The Doctor Who Has No Ambition (Soulless Book 9)

by Victoria Quinn

  “I don’t think it’s my place to have an opinion. But I’m happy to listen to you.”

  He stared at me a little longer as if surprised. “My siblings like to shove their opinions down my throat.”

  “Well, that’s their job,” I said with a light chuckle. “They wouldn’t be siblings unless they did that.”

  “True.” He took a final drink until the bottle was empty and pushed it aside to the edge of the table. He turned quiet and contemplative again, staring at the surface of the table and then across the bar like he wasn’t looking at anything in particular, just staring.

  I should hold my tongue, but I couldn’t. “But I’ll say this…”

  His eyes shifted back to me.

  “I’ve seen the way your parents love each other. I’ve watched them together because they’re so cute. The way they say goodbye when they step off the elevator in the morning, the way your father looks at your mother when he comes to her desk, and…I see that she loves you far more than she loves him, which is saying something.”

  He looked away, almost embarrassed.

  “I imagine that your dad is just like your mom….and he loves you with all his heart.”

  He released a heavy sigh, like he knew I was right.

  “He probably just wants the best for you, Dex. I’ve gotten to know you during our time working together, and you’re kind, funny, humble, just an all-around good person. You get that from them, I imagine. And I saw the way you leaped into action for Mr. Carlton, the way you saved his life and even went all the way to the hospital to make sure he was okay. I’m not sure why you stepped away from your career, but it seems like that’s still who you are.”

  He remained quiet, contemplative.

  “Why did you leave?”

  He didn’t answer me for a long time. “I lost a patient, a patient who meant a lot to me.”

  I didn’t ask for the details because that would be insensitive to ask him to relive that experience. “I’m sorry.”

  His eyes shifted, his composure deep and hard. Whether he smiled or looked miserable, he was handsome either way. He was a complex guy with a wide array of emotions, a guy who felt so many things at once because he was empathetic and compassionate.

  “It sounds like your father doesn’t want you to give up. That’s what a father does, right? Never gives up on his kids.”

  He wouldn’t look at me at all, living in a whole other reality.

  I waited for him to look at me again, but it didn’t happen. “And I think he’s right for not giving up on you. He believes in you…your mom believes in you…I believe in you.” I’d lie on an operating table and let him open me up in a heartbeat, because he wasn’t just brilliant, but deeply invested in people. He cared when most people didn’t. His only flaw was that he cared too much.

  He shifted his eyes back to me and stared for a long time. Then he abruptly stood up and threw cash on the table. “I’m sorry…there’s somewhere I need to be.” He walked out without looking back.

  I turned in my chair and watched him leave, knowing exactly where he was going.

  16

  Dex

  When I approached the front door, I didn’t knock.

  It was unlocked, so I stepped inside.

  The living room was vacant, and Dad was in the kitchen, the smell of dinner aromatic in the air. He looked up at the sound of the door and stilled when he saw me standing there.

  Mom sat at the dining table with a glass of wine next to her open laptop. She stared at me for a few seconds, her expression far easier to decipher than his. Her eyes softened, and she rose from her chair and exited the room by stepping into the hallway that led toward the bedrooms and the gym.

  Dad hadn’t moved, and he probably hadn’t even noticed Mom take her leave. The stare lasted for nearly thirty seconds before he dropped his chin and turned off everything on the stove and abandoned what he was doing.

  I took a deep breath, feeling the adrenaline, and shut the door behind me.

  He was in his sweatpants without a shirt, still having a physique that was just as ripped as mine. When I was growing up, he never walked around like that, but now that I was out of the house, he did whatever felt most comfortable. I’d walked in without even knocking and violated his privacy, and I realized now I shouldn’t have done that. His semi-nakedness didn’t really bother me other than the fact that it was a bit intimidating. He could probably kick my ass if he really wanted to.

