by Ana Huang
Of course.
It suddenly clicked. I read a recent magazine profile of The Russo Group, the world’s largest luxury goods conglomerate.
Dante was the CEO. According to the profile, he was also rumored to have one of the most ruthless security teams in the corporate world. There was an urban legend that his head of security once caught someone trying to sneak into his house while he was away for business. The unlucky thief ended up in a month-long coma with two broken kneecaps, a mangled face, and every rib shattered.
The thief had refused to name names, and there was no hard evidence tracing it back to Dante, but his reputation stuck.
No wonder Josh was so confident Max’s associates wouldn’t fuck with him.
We made more chitchat for a few minutes before I hesitated and said, “I’m sorry to hear about your grandfather.”
Enzo Russo founded the Russo Group sixty-five years ago. He was a bona fide business legend, and his funeral had dominated the headlines a few weeks ago.
Dante didn’t seem distraught over his grandfather’s death, but it felt like the polite thing to say considering how recent the funeral was. Plus, I’d been there when he received the news in Christian’s library.
An iron blanket fell over his sculpted features. “Thank you. I appreciate it.” He glanced over my shoulder. “Apologies for cutting our conversation short, but my fiancée has finally arrived.” He sounded less than thrilled. Was there anyone in this man’s life he did like? “Please, enjoy the rest of the party.” He nodded at us and strode off, his tall, muscled frame cutting a striking figure in the crowd. At the end of the hall, a beautiful Asian woman watched him approach with a half nervous, half defiant expression. His fiancée, I assumed.
“I would pay to see someone try to steal from him,” I said. “Good job.”
Josh smirked. “I try. How do you know him?” He sounded more curious than concerned.
“We met at Christian’s house when I asked for his help with Max.” I spotted a server bearing down on us with a tray of champagne and quickly shook my head.
“Right. Is it just me, or do all rich people know each other?” he asked.
“I wouldn’t be surprised. They live in a small world.” I eyed the painting again. Unlike the others, it lacked a plaque engraved with its name, artist, and origins. “So, does this oh-so-precious piece have a name?”
“Apparently. Dante was already familiar with it when he bought it.” Josh took my hand again as we walked to the next painting. “It’s called Magda.”
58
JOSH
There was one bright spot to the whole mess with the painting: I sold it to Dante for a shit ton of money. It wasn’t enough for me to retire on, but it was enough to pay off my med school loans, splurge on nice dates with Jules, and build a comfortable nest egg for the future.
I was pretty sure Dante had undervalued the art during our negotiations, but fuck it. I was just happy to be rid of the damn thing.
I pushed open the door to the clinic, my steps lighter than it had been in months. I’d just finished a nine-hour shift, but Jules only had a few weeks left at LHAC, and I wanted to spend as much time with her as possible before she started her job at Silver & Klein.
The first thing I noticed when I stepped inside was the group clustered around Jules’s desk, oohing and aahing over something.
“Is this a workplace or is this a party?” I quipped, coming up behind them. “What’s going on?”
“It’s lunchtime, Josh.” Ellie tossed her hair over her shoulder. “We deserve a break. Right, Marsh?”
Marshall stared at her with a besotted expression. “Absolutely.”
Poor guy. He was so smitten with her he would’ve jumped off a bridge had she asked him to.
Then again, I felt the same way about Jules, so I wasn’t one to talk.
“Hey, Red.” I placed a gentle hand on her shoulder and resisted the urge to kiss her.
Everyone at the clinic knew we were dating now, but we still kept things professional when we were in front of our coworkers. No PDA, though I couldn’t resist sneaking a kiss every now and then when we were alone.
“Hi.” She smiled up at me, and it should be fucking illegal how that one tiny thing made my chest swell.
“Hi.” I smiled back.
The air between us thrummed with electricity, and I wished, not for the first time, that we were alone instead of surrounded by a half dozen coworkers.
Everyone around us sighed—some with dreaminess, some with mock exasperation.
