Page 38 of The Criminal’s Cure

As much as it pains me to admit, Roman was right.

The gala has been more bearable than I expected, maybe even enjoyable.

Somehow, I’ve managed to avoid Dr. Bauer and his judgmental opinions for most of the evening, and if my dad’s here, he hasn’t shown his face.

I love getting to see Roman with some of his friends.

It’s like a whole different side to him, even than when he’s with Joe and Dante, and I feel oddly proud that he’s choosing to include me in it.

I don’t know why it never occurred to me that Roman had friends outside of the Mafia, but it surprised me just how well connected he is.

A lot of people here tonight are actively involved at the hospital and trying to make positive changes.

Some of them are even engineers who designed the very technology I use daily.

It’s fun getting to know his friends, but Roman’s been gone for a while, and I glance around the room to find him.

He went to get drinks, but the bar is empty now.

Maybe he stepped outside for a few minutes.

I excuse myself to go look for him to try to convince him to join me on the dance floor.

We’re here, after all, might as well fully immerse ourselves.

I step out onto the balcony and into a cloud of smoke. Several men are outside enjoying cigars, but Roman isn’t among them. Thinking I might catch him by the bathrooms, I start that way, but I’m quickly stopped.

“Madison.” Dr. Bauer stands in front of me. “I’m glad I caught you. I need an answer about LA. Have you thought anymore about it?”

“I have, actually.” I press my lips together. “I don’t think that job is the right thing for me. I really appreciate your recommendation, but I’m happy here.”

“You realize that you’re throwing away your entire career with this move, don’t you?” He sneers.

“I don’t think I am. I’m just not rushing through my training. There are plenty of places I can learn to be a trauma surgeon on a regular timeline. The fast track is—”

“A once in a lifetime opportunity,” he interrupts.

“The doctors there are world class and if you turn this down, you can say goodbye to any future opportunity with them.” His sharp eyes sear into me as he speaks.

“And for what? Roman Molanari? That man will ruin you, Madison. He’ll use you just long enough to crush every bit of spirit inside of you and then throw you out with the trash. I’ve seen it happen before.”

I can’t get away from this conversation fast enough. “Dr. Bauer, you have no idea what you’re talking about. This has nothing to do with Roman, and even if it did—”

“It got his wife killed, you know. Roman and his bogus business dealings. Did he tell you that?” His face reddens as he speaks, clenching his fists at his sides.

“You remember Talia?”

“Of course I do. She was murdered by someone Roman works with, and he tried to blame it on my staff. I’m telling you, Madison, take the job and get out of here before you meet the same fate.”

I swallow the lump in my throat. I know nothing he says is true, but it doesn’t make it any easier to hear.

“We’re not done here, Madison,” Dr. Bauer growls, catching my wrist and jerking me back as I try to walk away.

Before I know what’s happening, somebody moves between us. It’s Roman.

“You most certainly are.” His words spew like venom. “If you ever lay a hand on her again, I’ll bury you so deep in a sexual harassment suit that you’ll never touch a scalpel again.”

Bauer chuckles. “Oh, you’re picking the politically correct route now.”

“How about this? You so much as look in her direction again and I’ll slice you up and throw you into the shark tank at Mandalay Bay and let the tourists watch you get eaten alive.”

“Take care of this one, Roman. I’d hate to see Madison end up like the first Mrs. Molanari, wouldn’t you?”

Roman cocks his arm back and then punches Bauer with a resounding pop that echoes off the walls. It knocks him backwards, hitting the ground; I cover my mouth, watching blood spew from Dr. Bauer’s nose.

“Let’s go.” Roman interlaces his trembling fingers in mine and pulls me to the door.

Oh my God. I can hardly believe what just happened. My fight with Bauer. Roman punching him. It all seems like a nightmare as I follow Roman out of the event hall and toward the business of the casino.

I’m so distracted that I don’t even notice anyone is following us until I hear my father’s voice.

“Madison.”

It stops me in my tracks, and I whirl around, all the air sucked right out of my lungs. “Dad.”

“So this is why you’re turning the position down? Because you’re dating this guy?” He stalks toward us with a familiar, condescending look on his face.

“ This guy has a name.” Roman glares. “Roman Molanari, and I suggest you think very hard about the way you’re about to speak to your daughter.”

I can feel every muscle in Roman’s body tighten through his hold on my hand, and he looks at my dad, like he might tear his head off right here.

My dad laughs. “Why? Because you’ll hit me, too?”

“Dad, please,” I beg, stepping in before things get out of control. “I’m not turning it down because of Roman. I’ve thought a lot about it and—”

“Don’t expect me to believe that, Madison. You’re doing this to spite me, aren’t you? I had to beg them to take you on short notice. You never would have got in without me.”

My stomach drops, tears stinging my eyes. Tensions are always high and this is going down quickly.

