Forbidden Prescription 4: A Stepbrother Fake Marriage Medical Romance (Forbidden Medicine) Page 8

  “Okay, Mom,” I said. “I’ll take care of it. Let me know if he bothers you again.”

  “I will. By the way, what was that doctor’s name?”

  “Daniel Malone. Why?”

  “That’s what I thought. Is he any relation to Terrence Malone?”

  “Terry?” I asked. “His dad? Tall, pot-bellied, slightly balding Terry?” I scoffed.

  My mom giggled. “That’s not a very flattering description of him.”

  “Wait,” I said, confused. “How do you know Daniel’s dad?”

  Silence. I waited for a response, hoping he was just an acquaintance from high school or something. I was in the mood to hear about how big of an asshole he had always been.

  “Ariana, I’m glad you found a friend to pretend to be your husband if it helps keep Jake away from you, but I’d suggest you find someone else to play the role.”

  “Why? You’ve never met Daniel. He’s actually a good guy,” I said, hoping she wouldn’t draw comparisons from father to son.

  “I’m sure he is,” she said hesitantly. “Oh, I wanted to wait until I saw you in person to tell you, but I’m too excited. I’ve never been so happy in my life.”

  “What are you talking about?” I nearly shouted. I hated being left in the dark.

  “I met someone. Apparently, his son is your doctor.”

  “What?”

  “I know it’s crazy,” she gushed, speaking quickly with excitement. “He makes me so happy. You don’t know how lonely I was. I had almost given up on dating when I met him.”

  “How did you meet him?” I asked skeptically. If Terry had been dating my mom when he met me, surely he would have said something.

  “I was taking Baxter on a walk and I ran into him. He wanted to pet him because he used to have corgis growing up and loved them. I think he noticed that I didn’t wear a wedding ring and asked me out on a date. We went out for drinks and really hit it off. Things just kind of blossomed from there.”

  I sighed. She seemed so happy that I didn’t have the heart to tell her how much of a jerk Terry was. I would have to tell her eventually before she got in too deep.

  That bummed me out. I knew that my mom was lonely and wanted to be in a relationship. She hadn’t had a lot of luck with dating. I only ever wanted her to find someone she liked to settle down with. It was just so disappointing that the one person she hit it off with was scum.

  “How long have you been together?” I asked, stunned by this strange coincidence.

  “Not very long,” she admitted, as if it were a secret. “I usually don’t move this quickly with men, but everything just felt so right. He’s the one, Ariana. It’s so weird saying it out loud, but he’s the one.”

  “Oh, you never know,” I said, trying to find a way to let her down gently. Maybe if I downplayed the seriousness of it, she’d feel the same. She was just in a new relationship and everything felt so good. I sort of knew what she was going through.

  “This is different than the other ones,” she gushed. “He’s smart, funny, and handsome. He’s really sweet to me. I think you’d like him.”

  I didn’t know how to tell her that I already met him and that he tried to cause me to have a seizure. If she knew that, it would destroy her. Eventually, the truth would have to come out. She had to know whom she was dealing with. I just needed a little time to figure out how to break it to her that she was dating a terrible person.

  “When do I meet him?” I asked, unable to pretend to be excited.

  “I wanted you to meet him earlier, but I knew you were busy with your own problems. I didn’t want to burden you.”

  “Mom, I don’t think introducing me to your boyfriend is much of a burden.”

  She fell silent. “There’s something else I need to tell you. I wanted to do this in person. I really did.”

  “What is it?”

  He took me on a surprise trip to Las Vegas. We decided to get married!” she squealed. “I’m sorry I had to surprise you like this, but we both knew the time was right. Oh, Ariana, can you believe it?”

  My mouth hung open. I was completely speechless.

  “I know, I know,” she laughed. “Come over soon and you can meet him. I can’t wait to show you our wedding photos.”

  I felt like the room was spinning around me. I sat down in the nearest chair, hoping I wouldn’t get sick.

  “I’ve got to go, Ariana, but I’ll talk to you soon. Love you.”

  “Love you too,” I managed to squeak out before dropping my phone on the counter.

  I rested my head on my folded arms, pressing my forehead into the cool marble counter. I knew I needed to call Daniel as soon as possible, but I dreaded having that conversation. The spell was broken—my short-lived, secret relationship with Daniel was over just as quickly as it had begun.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Daniel

  I got a phone call from Ariana while I was eating my lunch in my office. I loved when she sent text messages to me during work because it made the work day go so much faster, knowing that I had something to look forward to when I got home. But, I thought it seemed strange that she was calling me.

  I’m not sure why, but I had a bad feeling that something was wrong.

  “What’s up?” I said after answering the phone on the first ring. I pushed my food across the desk.

  “I don’t know where to start,” she said breathlessly. “I just got off the phone with my mom. I don’t even know how to tell you this.”

  “Calm down,” I said, hearing the tension in her voice. “Take a deep breath and start from the beginning.”

  “When’s your next patient?”

  I checked my watch. “Ten minutes.”

  “Then I’ll tell you the full story when you get home. I’ll give you the abbreviated version now—my mom got married in Vegas.”