“I knew you would make a good-looking couple.” Barbs beamed, her eyes glinting with smugness. “No one believed me.”
When we broke the news of our relationship two weeks ago, she’d been so ecstatic she baked a giant blueberry pie and brought it in the next day. According to her, it was to celebrate her first love match at LHAC, even though she wasn’t responsible for us getting together.
Then again, she was the one who pushed me to see Jules in the kitchen during Jules’s first day here, so maybe she did deserve a little credit. If I’d found out about Jules working here another day, another way, I might’ve never offered a truce, and we wouldn’t be where we were now.
Plus, Barbs had been less insufferable than Clara, who gave me the world’s biggest shit-eating, I told you so grin when she found out.
“In that regard, I carry all the weight in the relationship,” I drawled, earning myself an elbow jab from Jules.
Barbs’s grin widened. “Funny, she said the same thing.”
“I’m not surprised.” I smoothed a hand over Jules’s hair. “Poor thing can be delusional.”
“Look in the mirror, Chen.” Jules sniffed. “That is, if it hasn’t already cracked from facing you every day.”
My laugh joined everyone else’s. “Touché, Red. Touché.” I leaned over her shoulder and looked at her phone. “What are you guys all staring at, anyway?”
“She’s showing us pictures from her friend’s proposal.” Barbs’s gray curls quivered with excitement. “Look at that ring! I’m surprised the poor girl didn’t topple over from the size of it.”
I shook my head as Jules scrolled through pictures of Alex and Ava’s proposal on her phone.
Alex had officially proposed over the weekend. The bastard couldn’t do anything halfway, so he flew Ava to London for a “special photography exhibit” and popped the question at the gallery where they reconciled.
Their wedding was scheduled for next summer, but preparations were already in full swing, with Jules, Stella, and Bridget as bridesmaids. Ava couldn’t decide who she wanted as her maid of honor, so she chose to forego one altogether.
“Now this one should be framed and hung.” Barbs leaned over and tapped on the screen when Jules reached the last picture.
In it, Alex knelt on one knee while Ava had one hand clapped over her mouth. Her eyes were glossy with tears. The entire gallery had been stripped and redecorated for the proposal—twinkling strings of lights clipped with Polaroids Ava had taken of the two of them together, a table set with candles and flowers in the middle of the room, and blue rose petals scattered over the floor. The blaze from the open ring box was blinding even in two-dimensional form.
It was also the only photo I’d ever seen of Alex where he looked visibly, wildly nervous.
I rubbed my hands together. Man, I couldn’t wait to hold this over his head the next time I saw him. A nervous Alex, immortalized for all eternity.
The universe loved me.
Everyone oohed and aahed over the picture a while longer before they finally dispersed to their desks, and Jules and I entered the empty kitchen to “get more coffee.”
The minute the door closed, I cupped the back of her neck and drew her to me for a proper greeting. She tasted like caramel and coffee, and I savored her sweetness for a minute before I pulled back.
“Hi.” My lips brushed hers with the word.
“Hi.” Jules’s smile settled in my chest like a
ray of warmth. “Is this how you greet all your coworkers, Dr. Chen? Because it’s highly inappropriate.”
“Only the infuriating, pain-in-my ass ones.” I nipped her bottom lip lightly in punishment for her sass. “A kiss is the only way to shut them up.”
“Don’t let the nurses know, or you’ll have a mutiny on your hands. They’ll be pissing you off left and right.”
“It’s a good thing I’m not interested in any nurses. Besides…” I rubbed my thumb over the nape of her neck in small circles. “No one pisses me off like you do.”
Jules melted into my touch. “You’re such a charmer.”
“It’s one of my many excellent qualities,” I drawled. “Anyway, how’s the wedding planning going? Ava turn into Bridezilla yet?”
“Josh, she literally got engaged four days ago. She’s still in Europe.”
Alex had extended their trip so they could visit France and Spain after London.
