NYC Angels: An Explosive Reunion
Alison Roberts
Alex Rodriguez and Layla Woods learned the hard way that their passion was as destructive as it was sizzling.Now they’re back in each other’s orbit, and trying to fool the buzzing hospital grapevine that the spark between them has died is a challenge. But convincing each other? Impossible…
Dear Reader
Visiting New York City is pretty high on my bucket list of things I want to do.
When I was six years old I had a year living in Bethesda, Maryland. I went to school there, and had all the fun of big, big snow in the winter and a ‘real’ Halloween. I still have a major fondness for both events.
I just loved doing the research for this NYC Angels continuity book. Not only did I get to include Halloween, but I was also obliged to spend many hours learning about a magic city that I fully intend to see in the not so distant future. I’ve fallen in love with Central Park already, because it’s very close to the Angel Mendez Children’s Hospital and snuck into my story.
Even better, I had a feisty Texan heroine, a gorgeous hero, and a past conflict between them that was huge. My Alex and Layla had a lot of growing to do and stuff to sort out before they could get anywhere near a happy ending.
I loved getting so close to them on their journey to really discover each other. Hope you do too!
Lots of love and happy reading!
Alison xxx
NYC Angels: An Explosive Reunion
Alison Roberts
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
CHAPTER ONE
‘No.’
The single word was as dramatic as the way the man had stormed into Layla Woods’s office and slammed a piece of paper onto her desk.
As dramatic as the man himself.
Alex Rodriguez was clearly furious. The waves of his thick, jet-black hair looked rumpled—as if he’d pushed angry fingers through it. Eyes that were nearly as dark glared down at Layla.
A long way down. Layla had to fight the urge to leap to her feet so that she could feel taller. Braver. But that would be a dead giveaway that she was rattled, wouldn’t it? And she couldn’t afford to let Alex know the effect he was still capable of having on her.
With a satisfyingly steady hand, she reached for the piece of paper. The memo she had sent out that morning to all the senior staff members here at the Angel Mendez Children’s Hospital.
‘This is the agenda for the next monthly report meeting.’
‘And you’ve put me down as being the first presenter.’ Alex folded his arms. ‘The answer’s no. I decline the invitation.’
‘It’s not an “invitation”,’ Layla flashed back. ‘It’s the case I’ve chosen to open the meeting. I’m sorry if it’s inconvenient but it’s your patient, Alex, therefore you present the case. End of story.’
The head of paediatric neurosurgery made an exasperated sound, turning as if he intended to storm out of her office in the same way he’d entered. Instead, he stopped beside the large window, with the backdrop of a bright blue October morning. Was he taking in the fabulous view of New York’s Central Park that this prestigious top-floor office had to offer?
An office befitting Layla’s position as the new chief of paediatrics at this famous hospital. Her dream job. A position that had been in jeopardy a few short weeks ago until Alex had stepped in to protect her.
‘What the hell are you playing at, Layla?’
The angry tone of Alex’s voice must have carried because Layla’s secretary appeared at the open door. Layla gave her a tight smile.
‘Hold my calls, please, Monica.’ The tilt of her head conveyed the message that she wanted more than her calls held to deal with this. The door was tactfully closed as her secretary retreated.
‘Well?’ Alex turned back to face her and this time Layla got to her feet.
Slowly.
She walked to the other side of her desk but couldn’t go any closer to Alex. The huge can of worms that represented their shared history was blocking the way.
Or maybe it was the memory of what had happened the first time they’d confronted each other since they’d both been working here at Angel’s. When they’d been close enough for the flames of a sexual chemistry that had clearly never died completely to flare into that scorching kiss.
It couldn’t happen again.
Their past had been precisely what had put her new job in jeopardy. Had she really been naïve enough to think that it had been so long ago it couldn’t affect her life any more? That she could take a high-profile position like this and it wouldn’t matter that she hadn’t disclosed her involvement in the malpractice suit that had nearly destroyed Alex’s career five years ago?
Somehow they had to move past this. Learn to work together.
‘I had intended discussing the agenda with you. You declined the appointment I tried to set up last week.’
‘I was busy.’ Alex held her gaze. ‘As you would have noticed if you’d bothered checking my electronic calendar.’
Layla kept her expression carefully neutral. She had checked his calendar but he could have easily suggested another time. They both knew the real truth. He had been avoiding her.
Since that kiss.
He hadn’t even let her voice her thanks for the way he’d stepped in and defended her at the board meeting when her integrity had been under examination and it had been highly likely that they would decide she was not the right person to oversee the talented staff that Angel’s was so proud of.
Being thwarted in expressing her appreciation had been a putdown but Layla’s aggravation went deeper than that.
Good manners had been drummed into Layla Woods since she’d been knee high to a grasshopper and saying thank you to someone who’d done her such a huge favour wasn’t just about maintaining a good appearance.
It was the right thing to do.
The idea of using the monthly report meeting had been a brainwave. OK, choosing a time she’d known Alex was busy to offer a chance to discuss the agenda could be deemed unprofessional, but Layla had had enough. She was taking control.
She hadn’t expected it to backfire quite so instantly. Why hadn’t Alex simply continued to avoid her? He could have asked his deputy head of neurosurgery, Ryan O’Doherty, to present the case on his behalf.
‘It’s not a current case,’ Alex added. ‘And it was successful.’
Of course it was. Layla would hardly have picked a case that was presenting a current dilemma or, worse, one that had had a bad result.
The last thing either of them would want would be to go over that old ground. To the case of the toddler, Jamie Kirkpatrick, that had brought them together in the first place. To the cutting-edge surgery for a complicated brain tumour that had fallen disastrously short of being successful. Jamie had died. Alex had been sued by a distraught family looking for someone to blame. He’d been cleared but Layla hadn’t been there to help him celebrate, had she? She’d ended their affair the night before Jamie’s surgery.
She nodded at Alex’s terse summary. ‘That’s precisely why I chose it. We don’t just put up a current, complicated issue to get the benefit of input from different specialties. Or to dissect what went wrong in a case that wasn’t successful. Sometimes it’s a good thing to reflect on a triumph. And Matthew was a triumph.’
‘There are plenty of other cases you could have chosen.’
‘Not one that so many people are so interested in.’
The brain tumour in the nine-year-old boy had been so rare and complicated that surgeons all over the state had refused to touch it. Until the little boy’s desperate parents had brought him to Angel’s as a last resort and begged Dr Rodriguez to use his legendary skills to give their son a chance to survive. And that was why it wouldn’t make any difference if Ryan presented the case. Everybody already knew who the real hero was.
