The Surgeon’s Secrets: A Bad Boy Billionaire Romance

by Michelle Love

  “Don’t know and don’t care. You see, I’ve been called by a man who wants to give you a job as an intern. It’s in the publishing industry. You’re minoring in publications so it’s a perfect fit for you. I’ve called the college and you can start your classes back up. You and I are going to New York, courtesy of a man by the name of James Hawthorn. He’s a bigwig with Hawthorn Publications.”

  I bite my lip as I don’t know how to tell my mother that man is the one man I was told to stay away from by Nic. “Mom, why did he say he was interested in me becoming an intern there?”

  “He said one of your professors recommended you and when he saw your excellent grades, he knew you were the one he wanted for the internship. To sweeten the deal, he added in a two bedroom New York apartment for you.”

  “Dad will never allow it,” I say as I sit on the end of my old bed.

  “I’m not going to take no for an answer. When I found out you were coming home, I called James and told him the good news. He’s in town. He wants to meet with you,” she says as she smiles widely at me.

  “Mom, that’s too soon. I’m weak and look like hell,” I say as some kind of excuse not to see the man Nic said I should be polite to but get the hell away from as quickly as I could.

  My door flies open and my father looks agitated as he says, “I fucking have to get my ass to New York. There’s been a break in the case against the Grimms. I’m entrusting our daughter to you, Natalie.”

  “Good. She’s fine with me, Norman.” She gives me a look that frightens me a little. “You go take care of your business and leave her to me.”

  “What kind of thing did you find on their company, Dad?” I ask as I find myself growing worried about Nic.

  “Never mind that. Get your head off that fucking man. He’s going to end up in prison anyway.” His words stun me and I find myself feeling more afraid than I’ve ever been.

  “Dad, no!” I shout as he turns to leave the room.

  I jump up and Mom grabs me, pulling me back to her. “There’s nothing you can do about the things Nicholai Grimm has gotten himself into. You have a new path now with this other company. That company wasn’t a thing you’d learn a damn thing you’ve been to school for anyway. Now take a shower and get yourself cleaned up. James wants to meet with you as soon as possible.”

  She leaves me and I find my body shaking. Nic might go to prison!

  NICHOLAI

  Turning my phone back on as I walk through the airport in New York, I start to call my driver and find I’ve missed not one but fifteen calls from my father. I call my driver first to get him on his way to me and go to sit in a small café to wait for him and call my father back.

  “Nicholai!” he answers. “Where the hell are you?”

  “I’m in New York. I just got off a plane. What’s the matter?” I ask as he sounds more stressed than usual.

  “Have you seen the news?” he asks me.

  There’s a small television above the counter and I see CNN is on and my fucking picture is in the left-hand corner of it. My heart freezes as I read the caption running underneath it. ‘FBI seeks Nicholai Grimm for questioning in weapons deal after informant comes forward with damning information about the man.’

  “Father, what’s going on?” I ask as I suddenly feel cold.

  “Get to our home, Nicholai. I have our attorneys on their way. This information just came out a few hours ago. I need to know this, were you actually in Greece?”

  “How did you know that?” I ask as I see a couple of security officers looking my way.

  “Because that’s where the informant said you went to deliver some of our technology to another man who was taking it to some very undesirable people. Tell me that’s not true,” he begs me.

  “It’s not true. I was there to get Natasha. That’s all I went there for. Someone is lying to the FBI, Father.”

  “I hope so. I hope we can discount what the informant has said. If not, I see you spending time in prison. You are officially discharged from your position as CEO of our company. I had no choice. We cannot afford to be shut down by the government for what you’re accused of.”

  My heart is pounding as I see five men in black suits and dark sunglasses coming toward me. “They’re here for me, Father. I have to go now. Bring the lawyers to wherever it is they’re going to take me.”

  “Surrender to them but say nothing,” he orders me and I end the call.

