Oath of Valor (Personal Protectors Book 3) Read online

  Opening the door to my house, I walked through the kitchen and paused in the doorway of the living room when my eyes landed on the sight in front of me. There was Elliot, sprawled over my leather couch in a pair of hip-riding flannel pants and no t-shirt. My mouth watered when I took in his creamy chest and toned abs. And before he noticed me, I turned around and stalked down the hallway to lock myself in the bathroom. Unsnapping my pants, I shoved my hand inside and grabbed my cock, risking its safety again.

  Fuck. Karma really was a bitch, and she was working extra hard on me it seemed.

  Chapter 5

  “Thank you for calling Mount Pillar Hospital. This is Elliot, how may I direct your call?”

  “I need to speak to the doctor on call.”

  “What’s your emergency?”

  “My son’s poop is gooey, and I need to see if that’s normal or not.”

  “Please hold.”

  Elliot

  It was my first time working the shift alone at my new job. Normally, I was supposed to have a few extra days of training, but the person who handled training got a nasty bout of food poisoning. I had told her that chicken salad sandwich she’d bought in the cafeteria smelled suspicious, but she had eaten it anyway. Now she was the one hugging the porcelain god while I was silently screaming, I told you so. Thankfully, for both of us, I was a quick learner and had everything down that I needed to know.

  My shifts alternated since I was a relief person for the other full-timers, so that evening I was working second shift. No biggie for me since my life wasn’t as exciting as it used to be. Besides, in the evenings I answered calls for patients needing to speak to the doctor on call for emergency purposes, so I heard some doozies.

  It’d been four days since Larry announced his vacation; four days we spent avoiding each other as much as possible. During the days, Larry found every excuse possible to stay out of the house as errands seemed to appear out of thin air. For a man who made work his main priority, he sure did have a lot of things to fill up his time. I wasn’t an idiot though, I knew he was trying to stay away from me, and I was glad for it. The longer I was around him, the more I wanted to punch him in the face and bury my dick inside him at the same time. It was an odd mix of emotions, but they were hot, nonetheless. During one of the rare nights we were together, him watching one of his stupid shows, he spoke enough to tell me he and Rusty were planning on going on a mini getaway. Fine with me. Then I’d be able to breathe easier, and oxygen was probably something I needed a lot of considering I’d had a collapsed lung earlier that year.

  Being toward the end of the week, my shift was slower than usual. I’d learned that weekends and Mondays were our busiest shifts. Those were the days people realized they were out of prescriptions, or they were trying to schedule appointments they’d missed. Those shifts flew by, and I went to bed at night with the damn sound of the phone ringing in my brain. Thankfully, my work station computer had dual monitors, and if I went incognito on the browser at work, I was able to pull up Netflix and watch The Great British Baking Show. Damn, the things I’d do to Paul Hollywood. I couldn’t bake if my life depended on it, but I’d gladly let him give me a lesson with his rolling pin.

  “Thank you for calling Mount Pillar Hospital. This is Elliot, how may I direct your call?”

  I cringed at how my voice instantly went into customer service mode, making me sounded more formal than usual. But there was a legit script printed on the phone telling me how to answer any calls. Actually, it didn’t say to add my name, but I felt it made the calls a bit more personal. Aside from answering for doctors, we also took after-hours calls for hospice and home health care, and a few times I’d had to let a nurse know a patient passed away. Those calls always punched me in the gut. Especially when the caller was crying over the passing of a beloved family member or friend.

  “Emergency room,” a gruff voice barked on the other end.

  “Please hold.”

  I quickly forwarded the call and hung up the receiver. Short and, well, not sweet. But close enough. Those were my favorite kind of calls. But I had my fair share of ones where people needed to tell me their entire life story when all they really needed was for me to transfer them to the lab or x-ray department. I seemed to have one of those voices that invited people to tell me way too much information. I wasn’t a total asshole, though, and sometimes found myself engaging in the conversations with the patient. Maybe they had no one else to vent to and needed a friendly voice to hear them? Though, sometimes I found myself having to hurry the conversation if I had incoming calls. It just depended on the shift and circumstances.