‘The criterion for picking a case to report is that it’s out of the ordinary,’ Layla continued. ‘From what I’ve heard, this one was all that everybody talked about at the time and the staff involved in the recent follow-up appointment were thrilled by Matthew’s progress. I also heard that you’re writing the case up for a top journal. I thought it would be nice to share that.’ The occasional triumph shared at the meeting was good for everybody. A counterbalance for the heart-breaking cases.
‘Shine the spotlight on someone else, Layla,’ Alex growled. ‘Somebody’s going to wonder why you picked on me and I’ve been talked about more than I’m comfortable with around here lately.’ Alex turned to look out of the window again as he spoke but then his gaze swerved back to Layla. ‘Gossip about the Kirkpatrick case was bad enough. What happens when people start talking about the fact that I was having an affair with a married woman at the time? How do you think that’s going to help my reputation?’
The glare Layla received would have intimidated anyone.
Layla straightened her spine.
‘I came to Angel’s for a fresh start,’ Alex ground out. ‘I won’t allow you to drag my name through the mud.’
Oh … Lord …
OK. The plan had been to make this a public gesture of thanks, whether Alex liked it or not. She knew that this case would earn him even more respect from those colleagues who didn’t know all the details of the case, even though it had been breaking news on the grapevine in the months before she’d come to Angel’s. She had also known that it would be a public statement of her own faith in his abilities.
But it was a huge leap to go from not wanting her gratitude or public support to accusing her of being prepared to damage his reputation. The attack was unjustified. Unfair.
‘You’re not the only one who’s come here for a fresh start,’ Layla snapped. ‘And I’m sure you haven’t forgotten but I was the married woman. I don’t want that being common knowledge any more than you do.’
‘So stay away from me, then.’
Layla let out an incredulous huff. ‘You’re the one who came storming into my office.’
‘Because this needed to be dealt with.’
‘What needs “to be dealt with”,’ Layla responded, ‘is the fact that we find ourselves working in the same hospital. Again.’ She took a deep breath. ‘It’s unfortunate, I agree, but you had your chance to get rid of me. You could have let me get fired.’
‘I didn’t do it to protect your job and keep you here, if that’s what you’re thinking.’
No. That idea had been farfetched enough for Layla to have dismissed it at the time.
Almost.
‘So why did you do it?’ she asked quietly.
‘Because I’m not going to let my past dictate my future. The Kirkpatrick case did enough damage already. I stood up for you because … because it was the right thing to do.’
Thanking him had seemed like the right thing to do, too, but he wouldn’t let her. Now Layla wasn’t even sure she wanted to thank him. Had he just been facing his own demons? Making them a part of a past that didn’t matter any more?
She had to look away. ‘Well … we’re going to have to work together. I’m not about to leave a job I’ve only just started.’
‘Neither am I.’
He was still angry. Layla could feel the waves of it reaching her across the distance she’d been careful to maintain between them. She could also feel other currents mixed in with the anger. Like his determination to succeed and the fierce intelligence with which he was assessing his options. And beneath all of that she could feel his raw magnetism and power. The charisma that Alex Rodriguez wore like a second skin.
There seemed to be nothing left to say.
They were at an impasse. Both of them struggling to take control of their present by focussing on the future and dismissing the past.
Could it be that easy?
Layla had to make an effort to swallow. ‘Fine. Then let’s start as we mean to go on from now on. I’ve set the agenda for the meeting. I’ll look forward to hearing your presentation, Dr Rodriguez.’
Alex said nothing. With no more than another searing glance, he turned and left her office.
Two days later and people were filing into the small lecture theatre tucked away on an upper floor, along with the operating theatres. Some were carrying Styrofoam cups of coffee and paper bags containing sandwiches and some were reading messages on their pagers. All of them would have a notebook and pen available.
Fellow Texan, neonatal doctor Tyler Donaldson came in, protectively ushering his now very pregnant fiancée, Eleanor, into a front-row seat where she would have plenty of room. Eleanor smiled at Layla.
‘Don’t mind me if I have to sneak out to the bathroom,’ she said. ‘My bladder capacity is shrinking by the day.’
‘Yeah …’ Tyler beamed proudly. ‘And that little rodeo rider in there likes to work out and use it for a punching bag.’
Layla returned the smile but said nothing. She wasn’t in the mood for baby talk and Tyler might be an old friend but it wasn’t exactly professional to sit there holding hands with Eleanor, was it?
There was a quiet buzz of conversation going on and seats were being filled but there was still no sign of Alex. Layla gave Ryan a questioning look, her head tilted towards the door. As Alex’s second-in-command, surely he would know where the senior neurosurgeon was? But Ryan merely shrugged and then turned to his companion, a smile on his face as he responded to some comment. The atmosphere in here was relaxed and why wouldn’t it be?
There was no blame, no shame for unsuccessful cases but the discussion could get robust. What could have been done differently? What would be done differently next time? Hindsight was a wonderful thing when it could be used for a good purpose. You could never say they didn’t learn from mistakes around these parts.
Could Layla say that about herself?
Professionally, of course she could.
Personally? Layla suddenly became aware that she was tapping her foot impatiently. How long had she been doing that? Had anyone noticed? Her foot stilled.
Of course she could say that she learned from personal mistakes.
She hadn’t got married again, had she?
She had challenged Alex, though. She hadn’t heard a peep out of him since that tense exchange in her office and she’d been left wondering if he would back down and appear to present his case. Surely he would guess that a non-appearance would start people talking even more than if he’d shown up as her star turn of the day?
There was an air of expectancy in the room now. These were busy people. They only had an hour to spare and they were all giving up their lunch-breaks to attend. There were a few empty seats but that was normal. Some people couldn’t make it on the day, even if they were rostered to present a case, but that was OK, too, because they always had more cases lined up than they ended up having time to discuss.
She’d give Alex exactly one more minute to show up.
‘Aren’t you supposed to be at Monthly Report?’
‘Yep.’ Alex Rodriguez was facing his half-brother, Cade. Both men were semi-crouched and already sweating in the midday September sunshine that bathed the small area out the back of the ambulance bay where a basketball hoop was attached to the wall.
Alex had control of the ball right now, bouncing it in sharp movements as his body wove from side to side, looking for an opening to get closer to the hoop.
‘So why aren’t you?’
‘Could ask you the same question.’
‘Hey, I was only going to listen. Aren’t you supposed to be presenting a case?’
