The Doctor Who Has No Closure
Soulless #10
Victoria Quinn
Hartwick Publishing
Hartwick Publishing
The Doctor Who Has No Closure
Copyright © 2021 by Victoria Quinn
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
1
Sicily
We sat together at one long table at a pizza place, taking up most of the restaurant and filling it with our loud voices. Dex sat next to his sister, and after she congratulated him, she went straight back to teasing him relentlessly.
I sat beside Derek, who had his two sons in high chairs between him and his wife, who sat on the other end. His parents were at the other side, Derek’s daughter Lizzie with them. I wasn’t family, but they made me feel welcome.
“Dex told me about your work with rockets and everything. That’s really impressive.” I thought Dex was the superhero of the night, but I was still surrounded by highly successful people.
Derek turned to me, his glass of beer held at his lips as he took a drink. “Thanks. I’m hoping my daughter will join me when she graduates.”
I looked at Lizzie across the table then turned back to him. “No offense, but you don’t look old enough to be a father of a seventeen-year-old.”
He chuckled. “She’s technically my stepdaughter, but she’s blood as far as I’m concerned.”
I smiled because the rest of his family was just like him, with big hearts. “That’s sweet. What does your wife do?”
“When she’s not taking care of three kids and putting up with me, she’s my executive assistant at my company. Oversees my intern program, keeps me organized, handles all my emails, makes sure I stay on schedule with my writing.”
I had so many questions, but I went with the first one that popped into my head. “Your writing? Are you a writer?”
He nodded. “I write science fiction.”
“Whoa.”
“And a little erotica for my wife once in a while…” He smiled then grabbed his beer once again and brought it to his lips for a drink.
I didn’t know what to say to that last part, but it was still sweet that he was so committed to his wife. He was brilliant, rich, and gorgeous, but he wasn’t chasing tail and cheating on his wife. He was faithful, loving, and a good father.
Why weren’t there more men like that? “She works for you?”
“Yeah. That’s how we met, actually. She became my new editor at my old publisher and kept hounding me for my manuscript. I hadn’t written more than a few pages, so I ignored her. But she’s got an ass that won’t quit, so she wore me down. Long story short, she got my life in order, and eventually, we got together.”
It reminded me of what I did for Dex, but there was nothing between us. He always had a wall up around me, like I was never a consideration. Maybe I just wasn’t his type. Maybe he put me in the friend zone a long time ago and couldn’t see me in another way. Or maybe it was because I had an affair with a married man…and he was divorced.
Derek watched me for a few seconds before he said, “How’s it working for Dex? Must be terrible.”
I rolled my eyes playfully. “It’s been the most rewarding experience of my life.”
“Really?” he asked in surprise before he nodded across the table. “That guy?”
I knew he didn’t mean that, so I gave him an amused look. “He’s the best guy I know. It’s an honor to work for someone who cares so much about other people, who’s committed to helping people, regardless if they can afford it or not. You just don’t meet people like that very often. I used to be around doctors a lot, and it was always about the money and the respect. Dex…is nothing like that.” I glanced at him, seeing him talking to Daisy, a grin on his face because she’d said something that made him laugh. It was obvious the two of them were really close. “It breaks my heart that he was so apprehensive about getting back in the game, but it was also a pleasure to get him there. It’s one thing to earn a paycheck, but it’s another to earn a paycheck and love your job so deeply. Makes all the difference in the world.”
Just the way his brother did, Derek studied me for a long time in silence before he gave a slight nod. “Looks like you’re one of us—because that’s exactly how we feel about work. Even my mom really enjoys her work and takes great pride in what she does. She genuinely loves making the lives of her clients more convenient.”
“I know. She used to be my boss.”
“Oh, that’s right,” he said with a nod. “Daisy told me Dex’s office is pretty fancy. That’s your doing?”
I shrugged. “I mean, I worked with a designer, but I got everything set up.”
“I need to come by and take a look.” He looked forward and stared at his brother for a while, who was listening to his sister talk before he made a comment that resulted in a slight slap on the arm. “It’s really nice to see Dex this way. He already looks like a whole new person, the man he used to be.”
“Yeah.”
“And that’s because of you. So, thank you for that.”
After dinner was over, we said goodbye on the sidewalk.
Cleo hugged me tightly. “Thank you so much, Sicily. I know you were instrumental in this.”
“I may have given him a couple nudges, but he’s the one who did it, so I don’t deserve the credit.” I got him back into his old routine, but I wasn’t entitled to the spotlight, because he was the one who cut Marc open and fixed his heart.
She squeezed me into her side before she patted me on the back. “Now, we just need to tell him about his new apartment. How do you think he’ll handle that?”
I watched Dex embrace Derek, and then they patted each other on the back before Dex picked up one of the boys and kissed him on the cheek, being a loving and affectionate uncle. “I’m not sure. But he’ll handle it better now than he would have a couple weeks ago.”
