CHAPTER THREE: THE GREEN EYED MONSTER

Chapter 3: The Green-Eyed Monster

By seven o’clock the next evening, my hands were sweating for an entirely different reason.

It wasn’t just the fatigue from standing on my feet during a grueling five-hour pharmacology practical.

Nor was it the stress of my upcoming mid-semester assessments.

It was the memory of the way Dominic had leaned over me.

The phantom warmth of his chest brushing mine.

The low, dark register of his voice when he whispered my name.

Alora.

Nobody called me that in this hospital.

To the junior doctors, I was just another faceless student in scrubs.

To the senior consultants, I was a name on a grade sheet.

But when Dominic said it—

It sounded like an accusation.

It sounded like a secret.

I shook my head as I walked briskly down the silent, carpeted hallway of the VIP wing.

Get a grip, Alora.

He is your lecturer.

He is an arrogant, billionaire elitist who is actively trying to break your spirit with punishment assignments.

Do not turn into one of those pathetic girls who fawn over a handsome face in a white coat.

I stopped outside the heavy mahogany door, holding the next twenty pages of the congenital heart defects report tightly against my chest like a shield.

I adjusted my posture.

Forced a neutral expression onto my face.

Then knocked firmly.

There was no answer.

I frowned, glancing down at my cheap wristwatch.

Exactly seven o’clock.

Dominic was a tyrant about punctuality.

There was no way he would tolerate me being on time only for him to be absent.

Assuming he was reviewing a patient’s chart or typing out a surgical report, I turned the brass handle and pushed the door open.

“Dr. Reid, I have the next batch of—”

The words died completely in my throat.

⸻

The office was not empty.

Dominic was sitting in his large leather chair.

But he wasn’t looking at a laptop screen.

Standing right beside him, leaning provocatively against the edge of his massive mahogany desk, was Dr. Vanessa Cole.

She was a senior lecturer in the pediatrics department and the daughter of one of the hospital’s board members.

She was flawless.

Tall.

Light-skinned.

Perfectly styled hair.

A tailored lab coat that hugged her curves in all the right places.

As I opened the door, Vanessa was leaning down, her face barely inches from Dominic’s, laughing at something he had just said.

Her hand rested casually on his broad shoulder.

Her manicured fingers brushed the expensive fabric of his shirt.

And Dominic didn’t look uncomfortable.

He was leaning back in his chair with a relaxed, subtly amused expression.

An expression I had never seen him direct toward a student.

The sight hit me like a physical punch straight to the solar plexus.

A sudden wave of heat rushed up my neck.

Then came the tightness.

Sharp.

Bitter.

Suffocating.

It wasn’t anger.

Not entirely.

It was something uglier.

Something far more dangerous.

Jealousy.

And it completely blindsided me.

Vanessa’s head snapped toward the door.

The warmth vanished from her face instantly.

Her beautiful eyes narrowed.

Then drifted over my faded campus hoodie and worn sneakers.

“Can’t you knock?”

Her voice dripped with condescension.

“Dr. Reid and I are in the middle of discussing a critical pediatric consultation.”

I didn’t look at her.

I couldn’t.

My eyes were locked entirely on Dominic.

The moment I stepped into the room, his relaxed expression disappeared.

Replaced immediately by his signature mask of cold, unreadable ice.

His grey eyes tracked the tension in my jaw.

Then dropped to the manila folder clutched against my ribs.

“I did knock, Dr. Cole.”

My voice came out remarkably steady.

Though inside, my blood was boiling.

“But since the door was unlatched, I assumed Dr. Reid was expecting me.

It is exactly seven o’clock.”

Vanessa let out a mocking sigh.

Her hand slid from Dominic’s shoulder.

“Students these days truly have no sense of boundaries.”

She turned toward him.

“Dominic, do you want me to have security remove her?

The junior staff really need to learn their place.”

Hearing her call him Dominic made something inside me snap.

I tilted my head slightly.

The same sassy smirk Cassie always warned me about appeared on my lips.

“With all due respect, Dr. Cole, I am here on Dr. Reid’s explicit, mandatory orders to deliver a specialized assignment.”

My tone remained smooth.

Razor-sharp.

“Unless your pediatric consultation involves immediate cardiothoracic intervention, I believe my presence here is completely justified by the Chief of Surgery himself.