  I pushed the play button to resume my show. That was the only downfall about watching Netflix at work. The job dared to interrupt my show, the rude bitch. I’d just gotten back into watching the contestants bake flatbreads, when my phone rang again. Honestly! Didn’t these people know I was trying to watch Paul Hollywood talk about soggy bottoms? Speaking of which, he could make my bottom soggy any day.

  I was one of those people who wasn’t the best in the kitchen, but thoroughly enjoyed watching other people do it. Food Network was my favorite channel to watch, and now that Larry was home, I couldn’t indulge in it as much as I’d like. Which was why I’d sneak it at work.

  “Thank you…”

  My voice trailed off when I realized what I was hearing in the background. This wasn’t a typical call where someone had a cold and needed to ask a doctor what they could take. No, the muffled sounds told me this was a butt-dial. And normally, I would’ve hung up. But not when what I was hearing had my blood running cold.

  “Shut him up!” a harsh voice directed someone else. “Use any means necessary.”

  “Are you sure?” I heard someone else ask, but he didn’t sound apprehensive. No, he sounded eager… excited, even.

  “I’m sure. We don’t need him drawing attention to us here.”

  I heard strangled cries of someone yelling, ”No,” in the background, followed by what sounded like a struggle. My eyes widened at the muffled screams I heard followed by a thump of what I could only image was a body hitting the floor.

  Holy shit! Had I just heard a… a murder?

  “Hello? Who’s there?” the harsh voice asked directly into the phone.

  My cold blood turned to ice when that voice registered with me. I’d heard it earlier. It was the same voice that wanted the emergency room.

  What the fuck did I do? Did I hang up? Shit. Hearing a possible murder over the phone wasn’t something they taught us during training. My breathing was becoming labored as I began to panic, and I was sure the man on the other end heard me since I sounded like a fucking obscene phone call.

  Without saying a word, I disconnected the call and hoped like hell he wouldn’t call back. I stared at the phone, cursing the fact that it was manufactured before I was born and didn’t have caller ID. Sure enough, a few seconds later the phone rang, causing me to jump even if I was staring at it.

  I debated on answering the call. What if it was that guy calling again? But I couldn’t not answer the call, right? What if it was a patient needing a doctor? Or someone needing a hospice nurse? Did I really want to risk being fired at the possibility of answering the call to a potential murderer? Getting fired would mean having to waste time finding a new job, which prolonged me moving out.

  The persistent ringing of the phone taunted me, daring me to pick up. Finally, after wiping my damp palm on my pants, I picked up the receiver and pressed the button that connected the call.

  “Th-thank you for c-calling Mount Pillar Hospital. Th-this is Elliot, how may I d-direct your call?”

  That’s when my words hit me like a fucking Mack truck. I’d been using my name when I answered calls! God, I was such an idiot.

  The person on the other line didn’t say a word, only breathed into the phone much like I’d done earlier, before disconnecting the call. Oh no. It was him. I’d bet my life on it, which I probably was going to have to do. And suddenly, I didn’t feel so safe anymore.

  With a shaky hand, I picked up the radio I used to communicate with the maintenance department and called security.

  “Uh, security, can you please come to my office. As soon as possible.”

  I was surprised at how hollow my voice sounded, and my mouth suddenly felt dry. It was a few minutes later when Karl, the older security guard, stepped inside. The worry must’ve radiated in my eyes, because the smile evaporated from his face.

  I ignored the next few incoming calls as I explained to Karl what’d happened. He picked up his phone and called the police department and spoke to them briefly. While he busied himself doing that, I felt a little better, and went back to transferring calls and forwarding patients to the after-hours doctors.

  “Unfortunately, there isn’t much the department can do. They’ll have to pull phone records to figure out who placed the call, but other than that, aside from monitoring all calls, there’s not much else that can be done.”

