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His shoulders slump. “Yeah, okay, Doc. I’ll calm down.”
“Thank you. And maybe hug your mother. The poor woman hasn’t smiled in years. You’re going to put her in an early grave with your antics.”
“I will, Doc.”
“Sit tight; I’ll get the nurse.”
I pulled open the curtain and headed over to the nurses’ station, where Sherry was entering something into a tablet.
“You need me to call protective services, Dr. Brennan?”
“No, Sherry. He gave me his word he’d cool it. Once his mom arrives, go ahead and discharge him.”
She sighed and finally looked at me. “I get that you don’t want him to be taken from his mom, and they likely wouldn’t with how crowded everything is, but all these chances are one day gonna get him killed.”
“Questioning me, Sherry?” I quirked a brow at her. The familiar itch of irritation was crawling its way up my spine. Too many people questioned everything I said and did. The one place where I could be exactly what I wanted and thrive was supposed to be inside the walls of Crestfall Hospital.
“A little, but you’re the chief resident and you can do no wrong in Dr. Romali’s eyes.” Dr. Romali was my attending physician, and I wasn’t sure if it was the fact that he knew I was the boss of the Irish mob in these parts, or if he genuinely believed I was a great doctor, but he let me get away with a whole hell of a lot.
“Thanks, Sherry.” Without another word, I spun on my heel and moved on to the next patient.
As soon as my shift was over, I showered, changed, and made my way to the parking garage. Being the boss of the Brennan family, it was frowned upon that I drive myself anywhere. My uncle Sean damn near had a heart attack at me telling him I’d be fine on my own. I tried to compromise, but he was relentless. So, after every shift I would go to the parking garage like everyone else. Except, instead of hopping into a regular car alone, I would slip into a heavily secured SUV that had a driver who could kill a man seven different ways without breaking a sweat.
“Evening, Aiden.” I smiled as he held the door open for me.
“Good evening, Fred.” Aiden wasn’t a fan of referring to me by my first name, but I wouldn’t budge on that.
I buckled up, rested my head against the back of the seat, and closed my eyes. Eighteen-hour shifts were no joke.
“You have a meeting in four hours.” Aiden pulled away from the hospital parking garage, and I peeked at him through droopy eyes.
He was a good-looking man in his thirties. Next to my uncle Sean and my cousin, Aine, I trusted him the most. Hell, if not for Aine, he’d probably be the one to take over the family.
“I’m exhausted; can we reschedule it?”
“Sorry, sir. If we do that it will cause undue stress, and you know it. You wanted to continue your medical studies, and everyone was silent about it. You promised it wouldn’t interfere with family business. Don’t fall down that hole, because you won’t be able to climb out.”
He was right…he always was. I had advisors, but Aiden’s guidance was the only one I listened to aside from my uncle Sean.
“You’re right. But I’m sleeping for three hours and fifty-nine minutes.”
Aiden snorted. “Fair enough.”
“Make sure Aine and Uncle Sean are at the meeting.” My request was met with silence, so I lifted my head and met Aiden’s gaze in the mirror. “Problem?”
“Fred…the men don’t favor Aine, and the more you force her upon them, the stronger they’ll reject her.”
Gritting my teeth I answered, “It’s been three years since I agreed to take over for this family. You know it was never my dream. You also know Aine is qualified and would run this family better than I ever could. What, because she has tits and a pussy, her brain is less?”
“You know I think Aine is brilliant. That’s not what I’m saying. All I’m doing is giving you information. Finn was running his mouth last night at the poker game. Got Rowan and Oscar all riled up about how Aine is in places she isn’t supposed to be.”
Great. My lieutenants were gossiping about my choices…that couldn’t be good.
“They’re never going to accept her, are they?” I knew it in my heart. Aine had even confessed as much to me a few weeks ago—how the men wouldn’t look at her when she said anything in the meetings, most of them pretending she’d never uttered a word.
“No, Fred. They won’t.” Aiden was blunt, always had been, and it was a quality I valued greatly.
“Shit. Fine—can you call my uncle Sean and make sure he’s there? I’ll talk to him about the situation with Aine.”
