Page 18 of Bad Medicine

“Mia, who is this man?”

“No one,” she replied immediately, stepping in front of me, her back to me like if she didn’t look at me, then maybe I would just disappear.

Good luck, sweetheart.

“You wound me, Doc,” I said, pressing my hand to my chest. “I thought what we had was special.”

The choking sound that came from Mia would have concerned me if we weren’t in a hospital; at least if she really was choking, there were people around to help her.

“You... I—” she spluttered, spinning around and glaring at me. Grabbing me by the arm, she began hauling me away from Dr. Douchebag and down the hall. “Excuse me, Dr. Edwards. I’ll be right back.”

He stared after us as I let Mia drag me away, and I couldn’t help but toss him a wink over my shoulder as she did so.

Once she had marched my ass out the front door like a naughty child, she spun around again, and I could practically see the steam coming out of her ears.

“What the fuck are you trying to pull?” she snarled, and I couldn’t help but notice how hot she looked, her baggy scrubs not hiding the way her chest rose and fell with her angry breaths. “Are youtryingto get me fired?”

“You’re not actually gonna go out with that pansy, are you?” I asked around the cigarette still in my mouth, intentionally ignoring her question.

I had been a bit of a dick, but I really didn’t want Mia to get fired.

First of all, because I’d feel like shit if I did, but mostly because Francesca would fuck me up if I made life difficult for her girl.

“Who I do or do not go out with is none of your business, Rocco.”

“True,” I agreed, not liking that information one bit. “But are you really considering going out with a guy who had the fucking audacity to ask you to dinner while his dick was still wet from the last chick he fucked?”

She took time to consider my words, but I couldn’t tell if the red flush that crept up her neck was from anger or embarrassment. Either way, I wanted to taste it.

I was still imagining what her hot skin would feel like under my tongue when Mia snarled, reaching over, and at first I thought she was gonna slap me, but she ripped the still unlit cigarette out of my mouth and tossed it to the sidewalk between us.

I watched in fascination as she stomped on it, her tired looking running shoe twisting back and forth as she ground it into dust.

“Listen to me, Rocco.” Her head came up, eyes narrowed and teeth bared.

She looked hot as fuck.

“I already told you once that I don’t have the time or the energy to be dealing with your juvenile fuckboy bullshit.” I bit back a groan as she glared at me, my dick loving every ounce of her righteous anger. “This is your last warning. Stay out of my hospital and stay out of my life.” Lowering her voice, a vicious smile curled her mouth. “I am not messing around here, Rocco. Don’t forget. I have a fiery temper and the keys to the morgue.” Spinning around, she strode back into the hospital without looking back, not even pausing as she called, “They’d never find your body.”

Chapter seven

Rocco

Iwouldn’tsayIfledfrom the basement, but the minute Francesca walked in, her face looking like she’d kill anyone with a set a testicles, I knew it was my cue to leave. I mean, I loved my boy Enzo, but there was only so far I was willing to go to protect him, and facing the wrath of an angry Italian mob wife was just one step too far.

After spending the week watching Enzo’s sorry ass mope around, sleeping in his office like a wounded dog, because he was unable to cope with the feelings he was developing for the wife he hadn’t wanted, I had had enough.

So I figured we’d sort our shit out like we had when we were kids: with violence.

We were having a good session, using the empty octagon in the basement ofWrathto pound out a little emotional therapy, what with both Enzo and I having shit to work through and liking the fact that we could use each other’s faces to do it, but the longer it went on, the more pissed I got.

See, I just couldn’t seem to get Mia’s words to stop rolling around in my head.

Juvenile fuckboy bullshit.

I tried to deny it. Even told myself she only said it because she was tryin’ to get my attention, but I couldn’t seem to make the lie stick.

Because the truth was, even though hearing those filthy words come out of Mia’s gorgeous mouth was hot as fuck, they made me feel less than awesome.