Page 34 of Avenging Azalea (California Made Men #2)

Chapter

Twenty-Six

TITUS

Fawn unlocked the back door of the clinic and held it open so I could carry my girl inside.

Sheba could’ve walked, and was staring at me with confusion, but I needed to feel useful.

Following Fawn, I realized that I’d never been here.

For all the time she’d spent in this place, I hadn’t visited and felt guilty for not making the effort to see where she worked.

“This way. Dr. Taylor will be here any minute.”

“Did she have any other symptoms after you called me?”

Fawn shook her head.

“No. I told you that I’m probably overreacting,” Fawn said. Her worried gaze never left Sheba’s face as I gently placed her on the examination table.

The door opened, and I came face-to-face with a handsome man. I’d been expecting someone far older. He looked like he’d run here with his wind-swept hair and fashionable track pants. A vest showed off just how fit he was. If I had hackles, they were officially up.

“Fawn, I got here as fast as I could,” he said, casually touching her back, like that was completely normal for them.

“Did you run here?”

He smiled, and I wanted to punch him square in the center of his perfectly white teeth.

“Of course, but I sprinted just for you.”

Fawn blushed, and I cleared my throat.

Dr. Taylor finally acknowledged that I was in the room and turned to look at me. It was all I could do not to rip his hand off as he held it out.

“You must be Titus. I’m Dr. Taylor,” he said, accentuating the word doctor.

“You can call me Mr. Mikhailov.”

His lip twitched as we shook hands. We were adversaries in a blink. I didn’t need to have a heart-to-heart to know who and what he wanted, and he didn’t seem to give a fuck who I was.

“I took her temperature, and it’s a little high. I think it may be a viral infection,” Fawn said, breaking our glaring contest.

Dr. Taylor tugged his hand away and turned to face Fawn and Sheba. I’d been quietly dismissed and had never wanted to pull my gun and shoot someone so badly before. That was Nathaniel’s M.O., but I wasn’t sure how to control the raging tornado of emotions.

“Let me take a look,” he said, gripping Fawn’s hand. It was just a moment, but my nostrils flared.

Who the fuck was I to be jealous?

I’d felt this same rage with the jock, but this was far worse.

The intensity with which I wanted to gut this man scared me.

Fawn trusted him. Dr. Taylor was her mentor.

Someone she looked up to and admired. He was a successful surgeon in her field of study.

I’d been encouraging her to spend as much time as possible learning from him.

He wasn’t mafia, or trapped by a wedding contract, and there was no fucking ring on his finger.

That was all bad enough, but it was the way she looked at him that devastated me.

Her eyes sparkled, and her smile was shy and flirty.

Fawn was mine, and this man had slipped seamlessly into the spot I could no longer fill. He was stealing her away from me, and she went along because that was exactly what she should do, and I hated it. I hated him because he was everything that I could never be.

I had no idea what they were saying, but Taylor laughed, and I understood the gleam in his eyes.

He was head over heels for Fawn and was well on his way to winning her over.

If I was in my right mind, I’d walk out the door, ignore what was going on, and be thankful that someone like Taylor wanted Fawn.

But I wasn’t in my right mind. In fact, I was very much out of my mind.

As he passed behind her along the narrow side of the room and their bodies brushed, I reached under my coat and grabbed the handle of my gun on instinct.

His death was imminent. The blood would run red as it left his body. His eyes would plead for mercy before he took his last breath.

I forced myself to look away as they spoke and listened to Sheba’s heart.

Once they were done with her, I was going to need my fucking head examined.

I’d almost fucked Vera on my desk to avoid a situation exactly like this.

Now here I was contemplating making Dr. Taylor, and all his perfection, disappear.

When he chuckled and smiled at Fawn like he was imagining stripping her naked, I had to turn and stare at the wall to keep control. Nathaniel was a hot head, Ronan was a dick and did whatever he wanted, even Kaylani could have her moments, but not me. I’d always been cool and calm, and?—

“Titus, are you okay,” Fawn asked, touching my back.

I sighed and nodded.

“Yeah, just…I guess the thought of losing Sheba is hitting me hard.”

She gripped my hand in both of hers.

“Sheba is going to be fine. Dr. Taylor will take some blood to be sure, but we think it’s most likely a minor viral infection.

We can manage it easily with rest, liquids, and I already have the perfect recipe to support her nutritionally.

