Read Online The Duke Takes a Bride (Entitled Book 2) by Suzette de Borja - Free Book Online Page B

the car door, just as Julian put a hand on her shoulder to stop her.
    “Where do you think you’re going?” His voice was ominous.
    “I can’t leave Clark all alone in the apartment! No one is going to feed him.” Just thinking about walking up those flights of stairs already made her breathless in a way that had nothing to do with the man beside her.
    “Don’t you have a flatmate who can take care of him while you’re gone?”
    “Stella is on a location shoot. I don’t know when she’ll be back.”
    “Is Hopkins back yet?” Julian addressed the driver.
    “No, sir. There has been no activity in the other vehicle.”
    Imogen saw him frown. And then she heard him sigh. A great, put-upon sigh. “I’ll get the little fellow. Just stay put and rest.”
    She nodded and slumped back against the seat in relief. Clark would be in safe hands.
    And in case this wasn’t a dream and she had really made a fool of herself in front of Julian, she could go kill herself later when she felt better. It took only a few seconds before she went out like a light.

Chapter 5
    “ S he is a bit dehydrated , but that is to be expected.” Dr. Lukas Martin, partner and head of the Life Sciences Division at Creatus Ventures, flopped on the grey sofa in the living room of Julian’s penthouse apartment. He had an electric blue stethoscope dangling from his neck and reached for the tumbler of whiskey on the glass coffee table before taking a sip. “Just give her plenty of fluids, acetaminophen, and rest. Not this kind of fluid, though,” he winked, holding the alcoholic drink up high. “Supportive treatment is all what is usually needed for young, healthy patients like her.”
    “I really appreciate you making a house call, Lukas,” Julian lifted his gaze from the fishbowl on the coffee table and addressed the brilliant man several years his junior. “Especially since you aren’t practicing anymore.”
    Lukas flashed a lopsided smile, his spectacles glinting from the late afternoon sun filtering through the massive floor-to-ceiling windows. He reached for a gadget on the coffee table, pushed a button, and watched the windows turn opaque. “Don’t worry about it, Jules. I’ll just bill you astronomically for my services,” he retorted jauntily. He peered into the fishbowl that had been preoccupying his business partner. “That’s one damned ugly goldfish you’ve got there, man.”
    The fish wiggled slowly away from Lukas’ inspection, as if insulted.
    “You know this is a goldfish?”
    Lukas shrugged. “Not all goldfish are ‘gold.’” This was said with air finger quote action.
    “I think I missed that particular National Geographic episode,” Julian said acerbically. Now that he had spent some considerable time getting to know Clark, he could make out the faint, white gold tones on his belly amidst all the black.
    Julian had the unenviable task of holding the goldfish bowl all the way home to Blakely Towers. Hopkins had driven the other car and Carter had to be left behind to arrange the overdue rental for the apartment. His pants and silk tie had been splashed from the sloshing water inside the bowl. Normally, Jenkins’ Formula 1 style of driving didn’t bother him but today, it did. It didn’t help his balancing act that he had to have his other hand glued to his mobile, canceling and rearranging meetings. Beside him, oblivious to the inconvenience she and Clark were subjecting him to, Imogen slept fitfully. She kept mumbling what sounded like, “No hospitals.”
    “Lukas, meet Clark, the goldfish of Black Moor ,” Julian introduced, deadpan.
    The significance was lost on Lukas. Really, geniuses had such trouble detecting droll, self-deprecating humor. Maybe Julian should have winked and nudged the young man.
    “I never really took a liking to the Dragon Eye variety like this fellow here with the telescope eyes,” Lukas mused.
    Julian glanced at Clark’s protruding bug eyes.
    “No offense, man.” Lukas