  He walked up to me and stopped several feet away, staring at me with those dark espresso eyes, that tight jaw, slightly guarded like he didn’t know what I might say. He didn’t know if this would be another brawl or an apology.

  I stared at him in the present moment, but the past also flashed across my mind, the way we screamed at each other, the way I said things I shouldn’t have, the way I was never really angry at him…but angry that he wouldn’t let me give up on myself.

  With his hands by his sides, he waited for me to speak first. He had the patience of a mountain and would wait for all four seasons to pass before he said a single word.

  It’d never been so hard to talk to him before. I was better at communicating than he was, but I was the one stumped in that moment. It wasn’t stubbornness. It was just really hard to talk about this.

  But he continued to wait…and wait. He somehow knew it was difficult for me to get my words together, which was a struggle he faced every single day of his life. Sometimes, someone would say something to him, and he literally took an entire minute to respond.

  “Thank you…” I could barely say a couple words without the tears coming into my eyes, without the emotions becoming so raw that I couldn’t control them any longer. “For not giving up on me…”

  His expression immediately changed, his hardness gone and his eyes soft like I was a boy all over again. The moisture glistened in his eyes in a nanosecond, and he took a deep breath like it was all he could do not to fall apart. “I never will, son.”

  I hadn’t cried as a grown man since Allen…since Catherine. But now I was in tears, coming apart in front of my father. “I’m sorry about everything I said… I didn’t mean it.”

  “I know.” He came closer to me, and his hands gripped my arms as he stood in front of me, our eyes level because we were the same height. “I’m sorry too.”

  “I’ve never been mad at you. Just mad that you won’t let me get my way—I see that now.”

  “I wouldn’t be doing my job if my kids weren’t mad at me sometimes.” With tears in his eyes, he inhaled a deep breath as he watched me let everything out, let me admit my fears out loud. His arms wrapped around me, and he brought me into his chest, his hand cupping the back of my head. He pressed a kiss to my temple and squeezed me tightly, loving me like I was still the boy he’d dropped off for the first day of kindergarten and cried in his car afterward. “I love you.”

  I held on to him and rested my chin on his shoulder. “I love you too, Dad.” I inhaled a deep breath and silenced my tears. “I’m so sorry for what I said—”

  “Shh, it’s forgotten.”

  “I shouldn’t have talked to you like that—”

  “You weren’t yourself.” He pulled back and looked at me again, his eyes still wet. “I know how that feels, when something terrible happens and you completely lose yourself. You say things you don’t mean, you push people away, you’re so distressed that you’ve lost control of your own faculties. Forgive yourself. I do.”

  My father gave me more than I deserved. I remembered every word I’d said to him, the way I’d leaned over him and screamed in his face, and I was grateful my father’s love was stronger than his resentment.

  “We’re going to get you back to who you used to be, alright?”

  I nodded.

  “You’ve got all of us to help you. This is a new beginning. The rest of your life starts now, at this moment, today.”

  “Okay.”

  He pulled his hands from my arms and gave me an emo
tional smile, his eyes soft and full of joy. “I’m so proud of you.”

  Stunned, I just stared at him, unsure why I deserved praise at the lowest time of my life.

  “It takes a strong man to pick himself back up and try again.”

  “I’ve got a long way to go, Dad.”

  “Doesn’t matter. You’re trying—and that’s all that matters.”

  17

  Sicily

  I knew something had changed the second I saw Cleo in the morning.

  She strutted into the lobby with poise and grace—and with a smile. She walked to her desk, the joy in her eyes, and took a seat.

  I knew exactly where Dex went after our conversation in the bar. It made me feel good to know I might have had something to do with that, that maybe I said something that made him realize his family just loved him. I stared at her from my seat at my desk, feeling the warmth in my body at her happiness. I loved this version of her much more.

  She turned in her chair and faced me, her slender legs crossed, her heels shiny like they were brand-new. “You’re fired.”