A black SUV pulled up to the curb, and a driver opened the back door.
Deacon looked at his daughter. “Daisy, we’ll take you home.”
“I’m fine,” she said, rolling her eyes. “Look at all these taxis going by.”
Dex nodded to his dad, silently volunteering himself.
“Have a good night, everyone.” Deacon let Cleo get in first before he scooted beside her. The door closed, and they took off. Then another SUV pulled up, and Derek and his family did the same thing.
I guess it made sense that they all had private drivers since they were billionaires.
Then it was just the three of us.
“Oh, taxi.” Daisy placed her fingers in her mouth and gave a loud whistle.
Dex turned to me. “I’ll take you home. Where do you live?”
My eyebrows rose up my face. “You did a twelve-hour surgery today, Dex. You don’t need to get me home.” He didn’t need to worry about me at all, not when I was the one whose job was to take care of him.
“Come on. It’s late and dark as hell. I don’t mind.” He looked past me at his sister, who’d just waved down a cab. “Besides, I’ve got to get her home too. Not a big deal.”
I glanced over my shoulder and saw Daisy flip him the bird before she got inside. “It doesn’t look like she needs you to take her home.”
“Well, that’s too fucking bad.” He jogged to the cab and waved his arms so the driver wouldn’t pull away. He opened the back door then turned to me. “You want the middle
seat or the window?”
“I’ll take the middle seat.” I was surprised a man of Dex’s height could fit in the taxi at all. I scooted over to the middle and sat right next to Daisy.
“He doesn’t know it’s the twenty-first century, does he?” Daisy asked. “Where women open bank accounts on their own, have mortgages, get their own taxis…”
Dex sighed from his seat by the window.
I smiled at her. “I think it’s cute that he wants to look after you.”
She rolled her eyes. “You’re just saying that because he’s your boss.”
“No, she’s not,” Dex said. “Because she strong-arms me all the time.”
We spend the cab ride in silence until we pulled up to her building, which looked pretty nice.
Dex opened the door.
“I can walk my ass up there on my own, thank you very much.” Daisy left the cab and shut the door.
“Hold on,” Dex instructed the driver, watching from the window until his sister made it into the lobby of the building. “Alright, go ahead.” He turned to me. “So, now where do you live?”
I told him the address.
Now that Daisy was gone, I scooted over to the other window.
Dex relaxed against his window, as if the exhaustion had officially kicked in, or maybe it was the pizza…or the beer.
After a couple minutes, the cab pulled over.
I opened my wallet to pay the fare, but Dex had already pulled out a couple bills and shoved them through the slot in the partition.
“Dex, I can make it up on my own.”
“I don’t mind.” He opened the door and stepped out. “Let’s go.”
My apartment was messy and not exactly ready for visitors, but he would probably just drop me off at the front door. We walked into the building and took the stairs to my floor before we headed down the hallway. He was in his signature hoodie and jeans.
“Now that I’m working like this again, not sure if I can stay in Brooklyn. I’m dreading that long drive home.” He walked beside me, his hands in the front pockets of his jeans. “Guess my mom was right…she’s always right.”
I stopped in front of my door and got it unlocked. “Well, maybe this is the right time to tell you that your parents got you an apartment here in Manhattan.” The door swung inward on its own, and I stepped inside to put my purse down.
He stared at me with narrowed eyes, like he wasn’t sure if he’d heard me correctly. “They did what now?”
“And it’s furnished and ready to go. I was just waiting for the right time to tell you.”
He stepped into my apartment and pulled his hands out of his pockets. “I guess that doesn’t surprise me.” He rubbed the back of his neck, his eyes distant as his mind processed what I said. “Send me the bill tomorrow. That way, I know how much I owe them. With me working again, I should be able to pay them back in a reasonable amount of time.”
I thought it was sweet that his parents swooped in and took care of their son within a heartbeat, and I also thought it was sweet that Dex never took advantage of them and insisted on standing on his own two feet, even after he lost everything. I was so curious to know what happened in his divorce, but I refused to ask him something so personal. I did look online to see if there was something there, but I couldn’t find a single article. His family must have pulled some strings to remove them, and maybe everyone had signed NDAs to not publicly discuss the divorce. “Yeah.”
He slid his hands back into his pockets, then turned to the door. “Well, I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“You want me to reschedule you tomorrow? Have you come into the lab at a later time?”
He turned back to me. “No, don’t worry about it. I’ve got a lot of stuff to do.” He turned away again.
“Dex.”
He turned back to me again, his hand on the door, his eyes lidded because he was so clearly tired.
“I know this is a weird thing to say, but I’m really proud of you.”
His lips curled up in a gentle smile. “It’s not a weird thing to say at all.”
I got to his office at Kline Clinic and put a cup of coffee on his desk along with a breakfast sandwich. His desk was messy with the papers he’d left behind the last time he was there, so I grabbed everything to organize.