  Putting my hands behind my head, I tell the men who are approaching me, “I am Nicholai Grimm, the man you are seeking. I am innocent of those accusations and I will come peacefully with you but I will say no more until my attorneys are present.”

  “Great,” I hear a familiar voice say and watch as Norman Greenwell pulls his dark shades off and looks at me. “Come on, Nicholai. The jig is up.”

  It’s hard as hell to keep my mouth shut but I manage as I’m taken by the men to a waiting black Tahoe and placed in the back of it. No handcuffs are used on me and no one has read me my rights so I know I’m not under arrest. That has me breathing a bit easier but not much.

  Natasha’s father is in another car. And my mind is on where she is right now. I suppose in Nantucket but I really don’t know that for certain. Neither the driver nor the passenger is looking at me so I take my phone out and look up the Greenwell’s home phone number and find it easily on the internet. “May I make a phone call?” I ask them.

  “Sure,” the passenger says.

  I press the button to make the call and pray someone is at their home. The phone rings and rings but no one answers. It occurs to me her father may have my number blocked somehow. I need to actually go to the house to see if Natasha was taken there.

  It seems my time will be taken up somewhat today by the damn FBI and their questions. But I do have a witness in Nic, back in Greece, to attest to what I was really doing in Greece. I was never without him at my side.

  Then I recall that I did go back to the airport alone and that would be enough time to meet someone and deliver information to them. I am in the tightest jam I’ve ever been in and can only pray my attorneys know how to fix this shit storm.

  NATASHA

  Right in my parents’ living room, I sit on the sofa across from the man who came into the bathroom after me that night after that initiation ceremony in New York. He’s acting as if he’s never seen me before which I find fascinating.

  When my mother excuses herself to give us some privacy, I find myself speaking more freely to the man than I was with her in the room. “I know who you are,” I tell him and watch a smile move over his handsome face.

  “Good, so I don’t need to pretend about what it is I want,” he says with an even tone. “I despise games, anyway.”

  Mom made me wear a blue dress to bring out my eyes and she straightened my hair for me and helped with my makeup so I’d look pretty for the interview. I watch his dark eyes which closely resemble Nic’s as he looks at my exposed legs.

  “Nic told me you are a dangerous man and I should stay away from you, Mr. Hawthorn.” I catch his eyes as they dance back up to meet mine.

  “Call me James, I insist. And that’s the pot calling the kettle black, isn’t it?” he asks with a grin. “I am no more dangerous than he is. Did you catch the news, Natasha?”

  I shake my head. “I’ve been indisposed until recently. Why do you ask that?”

  “Your Nicholai Grimm is headed to prison it seems. He’s dabbled a bit too deeply into illegal activities and he’s been picked up by the FBI. I’m surprised your father didn’t tell you anything about it,” he says as he looks at my breasts.

  I move a bit as I’m uncomfortable with his constant observation of my body. “He told me something about it. I doubt it’s true.”

  “He just returned from Greece,” he says then looks into my eyes again. “Were you aware of that?”

  “I’ve been aware of nothing as my father had me tucked away in an abandoned castle to keep me away from Nic. You should
know my father, if not aware of your membership in the BBC, will quickly become aware of it when he does a background check on you, which he will do. So, if you’re thinking about you and me being anything more than employer and employee, then you’re in for some major disappointment.”

  “Is that what you think I want, Natasha?” he asks with yet another grin on his handsome face.

  I nod and cross my legs at the ankles. “Am I wrong? And remember, you don’t like to play games and neither do I.”

  “Come to lunch with me,” he says, purposely not answering my question. “I have a proposition for you.”

  “It’s a waste of your time, I’m afraid. You see, my heart belongs to Nic. You should understand that. And to be frank, I won’t be taking the internship with your company either.” I watch amusement spread throughout his face.

  “Come to lunch with me. I think you might just change your mind when I explain things to you. You see, I get what I want and I want you,” he tells me, sending chills through me.