Alex ignored the question. With a lunge, he dived sideways, scooping up the ball and firing it at the hoop. With a resounding thump it hit the backboard and went through the net.
‘Yes …’
Both men went for the ball as it bounced on the tarmac. This time Cade made contact first and gleefully took control.
‘You may as well give up, bro. Go and have a shower and make Layla happy.’
‘What the hell is that supposed to mean?’
‘Whoa …’ Cade caught the ball instead of bouncing it and spun it on his hand. ‘Who put the burr under your saddle?’
Using Layla’s Texan drawl, along with a phrase they’d both heard her use, was like rubbing salt into the wound. With a move Cade didn’t see coming Alex knocked the ball from his hand and took off across the court, scoring another goal.
Cade laughed. Game on. For several minutes they played hard, ignoring the heat and the sweat and how out of breath they were getting.
No way was Alex going to go to that meeting and make Layla happy. It wasn’t so much that this was obviously a public pat on the back for a case that had gone so well, it was the string-pulling that he could sense going on behind it.
OK, he’d done Layla a favour but he’d done it in order to face his own demons, not to protect her. He didn’t want her thanks.
Hell, no …
Because if she got close enough to thank him properly, he knew exactly what could happen. Had already happened. That chemistry between them would explode and they’d end up in a clinch, kissing like there was no tomorrow.
And, God help him, he was not going to let it happen again.
Who the hell did Layla think she was that she could pull a string or two and have people dancing to her tune?
He’d told her that he didn’t want to present. She’d had plenty of time to back down and change the agenda and she hadn’t done so despite knowing that it could kick off a fresh wave of gossip. Well … he wasn’t even going to put in an apology for the meeting.
He just wasn’t going to show up. They might have to work together again but was going to do it on his terms, thank you very much.
She could deal with that. By herself.
This was getting borderline embarrassing.
From her position on the podium Layla nodded at the group. It was time to begin. Her heels sounded loud on the podium, rapping smartly on the wood as she moved to the microphone attached to the lectern. She tapped it gently to check it was on.
‘Howdy, folks. Glad y’all could make it.’ Her smile was bright. Along with good manners, Layla Woods had grown up knowing exactly how to present the perfect public face, no matter what was going on inside her head.
Or her heart, for that matter.
‘Looks like our first presenter is missing in action,’ she continued, ‘so let’s get the ball rolling with our second case. Dr Donaldson is going to share one of our neonatal department’s case histories.’
‘Thanks, darlin’ …’ Tyler reluctantly let go of Eleanor’s hand and strolled up to the podium. He winked at Layla as he inserted a memory stick into the data projector.
Layla kept her smile in place with difficulty. She knew what that wink was about just as clearly as she could sense the significant looks being passed between the people seated in the tiered rows in here. They all knew that Alex’s name was on the top of the agenda. Now they were all wondering if he really had an emergency keeping him away or if there was something else going on. Were some of those rumours circulating about a romantic involvement between Alex and Layla true?
‘Meet Madeline,’ Tyler Donaldson announced, as a photograph of a tiny, premature baby almost hidden by wires and tubes came up on the screen. ‘Born at a gestation of twenty-five weeks, this li’l gal weighed in at six hundred and eighty grams and measured thirty-two centimetres. She was intubated immediately after birth and given positive pressure ventilation due to her prematurity.’
To outward appearances, Layla was listening attentively to the presentation of all the complications this baby had had but in reality she was trying to unravel the knot of anger forming in her gut.
He could have put in an apology for the meeting. Or arranged for Ryan to present the case. They could have both kept their dignity intact and made a fresh start by putting their professional lives onto some kind of an even keel. The gossip would be fuelled by his non-appearance with no explanation. Layla didn’t like being the subject of gossip. She didn’t like the ashes of the past being raked over. Would she ever get away from the mistake she’d made in getting involved with Alex in the first place?
Don’t you mean get over him?
That tiny voice in the back of her mind got ruthlessly silenced. Layla glared at Tyler.
This was all his fault, wasn’t it? They’d known each other practically their whole lives. Ty knew how badly her marriage had ended and how strained her relationship with her family was. OK, maybe he hadn’t known about the affair that had spelt the end of that marriage, or that Alex had been the man she’d had an affair with, but it had been Ty who’d persuaded her to apply for the job here at Angel’s.
The job that meant she and Alex were working at the same hospital.
Again.
Layla took a deep breath and tried to tune in to what Tyler was saying about the complex surgery baby Madeline had had to go through. The fleeting thought that his specialty had to be harder now that his fiancée was pregnant with his own baby only led Layla straight back to her own personal issues.
Like how she was going to deal with the tension between Alex and herself. It wasn’t just about avoiding damage to their reputations, was it? There was still something there. Something powerful. That kiss had been more than enough to make it obvious. And, despite what Alex had said, she didn’t believe that doing the right thing had been the only motive for defending her against the management board.
Did he care about her on some level?
Did she care about him?
Not like that. Layla may have fallen in love with him the first time around but the disaster the affair had created in her life had been enough for those emotions to morph into simmering resentment at how thoroughly her life had been derailed. Whatever was still hanging around was about lust, not love. But, man, that sexual chemistry hadn’t lost any of its power, had it?
She just needed to learn to control it.
Like she tried to control everything else in her life?
Good grief, that little voice was annoying. A control freak? Her? Well … Layla had to admit she’d engineered what had been supposed to have happened today but look how well that had worked.
She was already planning how to get around it, though, wasn’t she? To take control some other way. Instead of thanking him now, part of her wanted to let Alex know just how aggravated she was with the way he had dropped her into covering for his absence and fielding the ensuing curiosity.
She wanted to demonstrate that she was able to stand up for herself.
Like she had when he’d put her aside just before little Jamie’s operation?
When she hadn’t been prepared to stand aside quietly and she’d taken control and told him it was all over?
Why had she chosen the night before the surgery to take her stand? She could have contributed to why Jamie’s case hadn’t turned out to be the kind of miracle that the case she’d asked Alex to present today was.
The guilt was still there, wasn’t it? Not just that she’d been cheating on her husband but that she might have made a difference to Alex’s performance that day.
And maybe that was why it had seemed so important that she got the chance to thank Alex.
And why he didn’t want to hear it.
Why did it matter so much, anyway? It had been years and years ago. They’d both moved on.
Or had they?
Impossible not to remember that kiss …
It had been the last thing she had expected.
