Page 6 of The Doctor

Another huff and she was pulling away. Strutting across the room like it was a runway, like there weren’t piles of books and papers and clothes to dodge with every step. She plopped down on the bed and looked up at me with her little puppy dog eyes, her bottom lip jutted out. “I’m tired of studying, Zee.”

I crossed my arms over my chest. “I’m not letting you ruin everything you’ve worked so hard for the night before the tests, kid.”

“I’m ready for the tests.” She pulled one leg up, placing her foot on the mattress, and it took everything in me to keep my focus on her face. “I just need a break already. I need to do something else. I’m too burnt out, and if I keep going, I know I’m not going to do good because my brain’s about to crack.”

There was no denying the truth behind her words. She’d been working her ass off all semester, just the same as the last two. So much so, I’d begun to question Berto and Daphne’s insistence that she was out of control.

Then I looked around the room that had been spotless this morning and shook my head.

“Zee—”

Holding my hand up to stop her from crying out some sob-story, I drew my attention back to her pretty face. “What else did you have planned?”

Her smile lit up like the sun, brushing away the cloud that hovered over her head, and I braced myself to shut her down. I couldn’t have her going out to clubs or bars with friends and getting trashed the night before her big tests. “Movie night?”

She must have seen the confusion that settled over me, because she was off the bed and coming my way with her hands steepled in front of her.

“Please, Zee? We haven’t had a movie night since I was a kid.”

Fuck. There she went, tearing at my sanity again. My Henley bared too much of her—her breasts, her legs—and that pouty lower lip and her puppy dog eyes had something inside me trembling. My blood didn’t wait for her to grip my arm in both her hands before it was pumping to places it should have known better than to go.

She was a kid.

She was Berto’s daughter.

She was the little girl I’d pulled from the womb.

Fuck!

“Please.” The plea in her voice was too much for me to take. Why they thought she’d listen to me was beyond my understanding, not when I struggled so hard to say no to this girl.

“Fine.” The word was barely out of my mouth before she was squealing and jumping around, jerking at my arm she still held onto in her hands. “But you’re going to bed early. I want you to get a good night’s sleep.”

Her pouty lips pursed, and her wild eyes flared with mischievous intent. “Yes, Daddy. Whatever you say.”

3

Clara

Being forced to clean my room—until it was as spotless as it was when I showed up at Zee’s earlier today—was worth the look on his face when I called him Daddy. I’d never seen someone blanch as drastically as he did. The man had jerked out of my grip, jumping away from me as if I’d just stuck a hot poker to his skin. And oh, how something niggled at the back of my mind, tempting me to do so much more.

Zee didn’t give me the chance, though. He’d demanded I clean the entire space, telling me some bullshit about needing to clean up the kitchen and make popcorn and get us drinks, all the while his eyes flitted about the room, landing everywhere but on me.

I would have found it hilarious if it didn’t hurt so damn much.

All I’d ever wanted in my life was standing right there, refusing to look me in the eye. When he tucked his tail and ran from the room, it felt like something inside of me broke. My mind played tricks on me as I picked up my papers and books, demanding more attention than I was ready to give.

Five times, I stacked my books and put them in my bag.

Five times, I sorted the papers, reordering them until they were right.

I yanked my clothes down off the mirror and the window, where they’d landed when I’d torn them off, trying to get out of the headspace that controlled my thoughts and my mind until I couldn’t focus on anything but the little rituals that took up all my time.

By the time I made it to Zee’s den, I was dying for a shot of the most potent drug I’d ever consumed—his attention.

He wasn’t even there. The drinks were set out. The TV was pulled up with a selection of movies to choose from. But Zee wasn’t on the plush sectional he’d bought years ago and rarely ever used.

Rather than hunting him down, I grabbed the remote and pulled up a few of the movies, reading the descriptions before choosing a murder mystery I thought sounded interesting enough. Then I settled in on the middle of the couch, knees pulled up and head resting against the back as I waited for him, as my mind tumbled through the thousands of facts I’d read and studied and memorized in preparation for my finals tomorrow.