“Hey, I’ve never been a bride. I don’t know how these timelines work.”
Jules let out a good-natured sigh. “It’ll be a while before we get into the swing of things, but…” A blanket of hesitation fell over her face. “Speaking of brides, we’re getting to that time in our lives. Bridget’s married. Ava is engaged.”
“Yep.”
“Do you…want to get married anytime soon?”
My thumb stilled on her skin. “Do you?” I watched her carefully for a reaction.
We’d only been dating for a few months, but now was as good a time as any to discuss our expectations for the future.
We stared at each other for a second before we blurted out our answers.
“No, I’m not financially ready yet—”
“I still have to finish my residency and take my boards—”
“There’s so much I want to do before—”
“So many places to travel—”
Our words jumbled together in our haste.
Jules laughed, covering her face with her hands. “Oh, thank God. Not that I don’t want to get married and have kids eventually, but now…”
“…Is not the right time,” I finished. “Totally agree.”
I already knew she was the one I wanted to spend my life with, but marriage came with financial responsibilities neither of us was equipped to handle at the moment.
Besides, when we did have our wedding, I wanted it to be her ultimate dream wedding. I wanted our honeymoon to be fucking epic. Those things weren’t possible when I was constrained by my residency, and Jules was navigating her first years as an attorney.
“There’s too much of the world to see first.” I rubbed my thumb over her hand. “And I want to see it all with you.”
A blush of pleasure climbed up her neck and over her face. “Is that a promise, Chen? Because I’ll hold you to it.”
I smiled, wondering how the fuck I ever thought Jules was anything other than my perfect match.
“It’s more than a promise, Red. It’s a guarantee.”
EPILOGUE
JULES
One month later
“Open it.”
“No.”
“Jules.” Josh placed his hands on my shoulders. “No matter what’s on that screen, you’ll be fine. I’ll be here. The anticipation will kill you more than the results.”
“Easy for you to say.” I cast a nervous glance at my laptop, where the login page for my bar exam results stared back at me. “You’re not the one whose entire future is riding on one measly score.”
I’d waited for so long, and now that the results were here, I wanted to chuck my computer across the room and pretend they didn’t exist. Ignorance was bliss and all that.
My stomach churned when I remembered everything I had going against me. I’d taken the bar fresh off my breakup with Josh and injured after my psychotic ex pushed me down the stairs.
The outlook did not look good for a passing score.
“It’s not your entire future.” Josh’s calm voice loosened some of the knots in my muscles. “If you don’t pass, you’ll take it again until you do pass. You’re going to be a kickass attorney one day, Red. Don’t doubt yourself. Besides…” He kissed my forehead. “It’s better to rip the Band-Aid off than let the uncertainty fester.”
“Right. You’re right.” I took a deep breath.
It was fine. I’ll be fine. Not passing the bar wouldn’t be the end of the world.
I mean, it would be the end of my world, but not the end of the world.
I walked to my laptop and typed in my username and password with shaking fingers. My breakfast swirled in my stomach, and I regretted wolfing down the blueberry waffles Josh made.
When the score report loaded, I closed my eyes, my heart a frantic steel drum in my chest.
Just get it over with. You’ll be fine.
Behind me, Josh rested his hands on my shoulders again, his presence strong and comforting.
I finally cracked my eyes open and zeroed in on the total score at the bottom of the page.
295.
It took a second for the numbers to process. Once they did, I let out a loud squeal.
“I passed!” I jumped up and banged my knee against the underside of the table, but I didn’t even feel the pain. I turned and threw my arms around Josh’s neck, smiling so wide my cheeks ached. “I passed, I passed, I passed!”
He laughed and spun me around. “What did I tell you? Congrats, Red.” Pride seeped into his voice, rich and warm. “Now you can support me on your big-time lawyer salary while I toil away in my residency.”