No. Maybe the last thing she had expected had been the way she’d responded to it. To have stepped so far back in time to when her desire for this man had made her throw her caution to the winds, along with too many of the values she’d grown up believing she held. They’d been fried in the heat that one touch from Alex could generate. Even now, Layla could feel a flicker of that heat, deep in her belly.
Was she blushing? Was that why there was this sudden silence all around her and why everybody seemed to be looking at her?
No. On an inward groan Layla realised that Tyler had finished his presentation. They were waiting for her, as the meeting’s chairperson, to move things along.
Her smile was bright. ‘Sorry, folks … Such an interesting case, I got lost in my thoughts. Anyone want to ask a question or add something?’
Several hands were raised and heart surgeon Molly Shriver got the nod.
‘Can you talk us through your choice of antibiotic to deal with the pneumonia? And did you consider a blood transfusion immediately after the first surgery?’
Layla couldn’t help looking past Molly, up into the dimmer corners of the lecture theatre where someone could have arrived unnoticed during Tyler’s presentation by using the back stairs.
Not that she really needed the visual confirmation that Alex wasn’t present. She could feel it. Like a shadow blocking the sun.
Forced to stop the hard physical activity due to exhaustion, Alex bent over, palms on his thighs, fighting to catch his breath again. Cade mirrored his action.
‘It’s working,’ Cade panted. ‘Think I’ve pulled the burr out from my saddle, anyway. How ‘bout you?’
Again, Alex ignored the query. ‘So what was your beef?’
‘I’m fed up,’ Cade growled. ‘I was in charge of my department back in L.A. I don’t like being told what to do like I’m just an intern. Getting squeezed out of the best cases. Having my decisions second-guessed.’
‘You knew you were going to be second-in-charge when you took this job.’
‘Yeah … I just didn’t know how much I wouldn’t like it. I’m beginning to think I should have followed your example and tried the other side of the world to escape. Australia is looking pretty damned attractive right now.’
‘You didn’t have something big enough to get away from.’
‘Wanna bet?’ Cade had caught his breath. He was moving again. His expression suggested he needed to blow off a bit more steam. He certainly didn’t want to expand on that cryptic comment.
Alex tucked it away. He’d find out. He knew better than to push his half-brother to reveal more than he was ready to. It was too fragile, this newly re-formed relationship they’d managed to forge in the wake of the recent trouble.
Cade scored another goal. He was well ahead of Alex now.
‘Anyway …’ he panted, letting Alex get the ball again. ‘It’s all sorted, isn’t it? The whole deal with that malpractice suit. You know I’m sorry for letting the cat out of the bag but we’re good now, aren’t we?’
‘Yeah …’ Alex was standing still, taking aim at the basket. Better than he could have hoped they’d ever be, that was for sure, given their history.
‘And it’s all out in the open and they’re not going to fire you. Any more than they’re going to fire Layla after you stood up for her.’
Alex missed the hoop and swore softly. He grabbed the ball as it bounced and took aim again.
He just couldn’t get away from it, could he?
Away from Layla.
Away from the memories.
The demons he’d tried to deal with by running away after the malpractice suit that had followed the Jamie Kirkpatrick case were only part of the story.
Cade was trying to distract him from shooting the goal. Standing in front of him and waving his arms. He was grinning. He didn’t know that Layla was another demon.
He’d heard she was divorced now. Well … no surprises there. Alex could feel sorry for the mug she’d conned into marrying her in the first place. Had she just dumped him—the way she’d dumped him when she’d got bored with their affair?
Affair.
Nasty little word but there was no getting away from the facts. He’d had an affair with a married woman. He wasn’t proud of it and he certainly didn’t want people to start talking about it. Had Cade been getting away from something that bad?
Now wasn’t the time to find out. It was too hot for this and they both needed to go and shower and cool off.
Alex took another shot at the basket and the ball went through without even touching the backboard.
‘Nobody’s getting fired,’ he finally agreed. ‘And the whole mess taught me something very valuable.’
‘Oh?’ By tacit agreement, both men were calling it a draw and finishing the match. They high-fived each other and started walking back into the hospital.
‘You don’t beat demons by running away from them,’ Alex told his younger brother. ‘You can only beat them by confronting them.’
The sound Cade made was dismissive and Alex couldn’t blame him for his disbelief.
He wasn’t exactly confronting the demons that Layla represented, was he? He’d been avoiding her like the plague ever since she’d tried to thank him for standing up for her and saving her job. And then he’d marched into her office and told her to stay away from him. How was that supposed to sort anything out? And had he been entirely truthful? He’d told her that he’d gone to that board meeting to defend her because the Kirkpatrick case had done enough damage and it should be left in the past, but weren’t the feelings Layla stirred part and parcel of the whole Jamie Kirkpatrick business anyway?
It had been so hard to put her aside so he could focus on that little boy’s surgery. And he still suspected, deep in his heart, that the body blow of getting dumped the night before that high-profile operation had been why he hadn’t been completely on top of his game that day. Yes, the demons were so intertwined they were impossible to separate.
Which meant he hadn’t really confronted anything, despite letting the whole thing get aired in public again. Maybe he’d made it worse by giving Layla a reason to be grateful to him. He certainly hadn’t helped his cause by giving her something to be angry about today.
Deliberately avoiding her hadn’t done the trick. Fronting up and warning her hadn’t achieved much either. And Layla was right about one thing. If they both wanted to keep their jobs here, they had to find a way of being able to work in the same hospital.
A corner of Alex’s mouth lifted in a wry smile. Maybe he’d subconsciously realised that what he needed was to have Layla avoid him. The way she had after Jamie’s death when she wouldn’t even acknowledge him. All that was needed was a good push to get her started and what better way than a public refusal to let her jerk his strings?
Alex stood under the cool shower, letting the sweat sluice away. Be nice if the demons could get washed away as easily but he’d soon find out if he’d made life any easier for himself by what he’d just done. Monthly Report would be well and truly over by the time he was dressed again.
The discussion about Tyler’s case was taking off now. They might finish a few minutes early but there certainly wouldn’t be time for another case.
The gap left by the unpresented case would probably be old news by the time everybody headed back to their normal routines. They would all move on with ease.
The way Layla and Alex needed to if they were both going to keep their jobs and work together.
Maybe what was stopping them was that it was unfinished business.
And if there was something that bothered Layla more than being the subject of gossip it was having unfinished business hanging over her.
Mulling it over as she headed back to her office, Layla realised that dealing with this particular business would be dangerous. The tingle that kissed her skin as if she could still feel Alex’s presence in this private room was enough of a warning. The way the memory of that kiss was lingering rang an even louder alarm.