He walked in a moment later, right on time, dressed in jeans and a long-sleeved sweater. His jaw was cleanly shaved and his short hair was styled, so he didn’t just roll out of bed and take the subway here. He was a whole new man just by looking at him. There was a hint of exhaustion in his eyes, but it was masked by the excitement he felt to be there. He gave me a quick glance-over before he approached the desk. “Morning.”
“Morning.” I smiled, feeling that thrill every time I saw him, like I was in the presence of true greatness.
He moved to the coffee on the desk and grabbed it. “Is this for me?”
I nodded.
He took a drink then licked his lips. “Thanks. I didn’t have a chance this morning. Chose to keep sleeping.”
“That was a good choice because I can always get that for you.” I was so eager to please him, so eager to bring him joy. It wasn’t because I wanted to keep my job or get a raise, but because it was such a pleasure to make his life better. “When you move in to your new place, I can have it ready for you before you even wake up, and you can enjoy it on the drive.”
He took another drink. “Now I’m starting to feel like the Queen of England.”
More like the King of Hearts. I pulled out a piece of paper from the folder held in my arm and set it in front of him. “This is your schedule for today. You’re in the lab for a couple hours, but then you have a lunch meeting with your colleagues to give an update on all the projects. Then later in the afternoon, I thought we could take a tour of your new place, so I can get started with the move.”
He stared down at the schedule on his desk before he picked it up and examined it. His fingers automatically brushed over his bottom lip, gently rubbing it as he processed the words on the page. Whenever he was deep in thought or focused on work, he turned into a different person, a serious person, someone who reminded me of his father and brother. “Alright.”
“I’m always around if you need anything, so just send me a quick text, and I’ll be there. I’ll be working in your office here for a bit to organize your data, and then I’ll head back to the medical office to update some paperwork for the patients coming in this week.”
“I’m scheduled for patient care?” He lifted his gaze from the paper and looked at me.
“Yes. I wasn’t kidding when I told you that before.” I smiled.
“Damn, you didn’t waste any time.” He returned the paper back to the desk, his eyes serious but his mood not sour.
I didn’t inform Dex about the high demand for his care, that there was a wait list longer than my arm with people who were desperate to see him, that people sobbed on the phone as they pleaded for me to get them in sooner. But the truth was, everyone who called was just as urgent, so there was nothing I could do. There simply wasn’t enough time, and since Dex had taken on these other roles at the clinic and the university, we had even less time. Unless I scheduled him on the weekends. “Because we don’t have time to waste.”
I approached the door to his lab then poked my head inside.
Dex was there, sitting at one of the tables in the lab, entirely alone, his head down as he looked over his paperwork. There were a couple trays beside him, a microscope, and then his computer station with three monitors. It was freezing cold inside, but he didn’t seem affected by the frigid temperatures.
He was so focused on his work that he didn’t even notice me step inside, didn’t notice my heels as they clacked against the tile floor. I moved to the opposite side of the table so I could face him.
He continued to make his notes, his scribbled handwriting totally cliché for a doctor.
“Dex?” I asked quietly.
He looked up when he hear
d me, and his eyes narrowed like he’d literally had no idea I was there until he heard his name. “What’s up?”
“It’s time to take a peek at the apartment—if you’re willing.”
“What?” He dropped his pencil and turned on his stool to look at the clock on the wall. “Fuck, I didn’t realize the time.” He turned back to me, slightly confused, like he didn’t have a good grip on reality at the moment.
“Time flies when you’re having fun, right?”
He grabbed his pencil again, using his left hand. “I really need to finish this. Can you give me some time?”
“Of course. Take all the time you need. Can I get you something? Coffee or water?” I noticed he didn’t have anything.
“I can’t eat or drink in here, but I’m starving.”
“I’ll run out and grab something. Any requests?”
His hand was already scribbling on the paper, the monitor in front of him showing some kind of radiology imaging. He didn’t say anything, like his mind had already flipped back to what he was doing.
I silently excused myself and let him be.
He ended up taking an additional two hours to finish his work, and he ate on the go, eating the sandwich with one hand as we left the facility and approached the private driver waiting. “What’s this?” he asked after taking a bite.
“Your mother said I should hire a driver since you’ll be running around so much. You didn’t have one before?”
He shook his head. “I just jumped in a cab.”
Probably because he didn’t have an assistant organizing everything for him like the rest of his family. We got inside and made the drive, and I didn’t say anything as I let him enjoy his food and coffee.
When he was done, I spoke. “You didn’t have an assistant before?”
He shook his head and looked out the window.
“Why?”
He shrugged. “It just seemed like too much work. My mom tried to make it happen a couple times, but I wouldn’t budge. I also didn’t want one…for other reasons.”
The Doctor Who Has No Closure (Soulless Book 10) Page 1
