The Girl Who Always Wins (Soulless Book 13) Read online

  The Girl Who Always Wins

  Soulless #13

  Victoria Quinn

  Hartwick Publishing

  Hartwick Publishing

  The Girl Who Always Wins

  Copyright © 2021 by Victoria Quinn

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  1

  Atlas

  With my chin propped on my knuckles, I sat in the chair in front of the computer, my eyes closed because I was drifting off, the sounds of nurses passing partially registering in my brain. Monitors beeped. But most of the lights were off because it was late in the night and the patients were sleeping.

  “What are you doing here?”

  I immediately sat upright and rubbed the sleep from my eyes. “Waiting on results.”

  “At one in the morning?”

  “Guess I was anxious…”

  “Well, they called me, and I have them.” He set the paper on the desk in front of me.

  I blinked a couple times before I could actually read. “They called you with this? Why don’t they ever call me?”

  He wore a slight grin as he sat down. “Because I’m Dr. Hamilton.”

  I read through the report. “Substantial alveoli repair…reduction in inflammation…holy shit.”

  Dr. Hamilton leaned back in the chair, his fingers interlocked behind his head, wearing a big grin. “Looks like it works.”

  “We’ve got good news, Mr. Franken.” Dr. Hamilton flipped on the lights as he walked into the room.

  I readied my stethoscope and moved to the opposite side of the bed.

  Mr. Franken stirred slowly, coming to consciousness after his deep sleep. “Dr. Hamilton…?”

  “I’ve got good news for you.” He patted his arm then hit the button on the bed, getting him to sit upright.

  I pressed the stethoscope to his chest. “Take a deep breath for me.”

  He looked at me and did as I asked. “Dr. Beaumont, what’s going on?”

  Dr. Hamilton indicated to me, giving me the honors.

  I smiled because this was a pretty good feeling. “Your results came back. Healthy tissue is regrowing…and the tumor is receding.”

  Overwhelmed by what I’d said, all he could do was stare. “I…I…don’t understand.”

  “It worked, Mr. Franken.” I smiled and pulled the stethoscope out of my ears. “Your lungs sound much improved to when I first listened. You’ve gotten so much better, and I think you’re going to keep getting better.”

  “So…I’m not going to die?”

  I shook my head. “Not from lung cancer—because you’re about to beat it.”

  By the time we left the hospital, it was almost four in the morning. This was Manhattan, the city that never slept, so we went to a bar that was empty and ordered a couple drinks.

  Dr. Hamilton ordered a scotch.

  I ordered my usual cognac.

  With one hand on his glass and a smile on his lips, he was the same relaxed man I’d seen at the cabin by the lake, a man in his element. “I know we’ve got a long road ahead of us, but this is a win—to me.”

  “Fuck yeah, it’s a win.” I clinked my glass against his, failing to censor myself because I was too ecstatic to be professional. “Mr. Franken was on oxygen when he first came in. Look at him now. He doesn’t need it.”

  “I wonder how it will affect the other patients.”

  “It’s gotta help at least some of them. And if not—”

  “We’ll figure out exactly what happened with Mr. Franken. Figure out why his body responded and others didn’t.”

  “Exactly.” A few hours ago, I was falling asleep in my chair, but now I had so much adrenaline that rest was the last thing on my mind. We’d spent years on this project, going into the lab every morning, tweaking our experiment, working with the different mice, trying to understand how we could make this work.

  Dr. Hamilton took a drink. “Imagine if we figure this out…how it’ll change lung cancer forever.”

  “And other cancers—if we can understand it well enough.”

  His eyes flicked away, looking dreamy. “Infinite possibilities…”

  “This high is so high, it’s worth all the lows.”

  He nodded. “Without the highs, I wouldn’t be able to do this. There were nights when I thought about quitting, but I talked myself into staying because I was leaving too much progress on the table.”

  “Well, I’m glad you didn’t quit. I think the world is, too.”

  He gave a shrug before he took a drink. “We have to be at work in a couple hours.”

  “You’re joking, right?”

  He gave a slight grin. “I never take a day off.”

  “Well, I think tonight warrants at least a morning off.”

  “True. I could convince my wife to call in sick…and make her breakfast.” He waggled his eyebrows slightly.

  I gave a chuckle. “That sounds nice.”

  He swirled his glass before he took another drink. “You and Daisy seem very happy together.”

  It was the first time he’d directly commented on the relationship. Prior to this, it was as if he didn’t even know we were in a relationship. There was a distinct line between church and state, between colleagues and the father of my girlfriend. Put on the spot, I didn’t know what to say because we were happy together, but…it was complicated. “We are.”

  He continued to stare at me.

  Daisy wouldn’t talk about our relationship to him, at least not something that personal, so I knew he didn’t know about our woes. And if he did, he wouldn’t want me for his daughter. He’d stuck out his neck and recommended me, but he probably wouldn’t have if he’d known how I felt about kids.

  “My wife is very fond of you.”

  “She is?” I asked, slightly surprised.

  He nodded. “My boys like you too.”