  The man is handsome in the same way Nic is. Dark, brooding good looks, are accentuated by his muscular build. He is built better than Nic and he’s a good two inches taller as well. He’s a magnificent male specimen for sure. But another man holds my heart in his hands and I have no physical want for the hot as hell man who sits across from me, looking at me as if he’d love nothing more than to devour me.

  I stare at him as I shake my head. “I don’t care what you want. I am taken.”

  “You are not. I’ve checked at the BBC to see if you two have a bond. You don’t. That makes you available. Nicholai is in deep shit and it is you and you alone who can get him out of it. So, come with me and I will explain how you can stop what will surely happen to the man you claim to love if you don’t do as I tell you to.”

  My skin is beginning to prickle with nerves as I watch the look on James’ face turn sinister. “Look, James. I know I was in the club and I know you saw me at the museum at that event but I’m not into that lifestyle. Not really. You see, Nic and I were about to make great changes. He was quitting the club. Our plans were normal ones. You’d really hate me. I’m not one to conform, you can ask Nic if you want to about that. I’m not a woman who can be treated the way you want to treat me.”

  His eyes go to look over my shoulder and he smiles. “Mrs. Greenwell, I need to get something to eat and your daughter’s company at one of your local cafés. It would be wonderful if you’d allow me to take her with me.”

  “Oh! Well, go right ahead. The interview must be going well then,” she says.

  I don’t know what the hell to do. Being alone with the man is a definite no-no. “Mom, I’m not sure.”

  She stops me as she says, “I meant to tell you, that Nic man has been taken in. He’s in some deep trouble, Tasha. It’s a good thing your father got you away from that man. It looks like he’s about to go down the drain, and in a hurry.”

  “Pity,” James says then stands up. “Shall we, Natasha?”

  I have no idea what I’m getting myself into but I have to find out what he can do to get Nic out of the mess he’s in. So, I get up and go with the man I was told to stay away from.

  I hope I’m making the right decision!

  NICHOLAI

  Hours upon hours of interrogations about things I know nothing about have my head pounding. All I can think about is getting to Natasha but I’m stuck here, listening to my lawyers argue with the FBI agents who say some person has told them things about me.

  Things that could have my ass locked away for treason!

  One of my lawyers leans over and whispers, “This is not going well.”

  I nod in agreement and listen as someone walks into the room. A note is given to one of the agents and a frown fills his face. “Bullshit!” He gets up and leaves the room.

  The other agents, including Natasha’s father, leave the room, one by one, until only one is left. My lawyers are as confused as I am. “What’s going on?” I finally ask the only agent left.

  He shrugs and gets up to go find out. Just as he gets to the door, it opens and it’s Greenwell who walks in and walks right up to me. “I’d love to know what angel is watching over you, Grimm. The man who made the accusations made a phone call to tell us he’d lied. Seems his morals came back around and he saw fit, to tell the truth. He’s not a U.S. citizen so he can’t be punished by our government for his lies. You are free to go.”

  “I told you it was a lie,” I say. “I want to see Natasha.”

  “That’s up to her,” her father says then walks away.

  I find it amazing he said that and hurry out of the room to get to Nantucket as fast as I can. I pass her father in the hallway as my attorneys and I leave. The look he gives me has me wondering what in the hell has him smiling.

  “Have you taken her somewhere, else, Greenwell?” I ask him as I stop and stand in front of him.

  “Nope,” he says and looks me in the eye. “I have not done a thing with her. But I did get a great phone call a couple of minutes ago. She’s found a new job and has promised me she will not be seeing you anymore. So, I’m happy.”

  I’m filled with anger but let it go as I think she has to be misleading him on purpose. With a nod, I turn around. “I see.”

  “You will respect her wishes, won’t you, Grimm?” he asks me as I walk away.

  “Of course. But I will hear it from her lips that she no longer wants me before I let her go completely,” I let him know before I go.

