The Doctor Who Has No Ambition (Soulless Book 9) - Victoria Quinn Page 0,16

a bit of a weird mood because he was really quiet.

“We’re going to have another Harvard alum in the family…pretty exciting.”

“Very.” He gripped the strap of his bag and faced the metal doors. “Your mother and I are extremely proud. Lizzie is a very accomplished young woman, and I’m excited to see where life will take her. I just feel bad for Derek. It’s gonna be hard for him.”

“Hard for him, how?”

“Because she’s leaving for college.” The doors opened, and he stepped into the hallway. “She’ll start her own life. When each one of you went off to college, it was rough. I took it worse than your mother. Daisy was the hardest.”

“Why was Daisy the hardest?”

He walked forward and pulled his keys from his pocket. “I love you all equally and raised you all equally, but…it’s just different with her. She’s my little girl. I just feel more protective toward her than you or Derek. So, I know Derek will have to go through that entire process. At least I had Daisy from the day she was born. Derek didn’t get that luxury.” He unlocked the door, and we walked inside, stepping into my childhood home. His satchel was set on the dining table like routine, and he headed to the fridge to grab the beers.

I got comfortable on the couch and pulled out my phone to order the pizza. “You sure you don’t want anything?”

“Yes.” He set the beers down and sat beside me. “But let me order it.”

“I got it—”

He pushed my phone down and made the order himself. “You’re my company.”

I knew that wasn’t the only reason. I made good money working for Mom, but it still wasn’t a fortune when the rent in New York City was so expensive. I was definitely the poorest person in the family, living in a regular apartment now instead of a nice penthouse, but that didn’t bother me at all. “Well, thanks.”

He tossed the phone aside then twisted off the cap to his beer.

I did the same.

He took a drink of his beer but didn’t reach for the remote.

It was on the other side of him on the coffee table, so I couldn’t reach it. I waited for him to grab it, but he didn’t.

Oh fuck. I knew what was coming. “What is it?”

Dad brought his hands together in his lap and looked down at the rug underneath our feet for a moment.

“You’re freaking me out, Dad.” The last time he was like this was when Mom got sick, and I really couldn’t go through something like that again. After that happened, I never took either one of them for granted again.

“Everything is okay,” he said quietly. “Nothing like that.”

I couldn’t stop myself from releasing a relieved sigh.

“I want to talk about you.”

“Me?” I asked incredulously. “What about me? My devilish good looks? Mom wants to make me the employee of the month? Is it—”

“Stop with the jokes. You’re compensating, and we both know it.” He raised his chin and looked at me, slightly angry, like my behavior actually annoyed him. “You think you’re fooling everyone with this act, but you’re not.”

I went quiet, and for the first time in my life, I really didn’t know what to say.

He faced forward again and closed his eyes, immediately remorseful of his harshness. “Son, you’re a surgeon. You aren’t some replaceable staff member at the concierge desk. I know everything that happened traumatized you and you needed some time—”

“I’m not a surgeon.” I spoke with defeat, my tone lifeless now because I was forced to think about the things I didn’t want to think about. I was forced to acknowledge a past I’d done my best to erase. “That’s not who I am anymore. I’m happy working here.”

“You. Are. A. Surgeon.”

I turned away, trying my hardest not to yell at my father, the man I admired most in this world. “Not anymore.” Catherine took me to court, took half my money, barely looked me in the eye as she did it, and I was never the same. I wasn’t sure what killed me more—losing her or losing her father on the table. Everything changed that day. I closed up my office, canceled all my appointments despite the pleas of my patients, and I asked my mom for a job because there was nothing I was interested in. Everyone in the family tried to talk me out of it, but I refused to listen. Dad and Derek protested letting me work for