But facing something dangerous … and winning … was kind of an attractive challenge.
And Dr Layla Woods had always found a challenge irresistible.
Besides, it could be good for both of them. She had a responsibility to try and ensure that the senior staff members could work together on good terms, didn’t she?
Of course she did.
Layla took a moment to enjoy the view from her window. Plan B was beginning to shape up rather nicely.
CHAPTER TWO
EVERYBODY WAS WAITING.
Expecting Alex Rodriguez to be taken to task by the chief of paediatrics for failing to put in an appearance or even the courtesy of an apology for the monthly report meeting.
Alex had caught more than one oddly expectant glance from people over the course of the afternoon following that meeting. When his path crossed again with that of Layla for the first time he was in the cafeteria for lunch the next day, and the air of anticipation around him was palpable. A public arena and an attentive audience to witness a senior staff member being told off was gold for feeding a grapevine.
Alex gritted his teeth and waited for the kind of acerbic comment that would let him know by how far he’d missed the mark in his professional responsibilities.
Instead, he was treated, along with everybody else snatching a quick meal, to one of those thousand-watt smiles that Layla was so good at.
‘Good to see you’re finding time to eat,’ she said, with that husky Southern edge to her voice that always made her sound vaguely amused about something. ‘I hear you’re busier than a one-armed paper-hanger over there in Neurology.’
He waited for the kicker. The jibe about being so busy that he couldn’t have found the good manners to let her know he couldn’t make the meeting. But that smile didn’t dim. With a flick of those tousled, shoulder-length blonde waves, Layla continued moving towards the food counter, leaving nothing but a faint scent of something deliciously fresh in her wake. Apples?
Realising that he was sitting there with his mouth half-open, trying to identify what flavour shampoo Layla used, was enough to make Alex aware of the unpleasant burn of embarrassment, but he needn’t have worried. Everyone around him was still watching Layla. Especially the men. And the collective gaze was laced with admiration.
Definitely apples, he decided the next day when Layla brushed past him in the recovery room to visit with a small patient of hers who’d just undergone open heart surgery.
He knew it was a coincidence that had placed her patient right next to the little girl he’d just operated on to correct a spinal abnormality but did she have to stand on his side of the bed? Did she really have to be here at all?
‘I’ve been so worried about this wee man,’ he heard her say to the nurse. ‘I just had to come and have a peek.’
‘He’s doing just fine,’ the nurse reassured her. ‘We’ll be transferring him to PICU any time now.’
Recovery was an extension of the operating theatre suite. Alex’s turf. As Chief of Paediatrics, Layla often got involved with the more serious cases that came into Angel’s and he’d often seen her in places like the paediatric intensive care unit. Even when she was sticking to her own specialty of paediatric cardiology, she would often have small patients who spent time in there when their condition deteriorated or after they’d had surgery. But he’d never come across her in the actual recovery area and it felt like more than a professional coincidence.
Was he getting paranoid or was Layla trying to get in his face at every possible opportunity and … and enjoying it?
‘Don’t tell me …’ Alex didn’t try and erase the sardonic lilt to his words as the nurse sped off to attend to another patient arriving from Theatre. ‘You’re regretting your choice not to become a surgeon.’
‘Not at all.’ Layla’s glance flicked the whole length of his body and Alex instantly felt at a disadvantage.
Underdressed, standing here in his loose-fitting scrubs. He still had a theatre cap on his head and he’d only broken the top strings on his mask so it was hanging around his neck like a bib. Layla was wearing a smart, close-fitting pencil skirt and a crisply ironed blouse under her spotless white coat. And she had her trademark high heels on. Alex was wearing white, plastic gumboots.
‘I adore cardiology,’ Layla continued. ‘I get to make the diagnosis and I get to enjoy the follow-up and see the way lives improve after surgery. I don’t have to do the messy, in-between bit of adjusting the internal plumbing.’ Her gaze seemed to intensify. ‘My surgical rotation back when I was an intern showed me that it wasn’t where I wanted to be.’
That rotation had been when they’d met. When Layla had become little Jamie’s champion and she’d persuaded him to take on the toddler’s complex surgery.
When they’d been together as far, far more than professional colleagues. Was that what Layla was really referring to here? Maybe he didn’t want to find out. He backed down.
‘I’ve just never seen you hanging around Recovery before,’ he muttered. ‘That’s all.’
She knew, dammit. She knew exactly how uncomfortable he was with her presence in what had previously been a sacrosanct area for him.
We’re colleagues. Her raised eyebrows managed to convey even more to the message. We work in the same hospital. We are mature, professional people who are passionate about our careers. Deal with it.
Fine. Alex would deal with it. He tilted his head towards the tiny patient in the bed.
‘What was the procedure?’
‘Just an ASD closure. But it was a big one and little Josh here is a real cutie. One of triplets.’
Triplets? Good grief … Why was nothing about Layla … ordinary?
Even this unusual visit was vaguely disturbing.
Any other doctor would be looking at the monitors or reading the recovery notes. Or at least quizzing the nurse. But not Layla. She was leaning over the tiny, unconscious boy. Finding a patch of skin that wasn’t covered by an electrode for monitoring or tape that was holding an intravenous line in place. Stroking that skin with such a gentle touch that Alex couldn’t look away.
‘Hear what that nurse told me, honey?’ he heard her murmur. ‘You’re doing just fine. You keep it up now. Your momma and daddy aren’t far away and they can’t wait to see you.’
Alex forced his attention back to the monitors attached to his own patient but he couldn’t ignore the knot in his gut. It tightened when he glanced back in time to see Layla on the point of leaving. She had two fingertips against her pursed lips and, having turned her head to check that the nurse wasn’t watching, she took that tiny kiss and transferred it to the forehead of the unconscious toddler.
A tiny moment in time. A very personal moment. If Layla hadn’t turned in his direction again as she’d straightened, she would never have known that she had been observed. Alex was busted. He wasn’t going to pretend he hadn’t been staring so he held her gaze steadily and it was gratifying to see the flush of colour that painted Layla’s cheeks.
But she didn’t look away. Her chin came up and the spark in her eyes was one of defiance.
So I get emotionally involved with my patients, the spark said. Deal with that, too. I happen to think it makes me a better doctor.
‘See you later, Alex.’
‘Yeah … I’m sure you will.’