  I nodded, figuring as much. The phone was a dinosaur, and monitoring all calls could be a daunting task, and a possible HIPPA violation. “No worries, Karl. Thank you for coming down. I probably overreacted, anyway.”

  “What time do you get off?”

  “Eleven-thirty,” I answered. A glance at the clock showed me it was only a little after eight.

  “I’ll be down here and escort you to your car.”

  “Thanks.”

  The rest of my shift went smoother, but I had a hard time concentrating on anything else. Without giving too much away, I told my relief what’d happened. She agreed to stay on alert and notify security if anything strange happened. I didn’t want to worry her too much, but knew she needed to be on guard. Then true to his word, Karl escorted me t
o my car

  The drive home was uneventful, and when I let myself inside, I breathed easier knowing Larry was there. Just the fact that he was down the hall would make it easier for me to sleep. For once I wouldn’t be thinking of him as someone I wanted to punch and fuck, but as someone who could protect me should the situation arise.

  ****

  “What’s going on with you?” Larry asked gruffly the next morning.

  “Nothing,” I instantly denied. “Just making my breakfast.”

  “Liar. You’re jumpy. What’s going on?”

  “I’m not jumpy at all.” My toast chose that moment to pop up, causing me to nearly jump out of my skin, proving to Larry that I was lying.

  Larry arched a brow. “Try again. Did something happen at work?”

  I grabbed the toast and pulled out the jar of peanut butter. “How was your night?” I asked instead.

  “Boring. What’s going on, Elliot?”

  “I had a weird phone call,” I replied evasively, liberally spreading the creamy peanut butter over a piece of the toasted bread.

  “Okay? What was weird about it?”

  “I might’ve heard someone being murdered,” I said softly, trying my hardest to sound nonchalant.

  “Come again?” he asked sharply.

  “I could be mistaken.”

  Larry reached out and grabbed the knife from me, throwing it in the sink. “Fucking tell me what happened.”

  “I wasn’t finished!” I protested as I reached to grab a new knife.

  “Forget your toast, Elliot! What happened?”

  His voice was gruff, demanding, and a major turn on. I wanted to tell him that he wasn’t my father, and I didn’t have to follow his demands. But something inside me broke, and I wanted to tell him what happened, because truth be told, I was fucking terrified. I’d slept like shit the night before, even though Larry was in the house, so I was freaking exhausted. Even if I was overreacting, what I’d heard would haunt me for a very long time.

  I walked over to the kitchen table, carrying my half-made toast with me, and sat down. Larry sat beside me, his eyes sharp and his face fierce. This must’ve been how he looked while in work mode.

  Opening my mouth, I recounted everything that’d happened the night before, down to the call to Karl and having him escort me to my car. His swore swiftly when I told him about the call to the police department and how their hands were kind of tied.

  “And he knows your name and where you work?” Larry asked.

  I nodded. “Unfortunately.”

  “Damn it, Elliot,” Larry growled and banged his fist on the table. “Why would you use your fucking name?”

  I blanched at the harshness in his voice. “I didn’t think it’d be that big of a deal. Besides, I’m the only man in the department.” I pointed out. “It wouldn’t be hard for someone to figure out who was on duty.”

  “True.” He sighed as he scrubbed his hand over his face.

  He stood up and walked out of the room. A few seconds later his voice carried in from the other room.

  “Rusty, it’s Larry. Look, something came up with Elliot, so I have to put our trip on hold. Raincheck?”

  My jaw dropped, and I jumped up from the table to rush into the room he was in. I tried to protest, but he held up his finger to shush me.

  “Sounds good. Listen to Bertie, and no salt.”

  I started speaking as soon as he hung up the phone. “No! I can’t let you do that. I’ll be fine, Larry. The hospital always has a guard on duty, so I can call one of them should something happen. Go on your trip!”

  “The hospital might have guards on duty, but this house doesn’t. Vacation or not, I’m not going anywhere until we get down to the bottom of this. Trip’s off, Elliot.”