I was scheduled to start my job at Silver & Klein next week. Part of me was sad to leave the clinic, but I hoped I would still be able to work with LHAC in some capacity. Lisa mentioned she was interested in partnering with a corporate law firm to expand the clinic’s services, and after I established myself at Silver & Klein, I planned to propose a partnership between my new company and my old one.
Meanwhile, Josh had entered his fourth and final year of residency, after which he’d take his board exams and become a fully licensed doctor.
We were well on our way to achieving our dream careers, but honestly, I was happier about the fact I had Josh by my side through it all. It made every achievement sweeter and every failure less bitter.
“I knew you were a gold digger.” Even after paying off his med school loans, he had enough money from selling the painting to be financially comfortable for decades, but that didn’t stop me from teasing him. “Using me for money. I am shocked. Appalled. Scandalized—”
Josh cut me off with a kiss. “Don’t worry.” His voice lowered as he ran one large, warm palm up my thigh. “I can repay you in non-monetary ways.”
My heart rate picked up, and I bit back a moan when he reached the cleft between my legs. I was already soaked for him, as confirmed by the satisfied gleam in Josh’s eyes. He was always such a smug bastard about sex.
I hated how much I loved it.
“I don’t believe you,” I breathed. “I need a demonstration first.”
“You drive a hard bargain.” He slipped my underwear to the side and rubbed his thumb over my clit. “What kind of demonstration would you like? You want me to fuck your pussy till you forget your own name? Eat that sweet little cunt out until you come all over my face? Or maybe…” He pushed a finger inside me and curled it until he hit a spot that made my limbs tremble. “You want me to fill every hole like the needy little slut you are.”
A whimper escaped at the mental picture he painted. My toys weren’t strangers in our sex life, and the last time he’d used them on me while fucking my mouth…
A pleasurable shudder wracked my body.
“Which is it, Red?” Josh worked another finger inside me. “Use your words.”
“I…” I struggled to form a coherent response, but I was too distracted by the slow pump of his fingers in and out of me.
A bundle of electricity pooled between my legs.
“Your verbal skills could use
work.” He tsked in mock disappointment. “But since I’m feeling generous and we need to celebrate you passing the bar, I’ll provide a sample demonstration of all three…”
Josh was right about my verbal skills needing work, because by the time he finished his “demonstrations” three hours later, my body was limp and it was a struggle to even remember my own name.
“Mmph.” I made a contented noise as drowsiness settled over me like a warm blanket and pulled heavy on my eyelids. We’d moved from the living room to his bed, and I just wanted to sink into his pillows and never leave. “Good sample.”
Josh’s soft laugh tickled my skin as he pressed a kiss to my shoulder. “How do you feel about a full demonstration, then?” He caressed the curve of my ass, and the butterflies in my stomach went crazy again.
“Stop,” I moaned, half horrified, half aroused. “I will die if I have one more orgasm.”
The chances of me walking properly tomorrow were already close to zero.
“Okay, okay. I’ll give you a reprieve.” Josh laughed again before he rolled over and reached for his phone. “I actually bought you a proper gift in anticipation of you passing the bar.” His dimple deepened. “Well, I bought us a gift.”
I perked up, my curiosity overpowering my drowsiness. “Is it a toy? Lingerie? The Kama Sutra?”
“No, Red.” He tapped my nose, his eyes sparkling with exasperated amusement. “Get your mind out of the gutter.”
I made a face while he pulled something up on his screen. “Look who’s talking. Your mind lives in the gutter.”
Josh swatted my ass in light punishment before he handed me his phone. “Careful, or that reprieve is going to be more temporary than you thought.”
I ignored my prickle of anticipation at his words and squinted at the document onscreen. It looked like…a plane ticket?
When the tiny words finally came into focus, I sucked in a sharp breath. “New Zealand? We’re going to New Zealand?”
“Early next year when I have vacation days again. But I bought flexible tickets so we can change the dates in case you can’t take that week off at your new job.” Josh’s grin nearly blinded me. “Excited?”