  I had the Hamilton seal of approval. “You seem like the type of people who like everyone—”

  “We’re not.” He took a drink. “At least, not when it comes to Daisy.”

  I was hit with the cold reminder that this was his daughter. At the end of the day, she would always be his daughter.

  “I think you give her what she needs in a man. And I think she gives you what you need too.”

  “Honestly, she doesn’t need much. She’s self-sufficient and independent. She speaks her mind unapologetically, so she never gets taken advantage of—and not to mention, she’s the smartest person I’ve ever met…present company not included.”

  “And that’s exactly what she needs in a man.”

  “Sir, I really appreciate—”

  “Come on, it’s Deacon. We’re colleagues, Atlas. I’m not going to sit here and call you Dr. Beaumont every time I address you.”

  “Well, you’re Dr. Hamilton. The Dr. Hamilton.”

  He rolled his eyes and took a drink. “What were you saying?”

  “I just appreciate that you think so highly of me, but I’m still not convinced that I’ve earned it.”

  “Then let me ask you this.” He set down the glass. “What more could you do?”

  I didn’t understand the question.

  “What are your flaws?”

  Put on the spot, I didn’t know what to say. “Well, I’ve already been married—”

  “Nothing wrong with that.”

  “I don’t have a family.” I had nothing to bring to the table in a marriage. She would never
inherit a mother-in-law or a father-in-law, no brothers or sisters. I was entirely on my own.

  “That’s why you make a family, Atlas.”

  I immediately dropped my gaze at the touchy subject being brought up.

  He drank from his glass again. “I’m still close with my mom and brother, but at different phases of your life, different people become important to you. My mom is really close with the women in her retirement home. Those are the people she’s closest to now. My brother has his own kids and grandkids. I have my children and grandchildren. Not having those things isn’t a shortcoming.”

  Once this subject was broached, I was deeply uncomfortable. He probably had no idea what he’d just brushed up against, but this was something that tormented me every single day of my life. It was always a problem, a problem that wouldn’t be resolved until I was older and the discussion was no longer on the table.

  “Besides…you always have me.”

  My eyes moved back to him.

  “Not as a potential father-in-law, but as a friend…a father figure.”

  He said it was fine that I had nothing to bring to the table, but she brought everything that I could ever want. She was the woman of my dreams, and her father was the man I aspired to be.

  And I had nothing to reciprocate.

  2

  Daisy

  The music was loud in the bar, and the only reason I knew my phone was ringing was because it vibrated in my clutch. I pulled it out and saw Atlas’s name on the screen. “Look who it is, bitches. My man.”

  “Tell him to come!” Meredith yelled across the table.

  I took the call. “Hey, what are you doing right now?”

  “Uh, just got home. Sounds like you’re out?”

  “Uh, yeah. It’s a Friday. Of course I’m out. You should come down and meet my friends.”

  Meredith yelled again. “Tell him to bring hot dudes!”

  I turned back to the phone. “And bring some good dick.”

  “My dick comes with me everywhere I go, so we’re good on that front.”

  “No, I meant for my girls. Bring some boys.”

  “Oh, gotcha.”

  “But yeah, bring him too. We can pop into an alleyway.”

  He was quiet for a second, like he wasn’t sure if I was kidding or not. “Text me the details. See you soon.”

  “Woo-hoo! He’s coming!”

  The girls yelled too.

  “This is going to be a crazy night, isn’t it?”

  When he walked inside with his guys, he spotted me quickly, probably because I was in a skintight bright-blue dress with cutouts everywhere, showing my bare skin. He looked me up and down, displaying that intensity he showed in the bedroom and sometimes at work when I said something particularly feisty.

  I was standing at the table with Meredith while the other girls were dancing. I lifted my hands and motioned an upside-down triangle shape because he looked sexy as hell in his t-shirt and jeans, his jawline having that evening shadow that I liked.

  His grin lit up the club.

  He motioned to his two guys to follow him to the table.

  I came around the table and circled my arms around his neck, kissing him for everyone to see, pressing my body into his so I could feel his hardness through his jeans. I purposely ran my hand over the front of his jeans so I could feel his outline before I pulled away.

  “Did you just grab my dick in a public place?”

  “So what? You gonna call the cops?” I grabbed his hand and dragged him to my friends. “Ladies, this is the one, the only, Atlas Beaumont.” My arm hooked through his as I stood beside him, a little taller than usual because I wore my sky-high pumps. “The man with a big dick and an even bigger heart.”

  He turned to me. “Well, that’s one hell of an introduction.”

  I chuckled into his shoulder because I was already a bit drunk.

  Atlas shook hands with everyone. “It’s nice to finally meet the crew.” He motioned to the guys he’d brought. “Matthew and Kyle.”

  The girls looked over them both, as if they all liked what they saw.

  Matthew grinned. “Wow, you’ve got some pretty friends, Daisy.”

  Kyle’s eyes were wide open, absolutely astounded by the talent in front of him. “Yeah, wow is the right word.”