  “Wow,” I said. “Did you know the guy she got married to? I thought you said your mom was single.”

  “She was. She met her husband and dated him for a week before getting married.”

  I sat back in my chair. No wonder she seemed upset. I would be freaking out if my mom got married without saying a word about it to me. Even the thought of it made me shudder.

  “I’m sorry, that’s rough,” I said sympathetically. “Do you know anything about this guy?”

  Ariana laughed a maniacal chuckle. It creeped me out.

  “Ariana?”

  “I’ve met him. I just didn’t know that he would go on to court and marry my mother on a whim. You know him too. It’s your dad.”

  My heart slammed against my ribcage. I heard the words she spoke, but it sounded foreign to me.

  “What did you say?”

  She repeated herself, this time slower. “Your dad married my mom in Vegas. I thought it was bad enough that my mom married someone who is not a good person. Then, I realized that their marriage makes us stepsiblings.”

  I nearly dropped the phone into my salad. She wasn’t making sense.

  “Are you sure?” I asked. “It’s perfectly reasonable that you misheard something she said. Maybe you got the name wrong. Maybe she said ‘engaged’ and not ‘married’.”

  She huffed into the phone. “There was nothing to mistake from this conversation. These are the facts. We’re now related.”

  I cringed. I was just starting to imagine a future with Ariana. Now, that would all be thrown out the window because of my father.

  “We’ll have to talk about this when I get home,” I said, “I have to go.”

  “Wait,” she said quickly. “I have one more thing to tell you.”

  “What?”

  “The reason I even had this discussion in the first place is because Jake called my mom, asking for my ‘husband’s’ address. He’s still lurking around somewhere and he’s getting my mom involved.”

  I groaned. “That bastard. Let me handle him. I want you to start thinking of a way to get your mom separated from my dad. Can you do that?”


  “I’ll try.”

  “Good. I’ll be home as soon as I can.”

  I hung up the phone and buried my head in my hands. I still couldn’t fully comprehend what Ariana had told me. It all felt like a bad dream. I didn’t have time to worry, though. I still had patients to see. I left my office with my personal problems behind me. I could pick them right back up when I was finished working.

  It was hard to stay focused, but somehow, I managed to see my last few patients with a smile on my face. When I was finished, I shut myself in my office and picked up my phone. I needed to make a few calls.

  First, I called one of my old patients to see if he could offer me any advice for Ariana’s stalker. He was the chief of the police department, so I figured he would be able to help. I hated calling in favors from my patients because they paid me for my services, but I just wanted to get this obstacle out of the way.

  Luckily, this particular patient really liked me after I diagnosed a reason for his headaches after he had gone to several other doctors who couldn’t give him answers. He was more than happy to help. I gave him all the information that Ariana told me about Jake and he said that someone would be contacting him to chat about his stalking. He assured me that things didn’t always happen this way, but he would do everything he could to make sure Jake wouldn’t bother us ever again.

  I had a feeling that he was going above and beyond normal protocol. I didn’t ask questions. It was probably best not to be in the know about Jake’s fate.

  With that taken care of once and for all, I moved on to the next debacle. I thought I wouldn’t have to dial my dad’s phone number for quite some time, yet there I was. When he answered, I could almost hear the smug look on his face.

  “Hi, Dan. How’s it going?”

  “You know exactly how it’s going,” I growled.

  “Have you heard the happy news?”

  I took a deep breath. There were still employees in the building and I didn’t want them to hear me yelling about my personal business.

  “Do you mind telling me what the hell is going on? Ariana just called me, freaking out because her mom just announced her marriage. She didn’t even know her mom was seeing anyone.”

  “You just can’t plan these things,” he said.

  “No, I think that’s exactly what you did.”

  “What are you trying to accuse me of? You wanted me out of your house. I found a place to stay and that’s where I met Barb. So really, I should be thanking you for kicking me out. Otherwise, I’d still be in your guesthouse, all by my lonesome.”

  I rubbed at my eyes. This was exhausting, arguing with an impossible person. “I have my theories.”

  “Lay it on me,” he challenged.

  “I don’t know how you did it, but I think she looked up Ariana’s mom after your little lecture. When you found out that she was single, you turned on the charm. You manipulated a kind woman into going out with you. You must have sensed that she was lonely and wanting a committed relationship, more than anything. You took her to Las Vegas because you knew you could convince her to marry you. Even for you, that’s pretty low.”

  “I think you’re just bitter that I’ve given you a new stepsister. I told you that you couldn’t have it all. I’m sorry that things turned out this way, but you should have known better.”

  “Known better?” I asked.

  “To think that you could have it all. Did you not listen to anything I was saying?”

  “Your lesson means nothing if you purposefully set me up. All it says is that you’re insane to go so far just to piss me off. What did I ever do to deserve this? I gave you a place to stay. I supported you, even after how badly you treated Mom. I just don’t get it.”

  “Let’s leave the past in the past. I’m starting my life over now. I have a new wife who is pretty great in the sack. She’s got a pretty nice apartment that’s better than your guesthouse. I’m working toward a big promotion at the insurance agency. I’ve paid my dues and waded through enough crap in my life.”

