by Lexie Davis
He chuckled. Her meeting with the board at the hospital was today. She’d been nervous all night and that morning. It wasn’t so difficult to believe that she’d want a brownie or two if it didn’t turn out so well.
He selected one and left the rest for her. For the first time in a while, he felt like his normal self again. Not that he would ever admit it, but part of it was due to his trip with Pat. He never dreamed that his former enemy would ever draw him out of the slump he’d gotten himself in.
His phone rang and he answered it. “Hello?”
“Ella told me you feel better. You want to hang out?” Vampire’s voice sounded so foreign. They hadn’t talked in a few weeks. Superman had officially stepped in as President after Razor’s death and Ryker’s phone stayed silent for the most part.
Ryker bit into the brownie. “Yeah. She told you to leave me alone, didn’t she?”
“Yes.”
“That’s what I thought. I’m surprised you listened.”
“Well, with the way things went down, I thought it was necessary.” Vampire blew out a breath. “But you’re okay now, right? Back to the normal asshole we all miss?”
“Yeah.” He ate the last of the brownie. “What’s happened that I need to know about?”
“We had a little blowback with Razor’s death.” Vampire cursed. “Where are you at? My damn phone is messed up and I’m going to throw it into the fucking wall.”
“I’m at home.”
“I’ll be there in twenty.”
They hung up and Ryker rubbed a hand over his face. He wasn’t sure he wanted to know about the blowback. What the fuck? Who would be mad about Razor’s death? What the hell was he walking back into?
He unlocked the door and arched an eyebrow when Vampire arrived. “You got a fucking nose ring?”
“Don’t mock me. I’m dating this chick and it was either this or my dick.”
Ryker laughed. “You’re dating someone?”
“Sorta.” Vampire ran a hand over his close cut hair. “Hell, I don’t know.”
Ryker pushed the door open. “Are you blushing?”
Vampire raised his middle finger as he entered the apartment. “I came to talk to you about Razor’s cronies. Superman thought we could handle it on our own, but apparently there is a larger group than we thought. They’re freaking calling themselves the original Roaming Devils and dismissing us as even being club members. It seemed like bullshit for a while, but other charters are starting to join them. They’re calling themselves the Roaming Devil’s Legacy. They have a legacy patch and everything.”
“Who the fuck is leading this ordeal?”
“Johnny Moore. Goes by the name Rat.”
“Rat?” Ryker scoffed. “What the fuck kind of name is that?”
“I don’t know.” Vampire sat on the sofa. “Keeping with the R theme I guess. Anyway, he’s become public enemy number one. Bringing in guns. Distributing coke. Trying to do everything Razor wanted before we offed him. He’s doing it under the Roaming Devils’ name too.”
That was all he needed right now. He was just getting in good with Pat and now he had this to fucking deal with. Rubbing a hand over his face, he thought about what he wanted to do. There was no doubt they’d fight it out. Razor may have wanted him to be something he was not, but he sure as hell wasn’t going to let some wannabe punk be a sorry version of the evil bastard.
“Who is backing him?”
“He’s been recruiting. Not wannabe bikers either. He’s recruiting our own men. He’s trying to convince them that his way—Razor’s way—is what the Roaming Devils is all about. Mad Dog has been in contact with the other memberships and they’ve started declining. He’s not gaining big numbers but he is appealing to some of the crowd.”
“We’re going to stop that now.”
The sorry son of a bitch found a way to live on from the fucking grave. It pissed Ryker off that he even gave a shit about him. He glanced at the clock. Ella was still in her meeting so taking care of some club business while she was gone should be okay.
“Get on the phone. Call an emergency meeting. I want to know where this Rat person is hiding and I want a meeting with him. The sooner the better.”
Vampire smiled. “It’s good to have you back.”
****
Ella went into the board room with confidence. Her lawyer told her to only answer their questions. The hearing was more or less procedure. Everything needed to have I’s dotted and T’s crossed. The meeting lasted for hours. They asked her just about everything possible. They even delved into her personal life, which was intrusive at best. Nearly two hours in, she thought they’d never get it over with. Then they asked her why they should reinstate her.
“I am a good doctor. I care about my patients. I do my best to try to help my patients. This entire ordeal was uncalled for. I was targeted by an evil man who tried his best to break me and my husband up. He attacked me while I was working. He paid some man to kidnap me so he could kill me. Then when I survived, he tried to fabricate nonsense about me to make my life a living hell. That part, at least, he succeeded. My life has been a living hell for the past few weeks. I’ve constantly worried about my career, my relationship with my husband, my freedom. None of which I want to lose. I want my job back because I didn’t deserve to lose it in the first place.”
After she gave her statement, they exited to the waiting area outside the conference room. She didn’t bother calling anyone while she waited. They’d only want to know the details and she really didn’t want to bother them with it.
The deliberation took nearly as long as the questioning. While her lawyer was a nice enough person, she didn’t want to hang out with him all day. What was so difficult about a yes or no answer? She just wanted the freaking answer.