  I grabbed Atlas and dragged him to the dance floor. “Dance with me.”

  “Baby, I don’t dance.”

  I raised my arms in the air and rocked my hips, flipping my hair around, having a good time as I disregarded what he said.

  He stood there and stared, a slight smile on his lips. “How drunk are you?”

  “Drunk enough that I’m loose, but not so drunk that you have to feel guilty for fucking me in the alleyway later.” I grabbed his hands and pulled him close, showing him how to rock his hips, how to move with me like we were in the bedroom. “See? You’re a natural.”

  “Only because I’m with you.” His arm hugged the small of my back and kept me close, the music blaring from the speakers, the lights low, people nearby flinging sweat everywhere.

  “Wow…what a line.”

  His hands grabbed my ass. “Not a line if I mean it.”

  Two of the girls paired off with the guys, while Meredith and Tanya found their guys elsewhere in the bar. I sat at the table alone, totally drunk out of my mind, glancing at the bar over and over, waiting for Atlas to come back with more drinks. It was almost two, so if we didn’t get those drinks pronto, we would be cut off.

  And I didn’t need to explain why that was totally devastating.

  I slammed my hand on the table. “What’s taking so long?”

  Jenny and Matthew were making out right beside me, oblivious to me the way I was oblivious to them.

  I slid out of the booth, wobbled on my heels for a second, and then marched to the bar.

  Atlas was talking to a fine little honey in a black dress at the bar.

  I don’t think so, bitch.

  I purposely squished myself between them and forced them to break apart. “I’m so sorry, dear. But this fine piece of man is mine. Shoo.” I waved her away with my fingertips then turned to the glasses sitting on the counter. “What the fuck is this shit? Water?”

  Atlas looked at her again. “Sorry, my girlfriend is batshit crazy.”

  I turned to him, my hand raised. “I prefer crazy-ass bitch. None of that batshit…”

  She walked off. “See you tomorrow, Atlas.”

  “Tomorrow?” I asked. “What’s tomorrow?”

  “Work.”

  “You work with that fly honey?” I asked, instantly getting jealous.

  Now his look turned perplexed. “How drunk are you?”

  “Because I’m jealous, that means I’m drunk?”

  “When you’re jealous of a dude, then yeah.”

  “What?” I turned back around, seeing the girl in the black dress talking to her friends. “Wait…then who…?”

  “That was Bobby. He works with me at the lab.”

  “Ooh.”

  He laughed then handed the glass to me. “You need this.”

  I pushed it away. “Poison.”

  “Baby, come on.” He held out the drink to me again.

  I whined like a child. “I don’t wanna…”

  He grinned as he watched me, both annoyed and amused.

  “Fine.” I took it and downed it. “Can I have my drink now?”

  “Okay, it’s time to go.” He paid the tab and circled his arm around my waist to walk me out.

  “Are we going to the alleyway?”

  “Sure.” He waved goodbye to his guys as he walked me out of the club.

  “Good. Because I want all of you.” I clung to him, rubbing my body into his, being sexy and seductive. “Right now.”

  “Thank you.” He got me outside and to the street before he waved down a cab.

  I looked over his shoulder. “Look, there’s a dumpster right there…”

  “Yes, let’s hook up
behind a stinky dumpster next to a homeless guy taking a piss.”

  “Yeah!” I raised my arms in the air and started dancing.

  The cab pulled up, and he opened the back door before he guided me inside, like a cop pushing down the head of a suspect as he got him into the back of the squad car.

  I fell back, my head resting on the seat, my eyes suddenly heavy.

  He got into the other seat, and the cab drove away.

  I scooted over to the center and laid my head on his shoulder, my arm hooking around his waist. I moved in and started kissing his neck, my hand rubbing down to his crotch. My dress rose up until my ass popped up.

  “Baby.” He yanked it down then looked at me. “Let’s wait until we get home, alright?”

  I pouted my lips in sadness. “You don’t want me?”

  He chuckled then looked straight ahead. “No, that’s not the problem.” His hand guided my head to his shoulder, and he rubbed my back.

  Putting me to sleep.

  I woke up when I felt my body hit sheets.

  My eyes opened, and I saw him grab one leg and take off the heel. He did the same to the other. The artwork on the wall told me we were at his place, in his bedroom, and that was why the sheets felt so comfortable.

  I watched him with heavy-lidded eyes as he took care of me.

  He got to his feet and pulled his shirt over his head before he turned off the lamp on the nightstand.

  “I love you…”

  He stilled at my words before he leaned over me again. “I love you too…even though you’re fucking crazy.”

  “No, I really love you.” I reached for him and pulled him on top of me, my legs circling his waist, my dress pushing up to my hips. My hand cupped his face with weightlessness. As if I were drifting on a cloud, everything was airy, like I could fly right now. “Like marry you and have babies with you kind of love you.”

  “I know—”

  “No, you don’t.” I gave him a gentle slap to the face. “I thought I loved Mason, but when I saw him at the poker match, I felt nothing. I just wanted him to go away so I could text you back.”