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opened the door, Finn's gut clenched. Shit.
Eddie Rivera turned around with a big smile on his face. The lifted corners of his mouth
deflated quickly. His glowering gaze burned Finn as it swept over his half-naked frame. He felt the
older man's attention lingering on the bare prosthetic foot sticking out from the bottom of his pants.
Realizing there was no way to avoid the awkward turn this was about to take, Finn stepped
aside so the man could enter. "Hadley is still in bed. We were up late."
Fuck. Fuck. A moment too late, Finn heard what he had said. No doubt Eddie was imaging the
very worst now.
Clearing his throat, he gestured toward the bedroom. "I'll, uh, I'll go get her."
"No." The word came out like a crack of gunfire. "Let her sleep. You and I should talk."
Before Finn could start listing the million and one reasons why they really, really shouldn't, he
heard Hadley's sleeping voice coming down the hallway from her bedroom. "Finn? Did I hear the
door?"
She emerged from the hallway with a thin robe over her pajamas. The tired look on her face
was blasted right off the second she spotted her father. Her gaze jumped to Finn and then back to
Eddie. It would have been comical if it hadn't been so damned uncomfortable. "Daddy! I didn't know
you were coming over this morning."
"I wanted to take you out for breakfast before Mass. I canceled both of our lunch dates in the
last two weeks. I wanted to make it up to you." Eddie's irritated glare landed on Finn. "But I can see
you're busy."
"Not at all," Finn interjected carefully. "I need to get to the gym."
She smiled brightly at her father. "Give me twenty minutes?"
"Take your time, mi'ja."
With Eddie's glare burning a hole in his back, Finn followed Hadley to her bedroom. Somehow
that man had managed to make him feel like a naughty teenager who had been caught necking with his
girlfriend. You're a grown man. She's a grown woman. You're allowed to share a bed without the
Inquisition.
Hadley shut the door behind him and dropped back against it. She started to giggle nervously.
"Oh. My. God. How awkward was that?"
"I'm pretty sure that was the weirdest moment of my life." Trying to inject some levity into a
strained situation, he joked rather darkly, "Your dad is probably out there right now calling out a hit
on me."
She laughed. "Yeah, I'm sure he's dialing up Hector as we speak."
The name surprised him, but he didn't let it show on his face. "Who?"
She waved her hand. "He's a friend of the family. It's complicated."
"Uh-huh."
"I'll tell you about it someday, but right now, I've really got to get into the shower and get
dressed. Why don't you hide out here until I'm done? You can shower after me and leave after I've
gone."
"Sure." He caught her wrist before she could escape too far and dragged her close for a kiss.
She lifted up to meet his seeking mouth and smiled when he finally let her go. When she reached the
bathroom, she cast a longing glance over her shoulder. If her father hadn't been in the living room, he
would have accepted that silent invitation for some soapy, wet fun.
Left alone in the bedroom, he began to wonder about the interesting connections Kostya had
told him that Hadley's family had. Had he meant Alina, the madam of the city's most exclusive brothel,
or Hector Salas who seemed to have some sort of relationship with the family?
Whoever it was, Finn suspected the answer wasn't going to be good for him.
Chapter Seven
"I'm going to be glowing by the time this is over," I grumbled while sketching some ideas onto
the pad I kept in my bag.
"Well, if you decide to Hulk out on me tonight, give me a little warning, okay?" Coby's fingers
danced across the screen of her phone as she answered emails and instant messages.
I laughed softly so as not to annoy any of the other people sitting around us in the waiting room
of the cardiology practice. "I'll try."
"So what was the final tally?"
"MRI, chest x-ray, echo, EKG, stress test and blood work," I ticked off each test I had endured
in the last four hours. "Hopefully they got everything they needed."
"Don't forget about making you pee in a cup," she added with a smirk. "Because that really is
the cherry on your sundae of a day."
I laughed again. "Are you working tonight?"
She shook her head. "No, but I'm going to head over to Micah's place to work on some new
tracks. I figured Mr. High-And-Tight would be visiting tonight. Thought you two lovebirds might like
the place to yourselves."
I smiled at her nickname for Finn. "He's been texting me all morning to see how the tests are
going. I think he felt really guilty about not being able to make it."
"That's because he's falling head over heels for you, Moneybags," she said matter-of-factly.
"Well, I don't know about that. It's early days."
"When you know, you know."
"Miss Rivera?" A nurse in purple scrubs stood in a doorway that led to the exam area.
I glanced at Coby. "Come with me?"
"Of course," she said and stuffed her phone into her purse. She followed me into the triage area
and stood close by while I was weighed and had my blood pressure and temperature taken. We were
taken to an exam room where Coby proceeded to tell me the juicy gossip from Faze to keep my mind
off the upcoming chat with Dr. Rae.
When the doctor finally arrived, she had a box in her hand that I recognized only too well. She
smiled at Coby. "I don't think we've met."
"Coby Taggart." She shook Dr. Rae's hand. "I'm Hadley's friend and roommate."
"It's nice to meet you, Coby." Sitting down on her rolling stool, Dr. Rae held the box on her lap.
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