The high heels of Layla’s shoes beat a sharp tattoo as she exited the recovery room and, despite himself, Alex knew he was watching her leave with the same kind of expression that every male in the cafeteria had had the day before.
You had to hand it to her. Layla Woods had very decided opinions and more courage than you could shake a stick at to defend them. And that feistiness, wrapped up in such an attractive package, was the kind of challenge any red-blooded man would get drawn to.
Look at him. He knew the deadly consequences of rising to that challenge and he was still finding it difficult not to get sucked in all over again.
Alex looked down at his small patient. He had done the best he could for her with the surgery to correct the spinal malformation and he was confident that it had been a success. This little girl would soon be able to sit up and walk and catch up with the developmental milestones she had missed. Her parents were going to be thrilled and he would take a great deal of pleasure in following up on her progress.
He cared about her. A lot. But he wasn’t going to start cuddling and kissing his patients. He’d learned long ago how dangerous emotional entanglements could be. Probably even before his mother had died.
Alex hadn’t needed the gut-wrenching confirmation of that lesson represented by the disastrous notion that Layla might have been different enough to deserve his trust. And he wasn’t going to lay himself open to the kind of heartache that came with losing a small patient that you’d got too attached to. He knew how to keep just the right amount of distance to make sure he stayed at the top of his game.
He just had to apply the same wisdom to his professional relationship with Layla, never mind how many times he found himself close to her. Or how many personal things he happened to notice.
Personal things like the kind of shoes she wore or shampoo she used were superficial and easily ignored. The personal detail he discovered about Layla a few days later nearly did his head in.
Plan B seemed to be going slightly astray.
The idea had been to show Alex that the past was well and truly behind them. That they could enjoy a professional relationship and put any lingering attraction behind them as well. Tuck it away, along with the malpractice suit and the way both their lives had been derailed.
But it seemed to be taking on a life of its own now.
Alex didn’t like it that she was invading his space. Layla could feel the ‘Oh, God, not again’ vibe whenever she just happened to be in the same place at the same time. Like the cafeteria or Recovery or the intensive care unit or one of the wards. She was getting so good at this she didn’t need to check his electronic calendar to guess where he might be next. Often her instinct put her in the right place. Or maybe fate was helping because her path seemed to be crossing with that of Alex far more often as she fulfilled her own professional duties.
Well, Alex had only himself to blame. The effect of her subtle campaign was magnified considerably by how successful Alex had been in trying to avoid her in the run-up to that meeting he’d stupidly decided to miss. This could have all blown over by now. She would have given Alex his moment in the limelight, taken the opportunity to say thank you in a heartfelt manner and they could have agreed that this was a fresh start for both of them.
Bygones could have been bygones.
But no … Alex had taken a stand and presented a challenge and she knew perfectly well that he would have been expecting her to front up and tear a strip or two off him because everybody knew that she didn’t hang back from necessary confrontation. The perfect opportunity had presented itself the very next day, in fact, in the staff cafeteria, with the bonus of a built-in audience.
What a stroke of brilliance it had been, doing the complete opposite of what they had all been expecting. Her ultra-friendly smile and the way she had simply ignored the whole issue had thrown Alex off guard completely. He was still suspicious of her motives and she couldn’t blame him for not liking what was happening. She was in control here.
The problem was that she was enjoying herself. A bit too much perhaps. She was quite confident of how aware of her Alex was. She could sense the way he watched her, like that time in Recovery. She could feel the intensity of that gaze like a touch on her skin.
No. The real problem was the flip side of that particular coin.
She was equally aware of him.
Just how unhelpful this awareness was became strikingly obvious a few days later after Layla had been called to the emergency department to consult on a ‘blue baby’ case that had been rushed in by ambulance. The mother had had almost no prenatal care so the baby’s cardiac abnormalities had not been picked up prior to birth and, to complicate matters, the young mother had gone into labour and had given birth at home. With the baby safely intubated and stabilised and now under the care of the neonatal surgeons, Layla was free to leave the department to carry on with the rest of her duties when she spotted Alex.
He was standing just outside one of the resuscitation rooms where the more serious cases were assessed and stabilised. Right next door to the one she had been in. That small thrill of excitement and the way her heart rate picked up was due purely to the stroke of luck crossing his path in such an unexpected place. Neither of them had much to do with the emergency department so what were the odds of them both being here at the same time? That this would annoy Alex no end might be a kind of a bonus.
Except that he didn’t even seem to be aware of her standing so close by. His attention was focussed on the woman he was with. White-faced and sobbing, she looked barely more than a teenager. She had long, dark, wildly curly hair and she was talking fast and loudly. In Spanish.
Alex was looking stunned. As though he had no idea how to handle the situation.
Layla had never seen him look like this.
She’d seen him in charge of emergency situations in Theatre. Running a resuscitation scenario in the intensive care unit. Dealing with distraught parents. But never once had she seen him look as if he wasn’t in complete control.
Looking … vulnerable?
Well … she had once. When things had gone so disastrously wrong at the end of Jamie Kirkpatrick’s surgery. She’d had to stand back and watch helplessly then. She didn’t have to now.
Layla moved swiftly towards them. ‘Can I help you?’ she said to the young woman. ‘Te puedo ayudar? Digame lo que pasa …’
Her Spanish was fluent. The woman grabbed her arm in relief and sobbed out her story. Alex looked, if anything, even more stunned when Layla turned back to him.
‘Ramona says you’re treating her baby. Felix?’
His nod was terse. ‘He’s got a skull fracture. I was hoping to get to the bottom of the story but the language barrier’s suddenly got a lot worse.’
Layla asked Ramona a question and then translated the response. ‘His brother hit him with a toy brick.’
She could see the total disbelief in Alex’s face. ‘I’m talking about a fracture here. A broken skull. An unconscious child.’ His voice was so tense it cracked.
Layla’s brain sent out the kind of alert signal that any Chief of Paediatrics would be wise to pay attention to. It had been known to happen, hadn’t it? She’d read of more than one case where parents had had children taken away from them by social services and had been prosecuted for child abuse.
One sprang to mind immediately, of an eight-month-old boy whose sibling had hit him with a toy aeroplane and caused a fracture. And what about the Tommy Jenner case a few months ago when the child-abuse screen had been started and then they’d found that Tommy had actually been injuring himself because of the seizures caused by his brain lesion?
Alex needed to be careful of what he was saying here but Layla found that she was thinking of something else entirely as she stared at him. Had she really not noticed before how those glimmers of grey had crept into his jet-black hair? The way those lines at the corners of his eyes had deepened over the years they hadn’t seen each other? Had she really forgotten the way those chocolate-brown eyes could darken when something emotionally intense was going on, like anger or … physical passion?
