CHAPTER 5: THEE LEVI PRICE

REVA

“You’re awake.” Levi broke the tension, advancing to me with a concerned frown, and I scrambled for my words.

“Dr. Price. I’m so sorry about all this.” I blurted out, but he didn’t let me finish.

“Levi will do,” he said, the corners of his mouth tugging into the faintest smile, and I nodded, rephrasing my sentence.

“Levi… I-” Again, he didn’t let me finish, which I was glad for, as I didn’t even know what to say. He asked how I was feeling, and I told him I was okay. I wasn’t, but I knew he wasn’t looking for that answer.

He said he was glad I was okay, and my words rushed out before I could stop them, a part of me still surprised that he was here.

“What are you doing here?” I asked, and he gestured toward the beach as he answered.

“I’m on vacation.”

Of course, he was. It was a luxury resort. My face burned as I silently cursed myself for asking something so foolish. We stepped back into the suite, and before I could say another word, he picked up the glass of water and pills from the bedside table and handed them to me.

“You should still take these.”

I hesitated for a reason I couldn’t explain before taking them because I desperately needed to feel better.

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed the smile tugging at his lips, most likely because I hadn’t stopped blushing like an idiot since realizing he had helped me, not his father.

“They are my go-to after a rough night,” he added with a grin, clearly trying to end the tension in the room, then moved to the table and lifted the lid of the covered dish from earlier to reveal a beautifully plated salmon meal.

The aroma made my stomach twist once more, and this time it was from hunger. “This will also help,” he added, gesturing toward the food. “It’s just as good after a rough night.”

But I couldn’t stay. I needed to get out before he asked me what happened last night, before he looked at me with pity. We worked together, and I needed to retain some dignity.

Levi Price wasn’t just my boss; he was thee Levi Price. A neurosurgeon with a reputation that stretched far beyond the walls of our hospitals.

I worked under him as a neurologist, and though our specialties ran parallel, he was the one everyone knew; the one patients waited months to see, the one other surgeons quietly tried to impress.

And as if that wasn’t impressive enough, there was more to him than the white coat and the scalpel. He was also a managing partner in his family’s empire, a medical dynasty. The Price name carried weight in every corner of the healthcare world.

They owned hospitals, clinics, rehabilitation centers, and pharmacies. And you couldn’t walk into any health facility without seeing their name etched in glass or printed on the board of directors.

Levi sat on that board as well. So an opportunity to work with him and his father was an opportunity of a lifetime. They were healthcare royalty. And I wouldn’t let my messy personal life screw things up for me.

“Thank you for everything,” I said, fumbling for the right words. “But I need to go. You’ve already done enough, and this...” My voice trailed off as I looked around the room and then at him. “You’re my boss, Dr.-I mean, Levi. And I-this is just too much. I need to go.”

But I only made it a few steps toward the door before Levi stepped into my path. He didn’t touch me, didn’t block me aggressively, and only stood there with a smile.

"Yes, I'm your boss when I’m Dr. Price. But right now, I’m just Levi.”

My brows knitted together. “Levi, I appreciate everything, but I really need to”

However, he cut me off, holding up a hand.

“Before you go, I need to say this: I don’t exactly trust you with yourself right now.”

I paused, his unexpected words hitting me with an unsettling truth that made my chest tighten.

“Thank you for your concern,” I replied carefully, “but I’m not a child. You aren’t responsible for me.”

His expression softened, and a faint smile tugged at the corners of his mouth again.

"Actually." His tone grew gentler. “Out of everyone on this resort, I’m probably the closest thing you have to family. So you are my responsibility.” He added, "Family that cares, that is."

I blinked, the question of how much he knew coming to mind again at his words. Did he know I tried to kill myself because my husband cheated on me?

Just then, another thought occurred to me. The butler, his butcher, called me Mrs. Belkov. How? I didn’t go by Mrs. Belkov. I kept my marriage to Nikolai a secret at work, even though he was no longer a client. How did the butler know?

Looking back up at him again, my throat tightened as I tried to respond.

“Dr. Pr-Levi,” I stammered, but he interrupted again, his tone shifting into something almost teasing.

“Do you want me to have him thrown off the cliff?”

I froze, staring up at him in disbelief. “You know?” My voice came out barely a whisper, and Levi’s lips curved into a knowing smile, amused for a moment.

“I do; I know everything,” he said, his second statement answering my earlier question about whether he knew I was married and that I had been keeping it a secret because of when it happened.

My lips parted, my mind racing, but before I could process it, he reached out, tilting my chin up gently with his fingers.