“Dr. Hawkins?” One of the board members came to get her and led her back into the room. “After much deliberation, our vote came to whether or not we felt you were suitable for practice within our Emergency Department. With all the incident reports and the tasks that have happened while you were working—whether your fault or not—I’m sorry to say that the board stands by its decision to let you go.”
Ella sat frozen to her seat. She looked at each board member, trying her best to determine what they knew or what they saw that she didn’t. The hospital had been her one and only job since she got out of med school. She trained there. She was employed there. How the fuck did she mess up so badly that they thought they’d be better off without her?
“Thank you for your time and consideration.” Ella stood and followed her lawyer out.
“Any hospital in this city would be glad to have you,” her lawyer told her. “This is not the end of your career.”
She felt numb as they rode the elevator down to the first floor. They parted ways and she walked herself out to her car. Not only was the news shocking, but it was embarrassing too. She’d never been fired in her life. She’d never done anything wrong in her entire life. After unlocking her car, she got in. How the hell did she tell anyone? How the hell did she support herself? She rubbed her forehead, doing her best to not breakdown. Not only did she have to support herself, but she had a husband too. She sucked in a shaky breath as tears filled her eyes.
Before her emotions got the best of her, she started her car and backed out of the parking space. If any situation called for a pint of ice cream and some Oreo cookies, it was this one. She barely made it on to the highway before tears started rolling down her face. Horns blared as the angry drivers went around her. People flipped her off. She thought about the house she wanted to buy with Ryker. That wasn’t happening now. The bank wouldn’t loan money to an out-of-work doctor and a criminal biker. She missed her exit and went to the next. She wound her way through the back roads, finally getting to her apartment without an accident. Ryker’s bike was gone, so she dialed his number. His voicemail clicked on.
Blowing out a breath of frustration, she wiped her wet cheeks with her fingers and got ou
t of the car. What the hell did she do now? She went up the stairs and undid the lock to her door. Once inside, she plopped down on the sofa and let all her emotions out.
Everything had finally gotten to her. The motorcycle club. Ryker. Razor. Her father. Her career. Her marriage. Her finances. Her life. She grabbed the box of tissues on the end table and wiped her tears. Everyone kept saying it wasn’t the end of her career, but she felt doomed. Who wanted to hire a doctor that got fired from another hospital? She didn’t have much experience outside that hospital. She’d worked there a while but not long enough to impress anyone. It was difficult getting the job in the first place. Keeping it, well, that seemed to be even more difficult.
Her phone rang and she answered it. “Hello?”
“What happened?” her father asked. “I’m on lunch break. You want to join me?”
“They didn’t reinstate me. I no longer have a job.”
“What? It wasn’t your fault. The fucking judge even said that.”
“I know.” She shook her head. “I don’t know what I’m going to do.”
“Your license isn’t hurt. You have full legal right to practice medicine. All you have to do is find another hospital. There are several of them in Atlanta.”
“I know.” She sniffled.
“What did Ryker say?”
“I haven’t talked to him.”
“He’s not at home?”
“No.” She lay back on the couch. “He probably went to get something to eat. I’ll tell him when he gets in.”
“Ella, do not let this define you. You are a good doctor. Everyone in this city knows that.”
“Yeah. I’m going to eat some lunch before I start job hunting.” She rubbed her forehead. “I’ll call you later.”
She hung up and covered her eyes with her hand. The sorry bastard won. That was all she could think about and it pissed her off.
Her phone rang and she saw Ryker’s name. “Hello?”
“Hey. How did it go?”
“Horrible.” She sniffled. “I don’t have a job.”
“Are you fucking kidding me?” The noise in the background lessened as if he moved away from his friends. “What happened?”
“I don’t know.” She sobbed. “They asked me a bunch of questions. They even got personal, but I answered them. They sent me out so they could deliberate, and due to incident reports and my ability to bring undesired criminal attention to the hospital, they let me go.”
“That’s bullshit. The judge cleared you from any wrongdoing. What did your lawyer say?”
“I can get a job at another hospital.”
“Ella.” He paused. “Do you need me to come home?”
“No. You do whatever it is you’re doing.”
“Do you want me to come home?” When she didn’t say anything, he continued. “I’m almost done. Order us a pizza and get those cinnamon twist things. I’ll be home in a few minutes, okay? We’ll cuddle on the couch and talk more about it.”
She wiped her eyes. “You’re offering to cuddle with me?”
“Yes.” He laughed. “Your choice if we’re naked or not.”
“I knew you’d go there.”
“I. Love. You.” He said it so that he emphasized every word. “I’ll be home in a little while.”
They hung up and she felt a little better about the situation. She ordered a pizza like he wanted and decided to search Atlanta hospitals for job openings. Several actually had emergency positions, one being a level one trauma hospital with a high level of patients. That appealed to her in so many ways. It was also a teaching hospital. Before she chickened out, she called the representatives for the physician recruiting and scheduled an interview. She had to get all her records in order, which shouldn’t be too difficult, but she felt good about it.