  Instead of freaking out that I’d just lost my job, I smiled. “I was hoping you’d say that.”

  After the workday was over, I walked with Cleo into her residence so we could get to work on my new job. Our schedules were so busy that we couldn’t squeeze in our preparations during the workday, so I agreed to meet her after hours.

  Her husband worked in the kitchen, steam rising from the stove, the smell of dinner noticeable. When he saw us walk inside, he paused what he was doing and walked over to his wife first, in his sweatpants and a t-shirt, his body just as defined as I imagined it would be. His strong arms wrapped around her, and he kissed her as he pulled her in close, the deep affection he felt for this woman obvious in every little thing he did.

  It was so sweet.

  Cleo was the first one to pull away, like she knew her husband wouldn’t make the first move. She turned to me. “You two haven’t formally met, but this is Sicily. She’s the woman who will be perfect to help Dex get back on his feet.”

  Her husband gave me a polite smile before he extended his hand to shake mine. “Deacon. It’s nice to meet you.”

  I shook his hand, and since this was the closest I’d ever been to him, I could see Dex’s features in his face, in that sharp jawline, that shadow around his mouth, the masculine tightness to his cheekbones and neck. Dex inherited the lighter shade of his hair from his mother’s and her smile, but the rest of him came from this man. “The pleasure is mine.”

  Deacon pulled away. “I’ll let you two get to work. Dinner is almost ready.” He headed back to the kitchen.

  I could already tell Dex had had the perfect childhood, and not because he grew up in a luxury condo, but because he had two loving parents. They obviously didn’t believe in gender stereotypes either because Deacon was the one in the kitchen instead of Cleo. The atmosphere in the room was warm and loving, like a lot of happy memories had happened here. I wanted to look for childhood pictures, but I was there for work, so I bottled my curiosity and joined Cleo at the table.

  Deacon opened a bottle of white wine and poured three glasses before he returned to the kitchen.

  I pulled out my laptop and my notebook, unsure where to begin.

  Cleo turned to me. “Okay, we’ve got a lot of work to do. We need to find him an office, we need to set up that office, we need to set up a medical filing system for him, not to mention getting him personally adjusted. Dex isn’t the most organized person in the world, so he’ll need help adjusting to this lifestyle.”

  I didn’t know how to do that. “Should we hire other staff?”

  She shook her head. “Just keep it the two of you to start.”

  “He might need a nurse to take vitals before he walks in to see a patient.”

  “Dex can do that himself. He’s always been hands-on with his patients.” She opened her laptop and started typing everything. “I want it to be just you two for a while. Dex has agreed to try this, but it’s not going to be smooth sailing, and we need to make sure no unexpected events trigger him into another spiral. He doesn’t take a lot of patients because he devotes so much time to every single one, so you won’t have a jam-packed schedule with people constantly coming and going.”

  “Oh okay, that helps.”

  “We’ve got a lot to do, so let’s just focus on the priorities. We need to find him an office, we need to set up that office, and we need to find him a new place to live.”

  “What’s wrong with where he lives?”

  “Not close enough to work. His apartment is in Brooklyn.” She continued to type on her computer.

  Opening a new business was expensive, so I didn’t know how he would have enough money to just get an apartment, but I didn’t ask because his finances were none of my business.

  Deacon came into the dining room and served us dinner, baked salmon with thyme and sweet potatoes and a side of broccoli.

  “Whoa…” I looked down at the gourmet meal because I definitely didn’t eat like this.

  “Is fish okay?” Deacon asked as he straightened.

  “Yeah, this looks amazing.” I immediately grabbed my fork and started to eat because I was starving.

  Cleo smiled. “My husband is quite the cook.”

  “Heck yeah, he is,” I said after I chewed a bite.

  She chuckled then got back to work.

  Deacon sat down at the opposite end of the table with his laptop and paperwork, enjoying his glass of wine and dinner like our chatter didn’t disrupt him at all.

