“I can imagine. So look. Don’t freak out, but they’re going to put you on paid leave until—”
“What?” I screech at the phone, blood pounding in my ears. I wish there was a better word for how I sound, but “strangled eagle,” while accurate, is even less flattering.
“Look, it’s short term. The facts and evidence are on your side, but Grimaldi is out for blood. He’s trying to make it look like this is a personal vendetta.”
“What the actual hell? I included video evidence of him drunk on hospital property. What more do they fucking need, Brenda?”
“Just time, Julia. I know that’s hard to hear, but they have to get lawyers up to speed and protect the hospital. They’ve already put Grimaldi on unpaid leave while they investigate. They’re going to ask you to come in and give the lawyers a deposition, but I wanted you to have a heads up. The hospital isn’t working against you, they’re just covering their own asses. Still, it couldn’t hurt to get a lawyer, ok?”
“Yeah. Ok. Thank you.”
“Anytime, hun.”
She hangs up and I’m left standing alone behind a catering tent wondering what the fuck I’m going to do now. Lawyer up, I guess?
I curse colorfully to myself, but it doesn’t make me feel any better. I spent years studying and working my ass off to get where I am. I fought, scrambled, and clawed to get my position in the pediatric wing at that hospital and now it’s all going to crash down around me because I did the right thing. Administrative leave is a stain you can’t wash off, no matter why they put you on it.
Weaving back to the bar, I eye my glass of champagne before sliding it back to the bartender.
“I changed my mind. Can I have that shot of tequila please?”
He grins at me with a lecherous expression on his face as he pours a shot, spilling it over the side of the glass. His teeth are stained yellow, and his clothes are rumpled and reeking of cigarette smoke. He slides the drink toward me along with a lime wedge on a napkin. As I reach for it, I see his eyes flick down to my chest. His tongue slimes its way out of his mouth in a way that makes me skin crawl.
Trying to ignore him, I toss back the shot and bite into the lime.
“Rough night?” he asks, talking more to my rack than my face.
“I’ll take a fresh glass of champagne,” I say, ignoring his question. If I wanted to talk about my problems, it sure as hell wouldn’t be with this asshole.
“Hey Jules.” A deep, smokey voice washes over me, sending a little tingle up my spine.
I know who it is even before I turn around:Javier. My childhood crush, Javier is the older of Luis’ two sons. Mateo, the younger brother, was my brother’s best buddy and constant companion. I trailed after them, forcing my way into their games and demanding to be treated like one of the boys.
But Javier… He had the dreamiest eyes and the worst reputation on the block. He went through every girl he could lay his hands on, while I watched from afar. I never knew why he wasn’t interested in me the way I was in him, but in the long run, it was absolutely for the best. Once I saw his true, narcissistic colors, my crush died a swift and silent death. I may love a bad boy, but that doesn’t mean I’m an idiot. I haven’t thought of him like that for years, so I’m more than a little annoyed that tonight his voice is sending shivers up my spine...
Turning, my eyes hit a wall of dress shirt and a black tie. I know instantly that this isn’t Javier. My eyes climb that broad torso to the clean-shaven face of my childhood friend.
“Mateo!” I exclaim, throwing my arms around his neck and hugging him tight. Javier’s little brother, who isn’t so little anymore, hugs me back, his arms wrapping around my back as he lifts me off my feet. “Lord, you’ve gotten big,” I laugh as he sets me back down. He might be a year older than me, but we were matched for height when he enlisted in the Navy at eighteen.
His lips pull into the same small, crooked smile I remember. He’s always had a serious face. Stoic, even. But that brief smile is a dead giveaway that he’s jumping up and down on the inside.
“I didn’t think you were going to make it.” I smack him on the chest lightly, just for keeping us in the dark. We’ve seen so little of him since he enlisted that I really hadn’t expected him to turn up.
“I couldn’t miss Ollie’s wedding.”
“She’ll stab you with her decorative cake knife if she hears you call her that,” I warn him. “I missed you earlier.”
His smile grows just a fraction. “I snuck in the back right before the ceremony. You, on the other hand, were impossible to miss.”
“It’s hard to miss a bridesmaid. We get to stand up front and everything.”
Mateo runs a thumb over his lower lip, distracting me for a split second before my eyes meet his again. I’m not one for the clean shaven, uptight look but I have to admit, he’s really grown into it.
“Is everything ok, Jules?”
I look up at him sharply. “Of course, why?”
He gives his head a casual little shake. “Just checking. I passed by the catering tent a couple minutes ago and could have sworn I heard a familiar voice cursing enough to put us sailors to shame, that’s all.”