But of course, if I am interrupting your… private schedule, I can always inform the Dean why my submission was delayed.”

Vanessa’s face turned red.

A furious shade of red.

“You insolent little—”

“That’s enough, Vanessa.”

Dominic’s voice sliced through the room.

Not loud.

But absolute.

The authority behind it froze Vanessa instantly.

He rose slowly from his chair.

His six-foot-three frame immediately commanded the entire room.

He didn’t look at Vanessa.

His eyes were fixed entirely on me.

Watching.

Studying.

Interested.

“Leave the folder on the desk, Miss Vale.”

I stepped forward.

Dropped the folder onto the polished surface.

Then turned sharply toward the door.

I didn’t want to stay another second.

The urge to drag Vanessa away from his desk was terrifyingly unfamiliar.

And deeply embarrassing.

⸻

“Vanessa, we will conclude our discussion tomorrow.”

Dominic’s voice followed me.

“I have paperwork to review.

Alone.”

“But Dominic—”

“Goodnight, Vanessa.”

The finality in his tone left no room for argument.

I pushed open the door and stepped into the hallway.

Walking as quickly as possible.

Away from him.

Away from his scent.

Away from the ridiculous anger twisting my stomach into knots.

Why did I care?

Why did it matter if Vanessa sat on his desk?

Why did it matter if she touched him?

He was a ruthless billionaire tyrant.

I shouldn’t care if he spent every evening with half the female doctors in the city.

“Alora. Wait.”

The command echoed down the empty corridor.

I froze.

Then slowly turned around.

⸻

Dominic had left his office.

His lab coat was gone.

He stood in charcoal trousers and a white dress shirt.

Sleeves rolled to his elbows.

Jaw tight.

Expression determined.

He walked toward me with long, purposeful strides.

I crossed my arms tightly over my chest.

Bracing myself.

He stopped directly in front of me.

Blocking the elevators.

Blocking my escape.

“What do you want, Dr. Reid?”

My voice dripped with sarcasm.

“If the assignment is missing a page, I assure you it’s all there.

You can read it while Dr. Cole finishes her… consultation.”

A flicker of amusement crossed his face.

Dominic stepped forward.

I stepped back.

Until my shoulders brushed against the cool wall.

He placed one hand beside my head.

Effectively trapping me.

“You were disrespectful to a senior faculty member, Miss Vale.”

His deep voice rumbled through the quiet hallway.

But there was no anger in it.

Only amusement.

Dark amusement.

His gaze lingered on my flushed cheeks.

A tiny smirk tugged at his lips.

“And you look incredibly angry.

Care to tell me why?”

“I am not angry.”

A blatant lie.

“I just don’t like my time being wasted while people play office romance.”

Dominic’s smirk widened.

His gaze dipped briefly to my lips.

Then returned to my eyes.

“Are you jealous, Alora?”

The words were soft.

Dangerously soft.

My pulse stumbled.

“Don’t flatter yourself, Dr. Reid.”

I shoved at his chest.

Or at least, I tried to.

It was like pushing a wall.

Dominic didn’t move.

Not even an inch.

His eyes darkened.

The amusement vanished.

Something far more dangerous took its place.

For a long moment, neither of us spoke.

The hallway seemed to disappear.

Leaving only the space between us.

The tension.

The challenge.

The question neither of us wanted answered.

Then—

The elevator doors dinged.

The spell shattered instantly.

Dominic stepped back.

His expression closing off like a steel vault.

Cold.

Professional.

Untouchable.

Night-shift nurses entered the corridor.

And the ruthless professor returned.

“Ensure the next section is flawless, Miss Vale.”

His voice was perfectly controlled.

As if nothing had happened.

As if the charged silence between us had never existed.

Without another word, he turned and walked away.

Back toward his office.

Back behind his walls.

Back behind his control.

I leaned against the corridor wall.

Trying to steady my shaking legs.

Watching his broad shoulders disappear through the doorway.

My mind was a complete mess.

Fear.

Anger.

Confusion.

And something far more dangerous.

Something addictive.

Something I absolutely should not have been feeling.

⸻

Cassie’s warning echoed through my head once again.

He is going to eat you alive.

As I stood alone in the corridor, staring at the closed office door, I finally understood what she meant.

Because Dominic Reid wasn’t just dangerous.

He was becoming impossible to ignore.

And that terrified me more than anything.