The pizza arrived before Ryker and Ella paid for it. She sat it on the kitchen counter before she grabbed some plates and glasses to set their table with. Once she had everything in order, she sat the pizza in the middle of the table and grabbed her laptop. Her school records were easy enough to get. She also had her certifications for varying forms of life support, including trauma. All of which were required while she was in school, even though her former hospital didn’t have an advanced trauma center.
She was engrossed with the job hunt when Ryker finally got home. She grabbed a slice of pizza and smiled at him when he leaned down to kiss her.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
“I called a hospital physical recruitment team and I have a job interview scheduled in two days. I’m trying to get all my paperwork together to send to them.”
“See.” He grabbed a slice of pizza. “You don’t have anything to worry about.”
“It’s a level one trauma hospital.”
“I have no idea what that means.” He sat beside her, giving her his attention.
“Very busy.” She chewed on her lower lip. “I have all the requirements. I visited a level one when I was in med school and residency. It was awesome.”
“What was the hospital that let you go?”
“Level Two.”
“So this is a good thing. A step up in your career?” He bit into his pizza while he listened to her.
“Yeah. I think so.” She closed her laptop. “I just have to get the job first. They have great benefits. A housing allowance. Sign-on bonus. I’d actually make more than what I was currently making. They also pay for my malpractice insurance and continuing medical education.”
He smiled. “Sounds awesome, babe.”
“This is a good thing, right?” She took a bite of her food. “I mean, it sounds weird, but me getting fired is a good thing?”
“I think it gives you the opportunity to do what you want.” He shrugged. “I see that as a good thing.”
She nodded. She felt so much better about the situation. “Where have you been all day?”
“Club.” He leaned back in his chair. “I’m going to be going out of town for the weekend.”
She frowned. “Okay. Where are you going?”
“Mississippi.” He lifted his drink and sipped. “I probably won’t be back until late Sunday night. Maybe Monday. I’ll call you if things change.”
She didn’t like the sound of that. “You’re not going to tell me why, are you?”
“No.” He bit into his food. “It doesn’t matter anyway.”
That usually meant he was doing something illegal. Instead of questioning him, she decided to stay out of it. The less she had to worry about, the better.
“I found a house I want,” she blurted. “It’s still in Buckhead.”
That was another thing she decided to look at to make herself feel better. Houses. After the crappy day she had, planning for her future sounded like the best thing for her to do. She didn’t want to live in her apartment for the rest of her life. She tried to tell herself that they wouldn’t get thrown out on the streets even if she didn’t have a job. She wasn’t the sole breadwinner for their family even though she was the only employed member. Ryker did have a job. He did have income coming in. He could support them until she found another place to work.
“Do I want to know the price?”
“Probably not. When do you want to go to the bank to see about a loan?”
“Is this a done deal? Do I get a say?”
“No.” She laughed. Reaching for her laptop, she pulled up the info page and handed it to him. “What do you think?”
He arched an eyebrow. “You fucking complained about me buying you a brand new car and you want a five-bedroom house for just me and you?”
She laughed. “We’ll grow into it.”
“Like hell we will. You better be planning on using those extra bedrooms for something other than children.”
She scooted her chair closer to him. “It’s got a three-car garage. Your motorcycle can have its own place.”
“That is appealing.”
“And look at that kitchen. It’s gorgeous.”
“Neither one of us cooks.”
She laid her chin against his arm. “You could get your new friend to teach you.”
“Ha. If you’re talking about your mom, you sound a little jealous, buttercup.”
“I’m not jealous. I think it’s sweet.” She smiled at him. “I also like that master bath. Look how huge that tub is. And the shower can fit five people in it.”
“You planning on showering with five people?” he asked.
“No.” She pointed to the screen. “It has a screened-in back porch. Fenced yard. We could add a pool.”
He laughed. “Hell, you’re going to need that job if you want all of that.”
She slugged his arm. “I thought you’d like it.”
“Oh, I like it. Is it realistic though? You’ll be working twelve hours in the ER. I’ll be out with the club. Neither one of us would be here to enjoy this ridiculously huge and expensive home.”
She pulled away from him. “Fine. What kind of home do you want?”
“Ella.” He groaned. “Let’s see what the bank gives us. Maybe get something with less bedrooms. You don’t need any encouragement to bring little humans into this world.”
“You said we could.”
“I did. One.” He held up one finger. “What are the other three bedrooms for?”
“Guest room.”
“Okay. Two?”
“You can have your own space.” She sat back in her chair. “A man cave.”
“The garage is my man cave.”
“I don’t know. We could have a game room. Maybe get a pool table or set up a home theater system.”
“I like the home theater idea.” He shook his head. “You’re going to want each one of them to have a child in it. I know you.”
“What’s so wrong with kids?” She took her laptop from him and stood. She shoved his chair out as she moved to straddle his lap.
“I agreed to one.” He held her thighs as she draped her arms around his neck. “Not four to fill every bedroom in that house.”
“You’re such a party pooper.” She leaned in to kiss him, combing her fingers through his short hair.
He slipped his hands to her ass and pulled her against his cock while his tongue slipped between her lips. She had to admit, the part of creating children with him would be fun. It felt like forever since she’d kissed him last. She couldn’t wait to feel his arms around her as he held her tight.