Page 42 of Mask and the Magnolia

Thingsbeing the six murderers staring him down.

“This will be Nurse Hubbard’s replacement for the time being.” He doesn’t point, doesn’t motion or even nod toward anything but obviously the dickhead has some pull with everyone outside of this floor because a big fuck with a beer gut dressed all in white marches through and stops next to him. “Nurse Jones.”

I snort as I glance around the room.

Nurse Jones.

That doesn’t sound suspicious at all.

“He will be here for the next twelve weeks during waking hours, seven days a week.”

”It was hard giving him up, he’s my right hand at the hospital.”

The energy shifts again, the negativity growing heavier, becoming thick enough to nearly touch and when the face attached to it comes into view, I get to my feet and join Korvin in his impression of a brick shithouse.

”Magnolia, darling,” the weasel-nosed asshat says as he slips his arm around her waist, tugging her against him in a way that has my hands balling into fists. “If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t have willingly sent him into this…” He looks around, his shrewd beady eyes sweeping the room, stopping briefly on each of us before he gives Maggie a toothy grin. “Disgusting den of filth you’ve turned into your little pet project.”

Then he’s kissing her.

That motherfucking weasel-nose, limp dick, squishy knot piece of cow shit masquerading as an alpha iskissingour omega right fucking in front of us like a man with a death wish.

One Korvin nearly carries out, and would have if I had gotten the angel of death cocktail that was numbing my reflexes since the end of June. Thankfully, that’s not the case and I’m able to catch him before all hell breaks loose.

“I know, man,” I say, my voice low as I quickly put us chest to chest, holding him in place while Calix squares up next to us. “I know, but you act like a fool, you get punished like one. Now is not the time to show your ass.”

I don’t know if he’s listening to me at all but he stopped trying to plow through me, so I’ll take that as a win for now. The way the muscle in his jaw is ticking intense enough for me to hear says it won’t be for long if that peckerhead doesn’t get the hell off our floor.

”But Jones will keep you safe and that’s my top priority.”

”Thanks.”

I turn to face them again just in time to see Maggie push away from this asshat, a look of disgust forcing its way through the fake smile on her tight-pressed lips.

”Nurse Jones will report directly to me,” Dean Dillweed says as he spins in a slow circle, his eyes shrewd as he scans every inch of the common area. “Each morning when he arrives and each night before he leaves. Everything runs through him. If I’m unavailable, Dr. Blackhurst is his next contact.”

Ah, so that’s the dead man holding on to our girl.

He’s a namesake like she is.

”Everything goes through us. We will oversee orders, inventory, medications and?—“

”Excuse me, Dean Reynolds, but the medications for our residents falls under myself and Dr. Ridgeway.” Isaak stands a little taller and he barely flinches as the Dean spins on him. “Dr. Reynolds and I—Ms. Reynolds—we’re in charge of treatment for these men, we handle their care plans which means we prescribe and oversee their medications, and we go through Dr. Ridgeway when needed.”

”Dr. Lowe, I?—“

”Ms. Reynolds and I know these men, we’ve built a rapport with them and they trust us.” Isaak is not backing down and fuck, I want to kiss him for it. “Nurse Hubbard administered the medications we deem necessary to their rehabilitation, she didn’t question them and she had no authority to change them. Nurse Jones will be in the same position, regardless of his experience or skill.”

”I see,” the Dean says as he narrows his eyes. “I’ll be speaking to Dr. Ridgeway about this.” Maggie snorts then cringes, drawing his attention from Isaak to her. “Is something funny, Magnolia?”

Her spine goes ramrod straight and she clears her throat. “No.”

”Then would you care to explain why you made that rather defiant and unflattering noise just now?”

”Well…” She looks from her father to the bastard who kissed her, then Isaak before glancing back at us briefly. Something that seems to give her a little boost of confidence based on her posture. “You can talk to him all you want, but Donovan isn’t going to budge on that, and you know as well as I do that if you go to Carter Blackhurst, he’s just going to tell you to call Dolly, who will kick it back to her brother. It’s a waste of your time and theirs to have any conversations about our residents’ care plans, so why bother?”

Dr. Weasel Blackhurst grabs our girl by the arm, his grip far too tight for my liking, and gives it a good shake before regaining his composure. “Magnolia, what has gotten into you? How dare you talk to your father that way.”

She might have stood up to daddy dearest, might have backed Isaak and protected all of us, but the second that asshole alpha touched her like that, Magnolia wilted.