  “I’m really glad Dex had a change of heart about everything,” I said. “And I’m happy I can help him get there.”

  Cleo turned back to me and gave me a soft look. “I know, honey. That was the reason I picked you for this job.”

  18

  Dex

  I agreed to try again, but I honestly didn’t know where to start.

  I hadn’t even opened the file Mrs. Torres gave me.

  If I thought too hard about my decision, it gave me anxiety and self-doubt, and then it made me want to run all over again. The only reason I didn’t was because my father believed in me, he said he was proud of me, and I couldn’t go back on it now. I had to keep pushing forward.

  I continued to work at the lab during the day because my bills weren’t going to pay themselves. I’d been living paycheck to paycheck since I’d left my practice, and it never bothered me because it was better than going back to that old life. But if my parents hadn’t paid for my education while I was going through it, I would be in deep shit. I got a scholarship for my undergraduate degree, but my medical school and residency were a big-ass bill. I was really fortunate that I had parents who took care of that for me without breaking a sweat.

  If not, I wouldn’t have had the luxury to just quit like that.

  I was on the couch in my living room watching TV when my dad texted me. Come over for dinner.

  I had been a complete dick to my dad, but he treated it like water under the bridge. He forgave me when I was so disrespectful toward him, when I didn’t appreciate what he was trying to do as a parent. It made me appreciate him even more, that he was able to forgive me so easily. We hadn’t really talked since that conversation, and he seemed to give me space afterward so I could digest the next steps of my life.

  He texted me again when he didn’t get a response right away. Your sister is here.

  That’s supposed to make me want to come?

  Dad understood the joke. Dinner will be ready in 15.

  I turned off the TV and left my beer on the coffee table before I locked up the apartment and took the subway back into the city. I missed living in Manhattan because it was close to everything, but living in Brooklyn never bothered me. The subway was fine. Met a lot of sexy babes on there, so it was a nice commute.

  I left the subway and walked to their building, finally thawing out once I was in the lobby, and I took the elevator to their palace in th
e sky. It was hard to go from nice things to basically nothing, but it was far better to stand on my own two feet with little than to take money from anybody. I was way too proud for that, and every time my parents offered to buy me a place in the city, I refused. Derek even tried to convince me to move in with him, but I didn’t take that opportunity either. I would love to be roommates with him so I could see him all the time, but he had a family now and it just wasn’t right for me to encroach on their lives like that. Daisy offered too, but I wouldn’t be able to handle the guys she brought over. She was a grown woman and I respected her independence, but it was still hard for me to see her with guys that I didn’t think were good enough for her. I had to remind myself that I was never like that with Derek, and I shouldn’t be that way with her.

  I let myself inside and saw Dad and Daisy sitting at the dining table, stacks of paperwork in front of them like they were working on a project. Their laptops were there too. Sometimes Daisy asked for his opinion about her patients, so perhaps that was what she was doing now.

  Mom immediately darted from the kitchen and came right for me, colliding into my chest and hugging me tightly like she hadn’t seen me in years. “My baby.” Her face moved into my chest as she held me, squeezing my lower back tightly. “I missed you.”

  I reciprocated her affection with a warm hug, my chin resting on her head. “I missed you too, Mom.” I let her hug me, knowing she missed seeing me every day at work, that she hadn’t had the chance to hold me since Dad and I talked. She let us have our privacy to work out our problems, and I knew it was hard for her to remove herself from the situation.

  She pulled away with tears in her eyes. “Hungry?”

  “You know me,” I said with a smile. “I’m always hungry.”

  She smiled back and headed into the kitchen.

  I walked to the dining table and saw Daisy sitting at the head, sipping a glass of wine, her dark hair down one shoulder, her eye makeup heavy and smoky. She was in a black turtleneck, looking ready for the runway all the time. She looked like Mom, but she had the same energy as Dad, like she owned every room she stepped into.