The Procedure Read Online Free PDF Page B

beautiful. Entirely too good for the likes of that bloody tosser.
    Her creamy skin glowed in the chandelier lighting, giving her an ethereal quality. Her long neck stretched elegantly as he whispered something in her ear.
    She stood, taking his hand, and allowed him to pull her out on the dance floor. She stood out from the rest of the women around her. Her simple, cream-colored dress clung to her thighs before falling freely around her shoes. The rest of the women around her wore dark dresses and were dripping in diamonds, while Mrs. Aldridge only wore a simple, silver necklace and her silky hair pulled into a lose bun. She was exquisite and entirely too beautiful for a man like Michael Aldridge.
    Her back was to me, his hand resting at her waist, and something keen to jealousy of him moved through my veins. He was obviously a git. He had a graceful woman in his arms, one that deserved to be treated as such, and yet he still stuck his knob in anything barely legal.
    The music shifted and so did they, allowing me the perfect view of her face. And there she was, the same sad woman who had sat in front of me and begged me to give her something she was probably never going to have with a man like Michael Aldridge.
    Her beautiful skin was paler than the last time I’d seen her. Her plump lips were pulled down. As if she were minutes away from tears, and her dark bedroom eyes were closed, holding in those tears, no doubt.
    Again, Michael whispered something in her ear, and I saw her body tense. The bloody bastard was probably saying something rude. It made me hate him even more than I already did.
    Just as quickly as he pulled her on the dance floor, he pulled away, leaving her standing there, embarrassed and alone. His confident swagger was eyed by envious ladies around him, making it easy for them to miss what was a clear warning to steer clear of the asshole. He made his way to the bar, toward me.
    He held up his hand, signaling he was ready for another drink, and then he turned, resting his back against the bar and looking out at the dance floor. I couldn’t help myself.
    “That sure is a lovely lady you were dancing with, Michael. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you at an event with her before.”
    He looked over at me, his expression changing into something dark. “She’s my wife.”
    The bartender handed him his drink, and he took a quick swig.
    “Lucky man,” I said with a smile.
    He chuckled to himself. “Sometimes. Certainly not with that one, but you know what they say—it’s cheaper to keep her.”
    And then he was gone, strutting across the room, smiling and flirting with any young woman who would give him the time of day, while his wife sat at a table in the corner and kept her tears at bay. Something happened to me in that moment. Maybe it was because I saw something in her eyes that brought back memories of my past.
    A past that included my mother and her own personal heartbreak and hell with my father. So many times as a young boy, I’d watched her glistening tears run down her perfect face while my father belittled her. He was a good man. Good to his patients and really good to my sister and me until the day that changed us all, but my mother was never good enough.
    She died when I was twenty and once we laid her to rest, I’d had enough death and I was sick of my father’s disapproval for my choice of career. “Plastic surgery,” he’d say, “is unneeded.” He said I needed to get into a real profession. Of course, what he really meant was that I should be like him.
    After my mother’s death, I was on the first plane to America, leaving my father and those bad memories behind me. My father taught me a lot about my profession, but he also taught me that a lady deserved so much more, and Samantha Aldridge was a lady through and through. I could tell by her quiet sadness—her perfect posture and the innocence I wasn’t able to see the day she visited my office.
    I finished my drink and started