I pushed to my feet.
"Whatever.
I'm hungry.
Want something?" "If your appetite's back, that's a good sign."
"Everything's coming back," I told him.
"With a vengeance."
* * *
I was waiting at the curb for Angus the next morning.
He pulled up and Paul, the doorman for my apartment building, opened the back door for me.
"Good morning, Angus," I greeted him."Good morning, Miss Tramell."
His gaze met mine in the rearview mirror, and he smiled.
As he started to pull away, I leaned forward between the two front seats.
"Do you know where Corinne Giroux lives?" He glanced at me.
"Yes."
I sat back.
"That's where I want to go."
* * *
Corinne lived around the corner from Gideon.
I was certain that wasn't a coincidence.
I checked in with the front desk and waited twenty minutes before I was given permission to go up to the tenth floor.
I rang the bell to her apartment and the door swung open to reveal a flushed and disheveled Corinne in a floor-length black silk robe.
She was seriously gorgeous, with her silky black hair and eyes like aquamarines, and she moved with a lithe grace I admired.
I'd armored up in my favorite gray sleeveless dress and was very glad I had.
She made me feel downright homely.
"Eva," she said breathlessly.
"What a surprise."
"I'm sorry to barge in uninvited.
I just need to ask you something real quick."
"Oh?" She kept the door partially closed and leaned into the jamb.
"Can I come in?" I asked tightly.
"Uh."
She glanced over her shoulder.
"It's best if you didn't."
"It doesn't bother me if you have company and I promise, this won't take but a minute."
"Eva."
She licked her lips.
"How do I say this .
?" My hands were shaking and my stomach was a quivering mess, my brain taunting me with images of Gideon standing na**d behind her, their early-morning f**k interrupted by the ex-girlfriend who wouldn't get a clue.
I knew how well he liked sex in the morning.
But then I knew him well, period.
Knew him enough to say, "Cut the shit, Corinne."
Her eyes widened.
My mouth curved derisively.
"Gideon's in love with me.
He's not f**king around with you."
She recovered quickly.
"He's not f**king around with you, either.
I would know, since he's spending all of his free time with me."
Fine.
We'd talk about this in the hallway.
"I know him.
I don't always understand him, but that's a different story.
I know he would've told you upfront that you and he weren't going anywhere, because he wouldn't want to lead you on.
He hurt you before; he won't do it again."
"This is all very fascinating.
Does he know you're here?" "No, but you'll tell him.
And that's fine.
I just want to know what you were doing at the Crossfire that day you came out looking as freshly f**ked as you do now."
Her smile was razor sharp.
"What do you think I was doing?" "Not Gideon," I said decisively, even though I was silently praying that I wasn't making a total idiot out of myself.
"You saw me, didn't you? From the lobby, you had a direct view across the street and you saw me coming.
Gideon told you at the Waldorf dinner that I was the jealous type.
Did you have a nooner with someone from one of the other offices? Or did you muss yourself up before you stepped outside?" I saw the answer on her face.
It was lightning quick, there and gone, but I saw it.
"Both of those suggestions are absurd," she said.
I nodded, savoring a moment of profound relief and satisfaction.
"Listen.
You're never going to have him the way you want.
And I know how that hurts.
I've been living it the past two weeks.
I'm sorry for you, I really am."
"Fuck you and your pity," she snapped.
"Save it for yourself.
I'm the one he's spending time with."
"And there's your saving grace, Corinne.
If you're paying attention, you know he's hurting right now.
Be his friend."
I headed back to the elevators and called over my shoulder, "Have a nice day."
She slammed her door shut behind me.When I got back to the Bentley, I told Angus to take me to Dr.
Terrence Lucas's office.
He paused in the act of closing the door and stared down at me.
"Gideon will be very angry, Eva."
I nodded, understanding the warning.
"I'll deal with it when the time comes."
The building that housed Dr.
Lucas's private practice was unassuming, but his offices were warm and inviting.
The waiting room was paneled in dark wood and the walls covered in a mixture of pictures of infants and children.
Parenting magazines covered the tables and were neatly stored in racks, while the dedicated play area was tidy and supervised.
I signed in and took a seat, but I'd barely sat when I was called back by the nurse.
I was taken to Dr.
Lucas's office, not an exam room, and he rose from his chair when I entered, rounding the desk quickly.
"Eva."
He held out his hand and I shook it.
"You didn't have to make an appointment."
I managed a smile.
"I didn't know how else to reach you."
"Have a seat."
I sat, but he remained standing, choosing to lean back against the desk and grip the edges with both hands.
