“Is she concerned about your impending death?” Mariana drawled, her lips still tingling from his kiss.
His gaze sharpened to emerald blades. “Yes.”
Right. Maybe he was crazy. It was sad, but she’d rather he was nuts than purposefully trying to manipulate her. She could deal with nuts. Assholish was beyond her level of expertise. “Then you should probably go back to Montana or wherever your family is and spend your last days with them.”
“I don’t much care for your sarcasm,” he said, sounding more thoughtful than irritated.
“That’s easy to remedy.” She took another drink of the wine. “Get out of my house.”
His stance remained relaxed. “I thought I’d take care of your stalker before leaving.”
Oh yeah. “You’re my great protector, now aren’t you?” She studied him and tried to see beneath the too handsome exterior. What if he had engineered her kidnapping? She had trusted him until he came up with the dying ruse. How could he be dying? He looked perfectly healthy, and if a genetic mutation was so prevalent it killed all males in his family, there would’ve been some research conducted. “How exactly are you going to die?” She sipped more.
He blinked. “I slowly get weaker and then my brain stops functioning.”
Yeah, he was full of crap. “So somebody has to pull the plug, huh?” The wine was good. She should stock up on more.
“In a manner of speaking.” He cocked his head. “You don’t believe me, and I guess I don’t blame you for that. How about we forget the last hour and go back to trying to find this stalker before I leave town?”
“That plan no longer works for me.” She swirled the liquid in the glass. “Either you’re deranged or you’re a moron, so I don’t want your help. I do, however, want you to leave.” It was too bad he was the sexiest man she’d ever met.
“Deranged or a moron? How do you figure?” His drawl held the slightest bit of warning.
She sighed. “You’re deranged if you believe your story, and you’re a moron if you think I’ll fall for it. Either way, I’ll handle the stalker without you.” Why hadn’t he pulled this crap after they’d had a night together? Based on that one kiss, it would’ve been a night to remember. “There are several good shrinks I can refer you to.”
“You’re the only shrink I want,” he drawled.
Her lungs compressed, and her nipples sharpened. Just from one sexy statement from him. Maybe she needed the shrink. Enough of this. She drew her phone from the counter. “Leave or I call the police. It’s up to you.”
“Fine.” He whipped his phone out and dialed a number, waiting until somebody answered. “Hi. I’m calling in my favor.” His tone lowered to gritty. “Yeah. Now. I need Faith to talk to Mariana and tell her I’m not full of shit. Yes—within those perimeters. Of course. Thank you.” He handed the phone over.
Mariana gingerly accepted it. “Hello?”
“Just a sec,” a familiar voice boomed. “Hey, Doc Lopez. How are things? This is Benny.”
Benny? Mariana set her glass down. “How are you?” He’d only shown up at the group meeting to pick up Ivar, but the mammoth man made an impression. “And why are you involved in this?”
“Oh, I owe Maxwell a favor, and if all I have to do is hand the phone to Faith, then hey. Why not?” He sounded like he was walking outside in the rain.
“Who’s Faith?” Mariana asked, her head reeling. This was all too weird. Way odd.
Benny chuckled. “That’s a good question. Faith is a pretty famous neurosurgeon or something like that. She’s the only doctor Raine and his family trust enough to consult with. You could look her up if you want. Dr. Faith Cooper.”
Mariana moved for the laptop on her kitchen table and flipped it open to research the doctor. The woman was impressive and had published several papers as well as worked at several different hospitals, most recently in Denver. She was now working in the private sector but didn’t have any forwarding information.
Muffled voices came over the line before a women’s voice cleared. “Hello? This is Dr. Cooper.” She sounded curious.
“Um, hi. This is Dr. Lopez, and I’m wondering how I’m supposed to believe that you’re Dr. Cooper.” Mariana tilted her head to the side to watch Raine. This whole afternoon was spiraling out of control.
The woman laughed. “Well, that’s easy. Flip on the video conference.”
Mariana paused. She should’ve thought of that. “Okay.” She started the camera, and a beautiful woman with soft brown eyes and long brown hair came into view. Mariana compared the woman in the phone to a picture of Dr. Cooper online, and then spent about thirty minutes questioning the woman about neurology, some of the papers she’d written, and other tidbits. By the end of the time, Mariana was convinced the woman on the phone was Dr. Cooper. “Sorry about the inquisition,” she murmured.
Faith laughed. “No problem. Hearing that there’s yet another unknown genetic mutation that causes death is common, but hearing there’s one that causes a male like Raine to die quickly has to make you suspicious. I don’t blame you.”
Mariana sat back at her table. “So it’s true? I don’t see how.”
Faith was dressed in a pretty yellow sweater that contrasted with the rain falling outside the window behind her. “The Maxwell Curse is a little like Huntington’s disease, where a person is healthy until the disease takes effect—usually in the thirties or forties. Or Alzheimer’s, which doesn’t attack until later in life. But for those inflicted with Maxwell’s, the decline is rapid once symptoms appear.”
Holy crap. Nausea rolled through Mariana’s stomach. She was such an asshole. “I thought he was making it up as a come-on,” she whispered.
Faith winced. “Yeah, it does sound crazy if you were looking at him, because he looks so healthy. But the decline will be rapid unless he gets the cure.”
Mariana stiffened. “There’s a cure?”
Faith blanched. “There’s a treatment, I guess. Not really a cure. But sometimes the treatment causes more complications than the disease, and I’m sure Raine is concerned about that.”
“What’s the treatment?” Mariana asked, ignoring the man now lounging on her sofa and flipping through channels to a soccer game.
Faith grimaced. “That’s all I’ve been cleared to tell you. HIPAA laws and all of that. You’ll have to get more information from Raine, and I think you should. You really should.”
“Hey. Enough with my phone.” Benny came into focus. “I have a mission to do, and I’m going now. I hope you found your answers, Lopez. If not, punch Raine a few times and make him tell you everything. I swear. Why does everyone have to make every damn situation so difficult these days? Fate matters. When you find the one, you—” The phone went dead.
Mariana stared at the blank screen. “I think somebody disengaged the call. What was Benny talking about?”
Raine didn’t look away from the soccer match. “Benjamin Reese is a quart low of a full tank, if you know what I mean. He’s slightly nutty but a great guy in a fight—so long as he remembers who’s on his side.”