DARK HEARTS - BILLIONAIRE MARRIAGE CONTRACT ROMANCE

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST

After getting her team together, brainstorming the best possible way to approach my father's surgery, and having everything she needs for both the surgery and my father's recovery moved to the surgery unit we had built into our home, Evelyn and her team get to work. First they administer an experimental immunotherapy treatment to neutralize the infiltrating part of the disease, and then Evelyn performs the surgery.

Which takes hours.

Mostly because of how meticulous the procedure is and how many infiltrating parts she has to neutralize then work around. Watching her in action is a thing of beauty. She really enjoys and takes pride in her work. Leaving no stone unturned. And I am unable to peel my eyes away.

I keep telling myself it's because she holds my father's life in her hands I want to make sure everything goes off without a hitch. Which is partially true. Except, she pays attention to every detail. Her skills and technique as flawless as her glowing skin. But the truth has more to do with wanting to see every inch of her bare skin lying beneath me. Taking every rock-hard inch of me with that same fire in her eyes.

Quickly shaking that thought from my head, because nothing other than another involuntary erection can come from it, I think about how she keeps a steady hand and a clear head.

How skilled she is as a surgeon.

It's impressive.

And I'm a hard man to impress.

But this quiet, gentle, highly intelligent woman has done the impossible.

There's something about Evelyn Graham that holds my attention when usually I wouldn't have given her a second glance. And I can't put my finger on what it might be. Whatever it is, it draws me to her, and the RBF she wears like armor, to ward off anyone daring to look too deeply under her hood.

She's guarded yet graceful.

Strong yet sweet.

Fierce yet... fragile.

With a refreshing innocence and vulnerability that makes me feel protective of her, even though I barely know her.

Pacing nervously outside the operating room. I watch my father's surgery from the many cameras I have installed. Monitoring every second of the surgery and praying those angelic hands of hers can pull off another miracle.

Once the surgery is finished and my father is wheeled into his recovery room, I hurry to his side. Sitting at his bedside for hours to monitor him for any changes while he lies unconscious in his bed. In the meantime, Evelyn and her team cleans up the operating room. Refusing to allow my staff do it for them or even help them for that matter.

The next day after my father's surgery, I have Judy bring me a bin of hot water, soap, and a towel. I give my father a sponge bath. Tending to every part of him except for the part that would make any man uncomfortable. That part I leave for my mother to tend to.

***

Watching Alexander tend to his father's every need makes me understand how close they are. How much he respects the man who gave him life and everything he could have ever wanted.

Which is so different from what he'd get with my family.

He has no idea what he's getting himself into.

Or the pit of vipers he's inviting into his family. But it serves him right for forcing me into this marriage.

I've always thought of Alexander as spoiled since the moment I met him.