It was a power position, and I wondered why he felt the need to use it with me.
"What can I do for you?" he asked.
He had a calm, confident air and a wide, open smile.
With his good looks and affable manner, I was sure any mother would have confidence in his skill and integrity.
"Gideon Cross was a patient of yours, wasn't he?" His face closed instantly and he straightened.
"I'm not at liberty to discuss my patients."
"When you gave me that 'not at liberty to discuss' line at the hospital, I didn't put it together, and I should have."
My fingertips drummed into the armrest.
"You lied to his mother.
Why?" He returned to the other side of his desk, putting the furniture between us.
"Did he tell you that?" "No.
I'm figuring this out as I go.
Hypothetically speaking, why would you lie about the results of an exam?" "I wouldn't.
You need to leave."
"Oh, come on."
I sat back and crossed my legs.
"I expect more from you.
Where are the assertions that Gideon is a soulless monster bent on corrupting the women of the world?" "I've done my due diligence and warned you."
His gaze was hard, his lip curled in a sneer.
He wasn't quite so handsome anymore.
"If you continue to throw your life away, there's nothing I can do about it."
"I'm going to figure it out.
I just needed to see your face.
I had to know if I was right."
"You're not.
Cross was never a patient of mine."
"Semantics - his mother consulted you.
And while you go about your days seething over the fact that your wife fell in love with him, think about what you did to a small child who needed help."
My voice took on an edge as anger surged.
I couldn't think about what had happened to Gideon without wanting to do serious violence to anyone who contributed to his pain.
I uncrossed my legs and stood.
"What happened between him and your wife happened between two consenting adults.
What happened to him as a child was a crime and how you contributed to that is a travesty."
"Get out."
"My pleasure."
I yanked the door open and nearly ran into Gideon, who'd been leaning against the wall just outside the office.
His hand encircled my upper arm, but his gaze was on Dr.
Lucas, icy with fury and hatred.
"Stay away from her," he said harshly.
Lucas's smile was filled with malice.
"She came to me."
Gideon's returning smile made me shiver.
"You see her coming, I suggest you run in the opposite direction."
"Funny.
That's the advice I gave her in regard to you."
I flipped the good doctor the bird.
Snorting, Gideon caught my hand and pulled me back down the hall.
"What is it with you and giving people the finger?" "What? It's a classic."
"You can't just barge in here!" the receptionist snapped as we passed the counter.
He glanced at her.
"You can cancel that call to security, we're leaving."
We exited out to the corridor.
"Did Angus tattle on me?" I muttered, trying to pry my arm free.
"No.
Stop wriggling.
All the cars have GPS tracking."
"You're a nut job.
You know that?" He stabbed the elevator button and glared at me.
"I am? What about you? You're all over the place.
My mother.
Corinne.
Goddamned Lucas.
What the f**k are you doing, Eva?" "It's none of your business."
I lifted my chin.
"We broke up, remember?" His jaw tightened.
He stood there in his suit, looking so polished and urbane, while radiating a wild, feverish energy.
The contrast between what I saw when I looked at him and what I felt goaded my hunger.
I loved that I got to have the man inside the suit.
Every delicious, untameable inch of him.
The car arrived and we stepped inside.
Excitement sizzled through me.
He'd come after me.
That made me so hot.
He shoved an elevator key into the control panel and I groaned.
"Is there anything you don't own in New York?" He was on me in an instant, one hand in my hair and the other on my ass, his mouth on mine in a violent kiss.
He wasted no time, his tongue thrusting between my lips, plunging deep and hard.
I moaned and gripped his waist, pushing onto my tiptoes to deepen the contact.
His teeth sank into my lower lip with enough force to hurt.
"You think you can say a few words and end us? There is no end, Eva."
He flattened me into the side of the car.
I was pinned by six feet, two inches of violently aroused male.
"I miss you," I whispered, grabbing his ass and urging him harder against me.Gideon groaned.
"Angel."
He was kissing me: deep, shamelessly desperate kisses that made my toes curl in my pumps.
"What are you doing?" he breathed.
"You're going around, stirring up everything."
"I've got time on my hands," I shot back, just as breathless, "since I dumped my asshat boyfriend."
He growled, fiercely passionate, his hand in my hair pulling so tightly it pained me.
"You can't make this up with a kiss or a f**k, Gideon.
Not this time."
It was so hard to let him go; nearly impossible after the weeks I'd been denied the right and opportunity to touch him.
I needed him.
His forehead pressed to mine.
"You have to trust me."
I put my hands on his chest and shoved him back.