Roman takes a step toward my dad with a heinous look on his face, and I pull him back. “Don’t, Roman. Please.”

He catches my gaze and pauses. I can see the confliction flash across his face, but eventually he backs down.

“I didn’t do it to hurt you, Dad, and I’m sorry you feel that way.”

“You’ve never been cut out for this, Madison. At least now you realize it.”

I bite back my tears and turn toward the front door. I pull Roman’s hand, but he doesn’t move.

Oh, no. Please don’t do this.

“You’re wrong, you know.” Roman stares at him, so harshly that it gives me chills.

“Madison is an incredible doctor. She’s kind and steady and she has more compassion in the tip of her finger than you do in your entire body.

And she actually cares about her patients, not just what her stats are.

I feel sorry for you that you can’t see that side of her because…

” He glances back at me. “Your daughter is literal perfection, and she’s so fucking good at what she does, and someday, she’s going to make an incredible trauma surgeon. ”

Roman’s words obliterate any hope I had of keeping it together. Heavy tears stream down my cheeks as realization sets in. I can’t even be mad at Roman, because no one has ever defended me the way he did tonight. No one has ever cared enough to. And the feeling is overwhelming.

Maddie doesn’t say much on the way home and neither do I.

I don’t really know what’s appropriate at this point.

I knocked her boss out, made a stellar first impression on her dad, and we had to leave the gala right as she was starting to enjoy herself.

Tonight will forever go down as one of my biggest fuckups.

Usually, when Maddie is angry, it’s easy to see. She’ll fight and yell and argue, so it’s this silence that scares me. When I pull the truck into the drive, I’m prepared to get down on my knees and grovel.

I lock the door behind us and head into the kitchen with Maddie a few steps in front of me. I reach for her hand and spin her back around, sweeping her into my arms.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have hit your boss and I shouldn’t have mouthed off to your dad. I’m sorry I fucked up our night.”

Maddie’s brow creases. “You’re sorry? Roman, you have nothing to be sorry for. No one has ever defended me that way, and you took on my boss and my dad on the same night.”

I let out a sharp laugh, her reaction the polar opposite from what I was prepared for. “And I’d do it again every time. No one should talk to you that way, Maddie. Especially not a man who claims to love you. Both he and Bauer are pricks.”

She nods, more like she’s trying to appease me than like she actually believes it.

I lift her chin. “I’m serious, Maddie. You deserve to be in that program as much as anybody.

Maybe even more so because your dad has been battling against you the whole time.

Whatever you choose, please do not let the opinions of those bastards affect it. ”

“Roman, there’s something I want to tell you.” Maddie presses her lips together. “I’m not going to go to LA.”

What? LA sounds like a dream come true for her and despite our initial argument, I thought we’d come to a compromise about the whole thing. Her sudden change of heart takes me by surprise.

“Are you sure? If it’s because—”

Maddie holds her hand up. “Before you say anything, my choice has nothing to do with you and Ty. Or I guess in a way it does, but only because you showed me that there’s more to life than just chasing after titles and records and trying to be the best. We could break up tomorrow and I’d still be happy with my choice.

I was in a hurry to fast track everything because I wanted to prove myself to my dad, but that’s not important to me anymore.

What’s important is being great at what I decide to do, and a few years here in general surgery will help me do that.

I’m a good doctor, but like you said, part of that is because I take the time to get to know my patients and to make them comfortable.

I think for a while I forgot that medicine is about helping people.

It’s not about checking off boxes and hitting the numbers rushing through things to make a name for myself. ”

Once done, she lets out a long breath, as if she’d been holding it the entire time she was talking. She bites her lip as she looks at me, waiting for my reaction.

An unabating grin spreads across my face, so wide that my cheeks ache as I wrap her into a hug.

“I’m so goddamn proud of you, you know that?

I know how hard it is to shift your dreams, but I think you’re right.

What’s important is that you’re happy and that you’re doing something you love. And that it’s for you. No one else.”

“And that I get to see you and Ty every day is a nice plus.” She smiles.

“You know I would have done whatever I needed to in order to make LA work.”

“I do.” She nods. “But that made my decision even easier. I’ve never had someone believe in me the way you do, Roman. Someone willing to inconvenience themselves to make my dreams come true, and I just…I can’t tell you how much that means to me.”

Cupping her chin, I slant her face up so I can capture her mouth in a kiss. Maddie melts into me, her tongue sliding through my lips for a quick taste before pulling away with a sweet moan.

“You’re not the only one getting something out of this relationship, Maddie. You’ve completely changed Ty’s and my life for the better, and I’ll never be able to thank you enough. I can’t imagine a life without you in it.”

On her tiptoes, Maddie kisses me again, her hands slipping into the back pockets of my pants. “Me too.”