” She squeezed my hand while I stared into her spring green eyes, trying hard to convey all that was in my heart.

“I’m sorry I scared you and pulled you away from work for this. I should’ve just come on my own.”

“No, I’m happy you called. This is exactly where I want to be,” I said.

Happier than I could ever express. Fawn’s call might have only delayed the inevitable, but I never would’ve forgiven myself if I’d slept with Vera before the wedding.

There was still a slim hope of getting out of the contract if I didn’t consummate the relationship. If I slept with her, it was all over.

“Fawn, can I get you to hold her while I draw blood,” Taylor asked, breaking our connection. My lip lifted in a snarl as Fawn turned away.

Taylor was quick and efficient at drawing the blood, and Fawn quickly bandaged Sheba’s leg with a green wrap that matched the gems in her collar. As soon as Taylor left the room, Fawn turned to me.

“You sure everything is okay, you seem…off,” she asked, crossing her arms. “Do you have an issue with Dr. Taylor?”

My teeth ground together as I glanced at the door and wasn’t sure how to answer.

“How well do you know him?”

Fawn’s eyebrow arched accusatorily, and under any other circumstance, it would’ve been understandable, but not when it came to her safety and her heart.

“Are you asking me on a professional or a personal level?”

She crossed her arms, leaning her hip against the examination table.

Fuck she was beautiful all the time, but when she was feisty like this, all I could think about was locking the doors. Fighting the jealousy was a losing battle. My heart was pounding in my throat, the rhythmic thump telling me just how high my blood pressure had risen.

“Both, I guess,” I said, copying her pose.

“I’m not sure that my personal life is any of your business.”

Wasn’t that a slap in the face, and the truth

“Are you saying I can no longer be concerned about you?”

Before Fawn could answer, the door opened, and Dr. Taylor entered. He seemed oblivious to the tension in the room.

“Everything is set. The blood will be tested first thing in the morning. I put a rush in at the lab, and I’ll drop it off myself on my way into work, rather than shipping it,” he said, smiling at Fawn.

Fawn returned the gesture, and my hands pushed deeper into my pockets to keep from wrapping them around his throat.

“Sorry I ruined your run into work tomorrow,” she said, and he laughed.

I was the third wheel to what felt like a very private inside joke and blatant display of flirting.

“No, you couldn’t ruin anything,” he said, and I coughed to cover the gag. This guy was un-fucking-believable. Fawn glanced at me but looked away immediately, causing a fiery panic to kindle in my chest.

“It’s getting late. Do you want a lift home? Titus won’t mind,” Fawn said, and I plastered a smile on my face, all too happy to know where this fucker lived.

“Of course, it would be my pleasure,” I said.

“Well, if you don’t mind, that would be great. My legs are a little sore tonight. Three runs in one day is just excessive,” he said, casually showing off. Fuck him.

Walking over to Sheba, I purposely stood on the side with Fawn, putting myself between her and this asshole.

Our arms brushed, and the heat from her body calmed the raging beast running loose in my chest, but it wouldn’t last. I’d been caged, and by who no longer mattered, only that I couldn’t get out.

Dr. Taylor opened the door as I picked Sheba up and walked out with her in my arms. Whatever other flirtations he had in mind were cut off when Fawn walked ahead of me rather than behind me.

She opened doors while Taylor brought up the rear to lock up.

That might have sorted tonight, but what about tomorrow and the next day or the week after that?

Fawn hopped in the backseat to sit with Sheba, leaving me in the front with a man who was quickly rising to the top of my ‘Want to Kill’ list. Unlike the rest of my family, mine was short with only Fawn’s stepfather on there.

“Where to,” I asked, starting the truck.

“Do you happen to know Madison Suites?”

“Yes, I do,” I said, and pulled out of the driveway.

Of course, he would live in the Madison Suites. They were one of the most expensive condos in the city and had a waiting list over a year long. I knew that because one of my father’s mistresses lived there. What a fucked-up coincidence that was.

It was only ten miles away, nothing by car, but the asshole claimed he ran to the clinic. When he arrived earlier, he didn’t even look like he’d broken a sweat. I hated him a little more with each new bit of information.

“Fawn, I meant to ask you earlier. I have a cranial cruciate ligament surgery tomorrow and was wondering if you’d like to scrub in and watch up close,” Dr. Taylor asked, and my hands squeezed the life out of the steering wheel.