  “I thought you said you can’t have it all.”

  “You can’t. But I can. I’m not soft like you are. I get what I want through hard work and persistence.”

  I rolled my eyes. He had really gone off the deep end after his divorce. He had always been a bit of a jerk when he wanted to be, but this was something different. He was going out of his way to destroy lives.

  “Just tell me the truth—did you marry that woman to ruin my relationship with Ariana?”

  “I’ll talk to you later,” he said, purposefully ignoring my question. “We’ll have to figure out plans for Thanksgiving. I bet you’ll be really excited to spend it with your new stepsister.”

  I slammed my phone down, my face burning with rage. I couldn’t believe him. I felt terrible for Ariana. She seemed really happy with me. What we had going on was a little taboo, but now, it was practically incest. I felt bad for the poor woman he married under false pretenses. If she was anything like her daughter, then she certainly didn’t deserve to be with a bastard like my father. I just hoped that he would minimize his destruction to her life.

  I also felt a little sorry for myself. I knew I had a lot going for me, but was it too much to ask for a woman who cared about me?

  There was no fixing this. I would have to break up a newly married couple, just so I wouldn’t be dating my stepsister. Even then, people would know that our parents were together. Then, I would still be her doctor. There was no winning with Ariana.

  I turned off the lights in my office and sped home. I just wanted to be with Ariana for as long as I possibly could before the word about our new relation came out.

  When I walked in the door, Ariana ran straight for me and jumped into my arms. Normally, I would have loved this gesture, but there was a certain sadness in her embrace.

  “What are we going to do?” she asked. “This is a nightmare. I’m so scared that Jake is going to come back and I won’t have you around to protect me.”

  “I have some news for you. I called in a favor with the police department. Jake is no longer a problem. The chief promised me that. You’re safe now.”

  She squeezed me tighter and kissed me on the cheek. “Thank you so much. That really makes things easier.”

  “I know. Now we just have to figure out what to do about our parents. Do you have any ideas?”

  She shook her head. “I don’t know why, but she sounds really happy. It would kill me to take that away from her. Do you think that it’s remotely possible that he’s actually treating her well?”

  I didn’t want to say it, but I knew he wasn’t going to. Not in the long run, anyway. Instead, I just shrugged. She got the point.

  “He’s not going to hurt her, is he?”

  “Physically, no. Emotionally, most likely.”

  Tears welled up in her eyes. I felt partially responsible for this. I pushed my dad to lash out at me.

  “Come here,” I said, pulling her toward the couch. I sat down and pulled her into my lap. “Let’s come up with a plan.”

  “For what?” she sniffed.

  “For us to be together, no strings attached. First, I’m going to refer you to a new specialist. I’ll find someone I trust enough to take care of you. You’ll always have me to go over your symptoms with.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “That’s the least of our problems now. You have another checkup in four months. I’ll find you another doctor by then.”

  She nodded, nuzzling her face into my neck. I stroked the back of her hair.

  “We’re going to figure this out. We’re going to get them separated with the least amount of collateral damage,” I said.

  “We need to figure out how to do this and still keep our reputations protected,” she said. “I want you to have a successful practice. I want to be able to stay here and get a job. I want to be with you and have a life together.”

  I kissed her on the top of her head. “I want that, too.”

&nbs
p; I slid her from my lap and walked into the kitchen. “All of this scheming is making me hungry. Should we order Chinese?”

  I saw her smile for the first time all day. That was all the motivation I needed.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Ariana

  “Did you talk to your mom today?” Daniel asked as we brushed our teeth before bed.

  “Briefly,” I said after spitting out a mouthful of toothpaste foam. “She said she’s unavailable for a coffee date this week. Her husband has been taking up all her free time. Apparently, he’s more exciting than her own daughter.”

  “I’m sorry,” he said, giving me a minty kiss on the cheek. “Do you want me to try to make you feel better?”

  “How are you going to do that?” I asked, giving him a cheeky sideways glance.

  He lightly slapped me on the butt. “I think you know how.”

  I swirled around, pressing my pelvis against his. “I don’t know. I think I just want to go to sleep. I’m exhausted and I have a paper to work on tomorrow.”

  “Really?” he said, a look of shock on his face. “I’ve never known you to not want to have sex with me.”

  I playfully slapped him on the chest. “When this is all over, I’m going to need to go on vacation. Where do you want to take me?”

  “Hmm,” he mused, getting into bed. “Have you been to Cancun? We can book a suite at a fancy resort. We’ll drink tropical drinks all day and make love all night.”

  “Deal,” I said, pulling the covers up over my chest. “I hope this vacation actually comes to fruition.”

  “Good night, Ariana,” Daniel said, rolling over to give me a peck on the lips. Per usual, he was out like a light the second his head hit the pillow.

  On the other hand, I was up for at least another few hours. I felt like the wheels were just spinning in my head, but I was gaining no traction.

  I woke up in the morning, feeling dreadful. I hadn’t slept at all and anxious thoughts kept nagging me. I needed to speak to my mom, but all her spare time was taken by Terry. I knew that the longer I went without speaking to her on the subject, the more ensnared she would become in his lies.