  Chapter 6

  “I might’ve been on a vacation from work, but that didn’t mean work was on a vacation from me.”

  Larry

  “When were you going to tell me about the phone call?” I asked Elliot with a growl.

  Elliot shrugged and his cheeks pinkened. “I don’t think I was ever going to.”

  “Why not?” I barked to him.

  “It was just a phone call, Larry. I’m probably making something out of nothing.”

  “Doubtful.”

  Elliot shrugged and went back to the kitchen. I followed behind, my jaw clenched tight, and wasn’t at all surprised to find him calmly eating his toast. Evidently, he wasn’t nearly as rattled by all of this as I was. Seeing him seated at my kitchen table, eating his toast as if he didn’t have a care in the world, grated on my nerves. But not nearly as bad something else.

  “Why did you use your name?” I asked again, walking up behind a kitchen chair and wrapping my fingers around the top of it, gripping it tight.

  Elliot swallowed the bite he’d been chewing and shrugged. “I just thought it’d make things a bit more personal and help soothe patients who were calling for genuine emergencies.”

  “What?” I bit out.

  Elliot took a sip of his juice. “Yeah, I get a lot of upset patients, so I figured they’d need a friendly voice. And why not make it more personal? I thought hearing my name my might them think they had a friend in me, if only for those few seconds we talked. Calling a hospital, especially for an emergency, can be a scary thing sometimes. I’ve had to deal with some crazy emergencies, and even a death a time or two. So why not?”

  “Of all the… are you fucking kidding me?” I barked at him.

  Elliot stiffened in his seat. “What? I’m sorry the thought of possibly hearing a murder never crossed my mind when I was answering the phone at work. God forbid I try to add a bit of flair to my position.”

  Instantly, my mind went back to another time he added a bit of flair to his position. No. I couldn’t think about that now. Not when we had other pressing matters to think about.

  “Is it protocol to answer the phone using your name?”

  Elliot slumped his shoulders a little bit. “Well, no,” he reluctantly admitted. “I did that on my own.”

  My grip on the chair tightened until my knuckles were stark white as I closed my eyes and groaned in frustration. “I can’t believe you were so fucking stupid, Elliot. And now your life can possible be in danger!”

  The sound of a chair scraping across the floor had my eyes snapping open. Elliot stood beside the table; his body visibly shaking as his eyes flashed in rage.

  “I might be a lot of fucking things, Larry, but stupid isn’t one of them.”

  “Elliot, I-”

  Elliot held up his hand and talked over me. “I might be flirty, obnoxious, flaky, and a load of other adjectives, but I’m not stupid. Don’t ever fucking call me that again.”

  “Elliot, I didn’t mean to call you stupid.”

  Elliot’s eyes flashed again. “Yes, you did. But you know what? If it comes down to it, I’d rather be stupid than a workaholic, absentee father.”

  My jaw practically fell to my feet at his blunt, and brutal words, and I was shocked speechless. All I could do was watch him turn on his heel and stomp out of the kitchen. A few seconds later the slamming of the door let me know he’d gone to his bedroom.

  I was rooted to the spot, completely surprised about what’d just transpired. I’d had many altercations in my time, mostly with people who were extremely guilty and trying to talk their way out of an arrest. Aside from those assholes, never had someone stood up to me that way before. People usually cowered to me, some even cried, a few had even quit their jobs once I let them have it. But not Elliot. No, he didn’t back down. In fact, he did the exact opposite, and put me in my place.

  I should’ve been angry. I should’ve been outraged at his words to me. Calling me a workaholic, absentee father hit me below the belt—but he was right. As hard as those words were to hear, they were the fucking truth. And truth be told, the balls he possessed to stand up to me only turned me on even more. So instead of hauling ass down the hallway and telling him to get the fuck out of my house, I found myself taking deep breaths to will my dick to calm the hell down. Because the flash of anger in his eyes was one of the hottest things I’d ever seen.