Heavens … they looked positively black at the moment.
Ramona had picked up the tone of Alex’s voice. Looking terrified, she made a huge effort to pull herself together and change languages.
‘No … don’t say those words. No person hurt my baby. I … I love him.’
The anguish in her eyes and broken words was heart-breaking. Alex put his hand on the young woman’s shoulder.
‘Try and calm down, Ramona. I won’t ask any more questions now. We’ve got Felix stabilised and we’ll be taking him up to surgery in a few minutes.’
‘Què? I … no understand …’
Layla translated but she couldn’t look away from where Alex’s hand was still resting on Ramona’s shoulder. She could feel that hand herself.
‘Ask her if her husband’s on the way,’ Alex ordered.
But Ramona understood that.
‘Not husband. Boy … friend. I was …’ With an impatient head shake and hand movements she reverted to rapid Spanish and Layla had to relay the information.
‘She was already pregnant with Felix when she met him. He’s bringing in her older son. She’s scared that you’re going to call the police and she doesn’t want to get into trouble.’ It was quite possible there was an issue concerning illegal immigration here. Layla bit her lip, wondering if this was another alert signal her new position meant she should be worrying about.
The hand had dropped now. Layla watched as Alex’s fingers curled into a fist but that was the only sign that something was disturbing him very deeply. That and the sense of raw power he was exuding. Right now that power was all about anger on behalf of a defenceless small child. Did he know for sure that his little patient’s head injury had not been accidental? Layla wouldn’t want to be standing in his way if he was planning to do something about such a conviction.
When he looked at Layla, she knew he was barely aware of her.
‘Tell her that my only concern is treating her son.’
Alex left the impression of power in his wake and it stayed with Layla long after leaving Ramona with one of the nurses. She was left with a whole kaleidoscope of impressions whirling around her head, in fact.
The tension in Alex’s face. The image of his hand on Ramona’s shoulder. The way those dark, dark eyes had seemed to look right through her.
Memories … That first time they’d made love in the wake of her being so wound up after a blazing row with Luke. The urgency and the mind-blowing heat of that encounter. The unbelievable bliss in which it had culminated …
The feel of his lips against hers, which she’d experienced again not very long ago. The sheer wanting that it could conjure up every single time …
Oh, yes. It was just as well Alex was nowhere near where he might be able to see what was whizzing through her head because any control Layla felt she’d had in following this fool plan of hers had just gone out the window.
Concentrating on what she had to do for the rest of her day was quite a tall order. Layla was still feeling out of kilter by the time she got to the end of her list, long after most staff members had finished their days and gone home for dinner. She always liked to pop into all the intensive care units before she went home, to make sure she was in touch with how all Angel’s most seriously unwell children were doing.
Her little ‘blue’ baby was in the cardiac unit, having had surgery to correct the abnormality she had been born with. All was well in NICU, the neonatal intensive care unit. PICU was her last stop. Maybe because she was a little nervous at crossing paths again with Alex today?
A little nervous? Judging by the way she actually jumped when she heard the sound of his voice even before she saw him, she was as jumpy as spit on a hot skillet.
‘For God’s sake … a skull fracture with acute subdural and epidural bleeding. You can’t tell me a two-year-old kid can throw a wooden brick hard enough to cause that kind of an injury.’
‘Are there any other potential signs of abuse?’
Another male voice. And they were both talking quietly, probably confident that their intense conversation was private. Had they left the unit for precisely that reason?
Layla stopped in her tracks, unsure of whether to round the corner where she’d have to walk past them to get to the locked door of the intensive care unit. The indecisiveness was an alien sensation and she didn’t like it at all. She shifted her weight from one foot to the other, fingering her security badge, which would allow her access through that locked door.
‘I don’t know.’ Alex’s voice was a growl. ‘I haven’t had a chance to check him over properly yet. I’ve been too busy trying to save the poor little tyke’s life. My suspicions are more than enough to base a report on and it needs to be filed within thirty-six hours of admission.’
‘You need to be careful. Do you remember the first time I went to the monthly report meeting? Who was that kid you presented the case on? The one who’s been on chemo for months and you’re going to think about operating on soon?’
‘Tommy Jenner.’ Alex sounded impatient now. He didn’t want to change the subject.
‘You presented that case as a warning, didn’t you? Not to make assumptions that just might be wrong. The last thing you need is another malpractice suit on your hands.’
‘Are you telling me to stand back and say nothing? You, of all people, should know better than that, Cade. We both know the kind of damage that can do, don’t we?’
‘Yeah, yeah … point taken. But that’s exactly why you need to tread carefully, man. You’re too wired to see the worst-case scenario. You know too much.’
Layla was standing very still now, her eyes wide. What on earth was all that supposed to mean?
‘You’re following protocol,’ Cade continued. ‘Treating the child is number one. You can order a child-abuse screen and do the other tests you need, like X-rays to look for old fractures. The kid’s safe and you’ve got some time up your sleeve. You need to cool down.’
Having Layla appear around the corner probably wouldn’t help Alex to cool down. She found herself backing away. Turning, ready to leave, only to find herself face to face with a man who had a small boy with him. The child was about two or three years old and he was a reluctant companion. The man had a grip above the boy’s elbow and was half pulling, half shoving him along. With long, greasy-looking hair and the skin of his arms beneath his T-shirt barely visible between tattoos, the man looked distinctly menacing.
‘Get a move on,’ he snarled down at the child, ignoring Layla. ‘We’re going to find your mother and then I’m outta here. I’m done with babysitting someone else’s snivelling brat.’
He swept past Layla and around the corner. He practically banged into Alex and Cade.
Layla was hot on the man’s heels. She didn’t need the strong whiff of alcohol that reached her nostrils to know that a very volatile situation was forming.
‘Whoa …’ It was Cade who held up a hand to ward off a collision. ‘Take it easy.’
‘I’m in a hurry,’ the man responded. He ignored Alex and walked past Cade. ‘What … is that door locked? What kind of a joint is this? I thought it was a hospital, not a bloody prison.’
Layla was watching Alex. She could see he had assessed what was going on with the speed and intelligence she had learned to expect from him long ago. He was also putting two and two together as fast as she had. A young man arriving at the intensive care unit with a small boy. His patient’s mother was inside the unit with her son. The baby had an older brother who had, supposedly, caused his severe head injury.
