Page 10 of The Doctor

“It’s not fucking funny, kid.”

She schooled her features but that did nothing but make her look like a chastised schoolgirl, and that thought had my mouth watering and precum piling at the tip of my dick.

“I think it’s very funny.” She stood and stepped toward me, hands in the air as if she’d ever been innocent, and stopped just before we touched. Something swept over her face—a dark cloud that hid away the sun. “It wouldn’t have been so bad, though. Right?”

Narrowing my eyes at her, I asked, “Bad?”

As I watched, her brown eyes dimmed, and she dipped her chin. She peeked up at me under her lashes. “You and me? It wouldn’t have been bad, right?”

Fuck. “Clara.” I shook my head, then dragged a hand down my face. “You’re a kid—”

“I’m twenty years old!”

“And I’m forty-one! I’m old enough to be your dad—”

She didn’t even wait for me to get to that point before that grin had taken hold of her lips once more. “Yes, Daddy.”

The doorbell rang, putting a pause on our conversation and a pit in my gut. Clara ignored my wide eyes, jumping forward at the chance to press her perfect fucking lips to mine before I could stop her.

“That’s your nine o’clock. You better get dressed, unless you make it a habit of greeting your patients with a hard-on.” Her fingers grazed my shaft before she curled her palm around my balls and squeezed. “Can’t say it’s a bad look.”

“Kid!” I yanked her away from me, ready to swat her ass for what she did to me. But the girl was already strutting away, that bare ass tempting me to use more than just my hand. “Go get dressed. You’ve got your first final in an hour.”

She spun to face me, a finger raised to her lower lip. “Will you take me?”

Fucking hell, I wanted to take her, right here on the floor of my dining room.

Regardless of how she made that question sound, I knew that wasn’t what she meant.

At least, not entirely.

“I’ll take you to class. Now go get dressed.”

“Yes, Daddy.”

Clara squealed as I chased after her, chased her to the bottom of the stairs at the back of my house. I couldn’t tear my gaze away as she scrambled up them on all fours, her pink pussy on full display as she laughed like this was a game.

The doorbell ringing again made me remember that this was anything but.

I rushed back to my den, grabbing my trousers from the pile of folded clothes Clara had left on the floor in front of the TV. I tugged them on, shoving my cock down and zipping carefully so I didn’t get stuck in the zipper. Then I snagged my shirt and pulled it over my head as I raced to the kitchen and the monitor hanging there, where I could see the man standing on my doorstep.

Grabbing my gun from the nearby drawer, I tucked it in the back of my pants before heading toward the front door.

All my life, I’d worked to ensure my safety, to ensure that I wouldn’t be caught unaware again. The last time, it had ended in death. I wouldn’t let there be a next time.

It was bad enough I was here, cock at half-mast and wearing yesterday’s clothes, while my thoughts drifted to the storm cloud thumping around in her room overhead. I needed to focus on my next patient. I needed her to be quiet so he wouldn’t guess the thoughts I was sure were written all over my face.

I reached for the chains and deadbolts that secured my front door, undoing every last one before finally pulling open the heavy wood, revealing Cosimo Provenza, D’Angelo’s oldest and longest-standing lieutenant. He raised his rheumy eyes, and I swore his gaze was ticking off every wrinkle and spot that made me look like a frumpy mess. Then, looking down his long nose at me, he swiped his tongue over his front teeth and plastered on what had to be the ugliest smile I’d ever seen.

“Zeno.”

Before responding, before moving out of the doorway and letting him in, I let my gaze drift over his shoulder to the street. When I was sure there was nothing there but his driver and the normal neighborhood cars, I turned my attention back to him.

“Good to see you, Cosimo. Come on in.”

“It isn’t like you to keep me waiting,” he said as he shuffled past me into the blessedly quiet foyer. “Is everything okay?”

It took everything in me not to glance at the stairs. I doubted Clara would make this easy on me, but the lack of noises coming from the upper levels of my house had my skin itching and my mind spinning circles.