felt her desire and they’d ducked in an alley where he’d drizzled melted ice cream across her bosom. As he licked the sweet cream from the tops of her breasts, Robin had melted like her ice cream. They couldn’t get home fast enough to make love. Now anytime ice cream was mentioned, the couple knew that it wasn’t about going to get scoops and cones.
Robin stripped out of her clothes and then ran her hand across the down comforter on the bed. It felt good to be home. Good to be in her bedroom, knowing that she was here for good now and this was and always would be her home.
Logan’s love hadn’t changed. Her heart hadn’t been broken. She was safe to love her husband and not worry that another woman had replaced her. Maybe she believed it because she had allowed herself to believe that she’d lost him because she had lost herself.
She eased onto the bed and smiled. Moments later, Logan walked in with a tray of ice cream, chocolate chips, and whipped cream. “Didn’t have strawberry,” he said as he nodded toward the bowl of vanilla ice cream.
“We can make do,” she said with a wink.
“Absolutely,” he said as he crossed over to the bed and set the tray on the nightstand. Logan eased onto the bed and pulled naked Robin into his arms. She stroked the back of his neck as he ran his tongue across her bottom lip.
“I swear you’re sweeter than any kind of ice cream.” He reached for the bowl of ice cream and spooned up a scoop. He smoothed the cold treat across her breasts and she shivered with delight. Logan teased her nipples with his fingers and the ice cream. Robin’s body responded to his touch as if she was in a sensual trance. When his tongue replaced his finger, she moaned like a saxophone hitting a high note. Logan reached for the can of whipped cream and drew a line of the cream down the center of her stomach. Then he sprinkled the chocolate chips on top, making her his sweet treat. Logan licked the cream away slowly as she arched her body into his kiss. Easing down her body with his tongue, Logan made Robin writhe under his touch. Once he reached the valley of her thighs, she was trembling with the anticipation of feeling his lips against her throbbing pearl of desire.
But Logan had other plans, slipping his finger inside her as he reversed course and licked the remainder of the cream and chocolate chips from her torso and breasts. As he licked, he pressed his finger in and out. She felt as if she was going to explode with each lick and thrust of his finger.
“Oh . . . oh, Logan,” she moaned as he took her nipple between his teeth.
“Ready for some more?” he whispered.
“Need. You. Inside.”
He winked at her as he reached for more ice cream, then traced her lips with the melting cream. Logan kissed the sweetness away as he toyed with her femininity. She shivered as he nearly brought her to a climax with his finger. She pressed her hand against his chest and pushed him on his back.
“My turn,” she said as she took the spoon from his hand and dipped it in the bowl. She spooned the melting cream across his hard cock. In a swift motion, she took the length of him into her mouth, slurping the sweetness off his sensitive muscle as he ran his fingers through her hair.
“Damn, baby,” he moaned. Robin didn’t stop, giving him a taste of his seductive medicine and bringing him so close to a climax with her hot mouth. Logan pulled back from her, gritting his teeth. “Ugh, you win. You win.”
“Not yet,” she said as she mounted his erection. Robin wrapped her arms around his
neck and treated him to a slow grind. Up and down, up and down. Logan thrust forward and Robin matched his energy, giving as good as she got. Logan flipped her over and buried his mouth in her neck. They ground against each other, falling into a sensual rhythm. As they reached a thunderous climax, Robin closed her eyes and whispered how much she loved her husband. Logan kissed her sticky cheek.
“I love you too, boo.”
Despite how sticky they were, Logan and Robin lay in each other’s arms, basking in the afterglow of their lovemaking. “This is going to be hell to clean up,” she said.
“You’re the one who loses it over ice cream.”
“Um, ice cream and your tongue,” she corrected. “You know I can’t eat strawberry ice cream around other people, right?”
“Good. Because that’s my treat. We need to go visit New Orleans this summer and buy the whole lot of Ice Cream 504’s strawberry flavor.”
“Then drive slow back to the hotel and see what we can do in the car with that melted ice cream.”
“You mean how many times we can do it in the car on the way to the hotel.”
She kissed his chin and rolled her eyes. “We should probably get in the shower.”
“Not yet. I just want to hold you,” he said. “This feels like heaven. Sticky, but heaven.”
Robin closed her eyes and exhaled slowly. He was right, it was heaven to be in his arms.
Chapter 23
Kamrie read the summons for the third time in the three hours since that little punk on a bike rolled up to her and said she’d been served. Logan and that woman had a nerve. They wanted to take her to family court to prove that he wasn’t Jean’s father. This was not a part of the plan! How was she going to keep the true paternity of her son a secret? What if that bitch in Atlanta found out about Jean? Would she try to take him away?
“This can’t be happening,” she muttered as she paced back and forth. According to the papers, the case was going to head to court in two weeks. How was she going to get out of this?
“I could go back to Atlanta. I can’t . . .”
“Kamrie?” Dr. Carter asked as he walked into the break room. “Are you all right?”
“No, I’m not. Your little plan got me sued and put under investigation here!”
Won't Go Home Without You Page 21