Alex caught her gaze and she felt that tingle of connection. Of knowing they were on exactly the same wavelength.
But there was more to this than a surgeon worried about his patient or a doctor who found treating a case of child abuse appalling. The shadows she could see in Alex’s gaze created a flood of questions. She’d always been aware of that dark side to him, hadn’t she? She’d never had the chance to find out how it had got there. She’d been happy to just let it add to the frisson of danger that had gone with getting close to this man. The excitement of the illicit affair.
And, right now, it was more than just wanting answers to those questions … she wanted to defuse this situation. Or was it more than that even? That squeezing sensation in her chest suggested that she wanted to … make it better somehow. For Alex.
As if he read something of that in her face, his gaze jerked away from her to the stranger.
‘You’re Ramona’s boyfriend, aren’t you?’ Alex sounded calm. Dangerously so.
‘Who wants to know?’
‘I’m Alex Rodriguez. Felix’s neurosurgeon. I’m the person who’s been operating on Felix this afternoon. Getting some of the blood out of his skull before it did too much damage to his brain.’
‘Good for you.’ The man eyed Alex up and down. More up than down. Both Alex and his brother towered over this stranger by at least six or seven inches. Layla could see that he was practised in assessing another man’s strength but if he was intimidated by his male company he didn’t show it. He stepped closer to Alex. ‘If you’re a doctor, you can let me in through that door. I’ve got a right to see Ramona.’
Alex was taking a breath. Layla could see the way his eyes narrowed as he smelt the alcohol. ‘I’d like a word with you first, if you don’t mind.’
‘I do mind.’ Layla saw the way the man shoved the little boy to one side and then curled his fists.
The little boy staggered sideways and bumped into Cade, who caught him as he started sobbing. ‘You’re OK, buddy,’ he said.
‘Shut up, Cody, or you’ll be sorry,’ the man warned.
‘Like Felix was?’ Alex’s query was almost conversational.
‘Alex …’ Cade’s tone was a warning.
The men were squaring off at each other. Layla could feel the fury of Alex’s stare even though it was fastened firmly on the man directly in front of him. The tension was indescribable. Any second now and all hell would break loose. Alex would flatten Ramona’s low-life boyfriend and then what? She wouldn’t be trying to thank him for saving her job. She’d be fighting a losing battle trying to save his.
Not going to happen.
Without pausing to think about what she was doing, Layla stepped in between the two men just as both men raised their fists.
The vicious shove she received from behind was meant to get her out of the way but, in fact, it slammed her against Alex’s rigid body. He had no choice but to lower his fists to catch hold of her before she fell sideways. It still felt like she was falling but she was encased in an astonishingly powerful grip.
From the corner of her eye she saw the fist aimed at Alex, which would have connected with the side of her head if Alex hadn’t hauled her out of harm’s way.
He only held Layla long enough for her to feel that strength and all that leashed power. To feel the pounding of his heart against her own for no more than a second. And then he let go of her and moved so swiftly the attacker didn’t have a chance.
‘That’s enough.’ Alex grabbed the raised arm of the attacker and then twisted it behind the man’s back.
‘Ow … lemme go,’ the man snarled. The words turned into a whimper of pain as Alex clearly tightened his grip.
Layla, Cade and little Cody were all staring, wide eyed.
‘Call Security,’ Alex told Cade. ‘Layla, take Cody in to find his mother.’
Layla did as she was told. She held out her hand. ‘Come on, honey. I’ll just bet your momma is going to be so happy to see you.’
Behind her, she could hear Cade talking urgently to Alex. ‘I’ll sit on him till Security gets here. You need to go and cool down before you talk to them. I’ll tell them you got paged.’
‘No way …’ The refusal was almost drowned by a stream of obscenities and threats from Ramona’s boyfriend.
Layla used her swipe card to gain entry to the unit. As the doors closed behind Cody and herself she could only hope that Alex could control his fury. It didn’t matter what the man was guilty of—a member of staff in an altercation with a parent figure would be a dismissible offence.
She found a staff member to take care of Cody and filled them in on what had happened. She even spoke briefly to Ramona and learned that Felix had come through his surgery with flying colours and everybody was very pleased with how he was doing. It was only a few minutes before she could head back to see what was happening on the other side of the door. With a curious mix of both relief and disappointment she found Alex was nowhere to be seen. Ramona’s boyfriend was also gone from the scene and the security guard talking to Cade had finished whatever he needed to do.
‘I’ll go and have a word with the boy’s mother,’ he said. ‘And I’ll catch up with Dr Rodriguez when he’s done with that emergency.’
Layla pinned Cade with a look that told him she wasn’t leaving without some answers.
‘Where’s Alex?’
Cade shrugged. ‘Gone. I thought he should cool off a bit before he started talking to the cops.’
There was a moment’s silence as they stared at each other. Cade looked … defensive? As if he was challenging Layla to criticise Alex for coming on too strong. She weighed her words.
‘I heard you guys talking,’ she said carefully. ‘What did you mean by Alex knowing too much?’
She could see the shutters come down. Cade shrugged again, a gesture that told her this was between brothers and none of her business. And then his eyebrow rose.
‘Is it true what I’ve heard around here? That there’s something going on between you and Alex?’
Was this a case of attack being the best form of defence? Or was it a brother looking after a brother? If Layla wanted an honest answer from Cade, maybe he deserved the truth first.
‘Not now,’ she told him. ‘There’s … history. We were together way back. At the time of the Kirkpatrick case. You’d know about that.’
A sharp nod from Cade. ‘It’s what made me get in touch with Alex after not seeing him for years. Not that I got much of a chance to spend time with him before he took off to Brisbane.’
‘It messed up a lot of things,’ Layla agreed. ‘But what’s important right now is that I owe my job to Alex and I’m not going to let him get into trouble over what just happened here if I can help it.’
Cade’s nod was relieved. ‘Just as well. The creep’s telling everybody that Alex started it. Just laid into him without any provocation.’
‘I’ll sort it,’ Layla promised. But she wasn’t letting Cade off the hook just yet. ‘After I’ve talked to Alex, that is. Now, are you going to tell me where he is so I can do that before the cops start looking for me?’
Cade sighed. ‘He didn’t say where he was going but I’d guess he’s where he always is when he wants to burn off some steam. Where we both go.’
‘Which is?’
‘The hoop-shooting court out the back of the ambulance bay.’
CHAPTER THREE
THE SLAP OF the ball against the palm of his hand was hard enough to be causing pain.
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