  “Fine,” he calls out after me. “That’s all a man can ask for.”

  I hear him whistling as he goes off in another direction. His lightheartedness agitates me. She can’t really mean she’s not going to see me anymore. She can’t!

  One of my lawyers drops me at my home and I go inside and use the house phone to call her parents’ home phone again. “Hello,” I hear a woman answer after only one ring.

  “Hello, is Natasha home?” I ask.

  “Hmm,” the woman says. “Is this Nic?”

  “Yes, it is,” I say and wait as I tap my foot on the hardwood floor.

  “Well, this is Tasha’s mother. You see, she’s gotten a new job and her employer has set up her college courses to be finished with online classes. He’s also set her up in her own apartment in New York,” she says, making my insides turn to jelly.

  “Is she there?” I ask and find my voice quivering. “I really need to talk to her.”

  “I’m afraid she left with the man who she now works for. You know, since her father has it in for you, you should do yourself a favor and let our daughter go. She will only cause you more trouble, I’m afraid,” she says with a sympathetic tone.

  “I love her,” I tell her. “Does she have a cell phone with her? I really have to talk to her.”

  “Not that I know of, she doesn’t. You really should move on. I overheard her talking to her father just before she left. She told him she would not be seeing you again. She promised him,” she tells me.

  “Who is this man who she left with?” I ask as my hand balls into a fist.

  “I can’t tell you. He said not to,” she says. “Tasha told him about you two, I guess. He wants no trouble with you, is what he said. So, I can’t tell you his name or where she’ll be working either. Sorry about that. You have to understand the man.”

  “Who would come all the way to Nantucket to offer her a job? That makes no sense,” I say as I look up at the ceiling, battling tears. “Something isn’t right. Can’t you see that?”

  “The man said one of her professors recommended her to him. He’d called a long time ago to set up an interview with her. But she only got back home this morning. I called him last night when I found out she was on the way back from Greece. He was here early to meet with her and he was impressed by her. I’m so happy for her. The place she’s going to be working makes so much more sense for her career than your company ever did. That made no sense at all, really,” she says.

  “Please ask her to ca
ll me, when you talk to her again,” I say as I try to wrap my head around what is happening to my life.

  “I will give her the message, Nicholai. Bye.”

  I put my phone in my jacket pocket and fall on the sofa. I have no idea what I’m supposed to do now. None!

  My cell rings and I pull it out, praying it’s her but I see it’s my father. “What the hell happened? You should’ve called me!”

  “Whoever said those things about me lied,” I tell him. “Do I have my job back or not?”

  “Of course you do,” he says. “What kind of enemies are you making that would do such a thing to you, Nicholai?”

  “I have no fucking idea. All I know is is that it’s over. Thank God whoever it was decided to call the FBI and tell them they were lying.”

  “An angel is watching over you, that is for certain,” my father says. “Come to the club, son. Relax for a while. You need to get rid of your stress. Come back to the man you were.”

  “Speaking of that. Do you remember a woman named Stacy Holland?”

  He goes silent then whispers, “Why do you ask that?”

  “I met her on the plane on my way back from Greece. She said you two were sweethearts in high school,” I tell him to try to get him off the track of me going to the damn club I have no desire to go to at all.

  “Yes, she is telling you the truth. Did she tell you why she never wrote me like she promised me she would?” he asks and I hear a tremble in his voice.

  “Actually, she told me she wrote to you only her letters were all returned and you never wrote to her,” I tell him.

  “I did write to her and I never got anything in return. I thought she’d lied about loving me.”

  “She thought the same thing,” I say. “You don’t suppose your father or mother had anything to do with the letters not being sent and sending hers back, do you?”

  “My father might have. He wanted my head in business, not that girl. She was my one love.”

  “So love does exist, huh, Father?” I ask as I get up off the sofa and make my way to my office with an idea.