Page 78 of Vetted for Vengeance
I didn’t ask for opinions. Didn’t need them. Didn’t want them.
Because the moment you rely on other people, you give them the chance to fail you.
Or worse…to leave.
My jaw tightens slightly. But today, I let them in. And instead of weakening the structure…it held.
Stronger.
I exhale slowly; the tension easing from my shoulders in a way I don’t entirely trust.
This is what Noah does without thinking.
He delegates. Builds trust in people, despite so many people abusing his trust in his past. He still built something bigger than himself.
And somehow…he hasn’t been broken by it.
A flicker of something sharp moves through my chest. Not irritation. Not quite admiration. Something more dangerous.
Attachment.
My fingers tap once against the desk before I push away from it. Outside, I can already hear the practice moving again.
Exactly how he runs it.
Without breaking. Without forcing it.
The thought settles heavier than it should.
And for a moment, just a moment, I consider what happens if someone tries to take that away from me. From him.
My gaze shifts toward the window. Towards the far end of the car park. Toward the trees. The place where I saw him. The place where something is still wrong.
The calm in my chest stills.
Sharpens.
Because growth is all well and good until something threatens it.
Then… we'll see what kind of man I really am.
Chapter thirty-eight
Noah
Plans are afoot. Everyone is buzzing with excitement about more surgeries. I can't figure out enough information from the gossip, only that Rhys mentioned it before it was set in stone, and that was somehow a miracle in itself.
“Rhys.” I corner him in the supply room. “I'm the new guy; you don't owe me an explanation for everything, but I'm hearing so much.”
“It's all your fault,” Rhys replies. “I used to film a week straight, and then we'd have six weeks of peace. Now they are here daily. We have a ten-minute piece after the six o'clock news every day, plus our weekly full episode. We are booked for weeks, turning people away.”
“I'm sorry.”
I'm turning everything upside down for these people, and they have been nothing but wonderful towards me.
“This is the best thing that could happen to us. We can expand and take on more staff. Build and grow.”
I smile, not because he's reassured me, but because the general vibe in the practice is electric.
