40. Rob

40

ROB

A t the sound of the front door opening, Rob winced.

The last thing he wanted was to smile and be civil to Mia and her rich fiancé, but he was curious to learn about the earth-shattering news Tom was about to impart.

It would have been better if they had waited at least one day to visit so he could gather the broken pieces of his heart and pretend to be whole, but they were here, and he had to deal with them as best he could.

With a sigh, he looked up and was surprised to see Mia enter, walking on what he assumed were her prosthetic legs. She must have gotten a new and advanced model because her gait looked completely natural. He had known Mia for most of her life, and since losing her legs, she had never walked so well.

Still, that wasn't as jarring as the guy walking in next to her.

He'd heard Margo talk about Mia's fiancé being movie-star handsome and richer than the devil himself, but he'd thought that his sister had exaggerated. As it turned out, she'd downplayed the guy's god-like appearance.

Why had Tom chosen Mia when he could have any woman on earth?

The pair made no sense.

Mia was a lovely young woman, pretty, sweet, and talented, but she was not in the same league as her guy. According to Margo, Tom had taken her to Switzerland to see a world-renowned expert for her heart condition. The treatment she'd gotten there and the protocol they had prescribed had restored her health, and evidently, he'd also gotten her much better prosthetics.

Rob rose to his feet and approached the couple. "Mia, it is so good to see you." He leaned down and kissed her cheek. "You look amazing." He turned to the fiancé and offered him his hand. "I assume you are the man responsible for Mia's good health."

"You could say that." The man shook his hand. "I'm Tom, or Toven to my close friends."

After that introduction, Rob wasn't sure what he should call the guy. Margo had always referred to him as Tom, so maybe that was what he should use.

"I think I'll stick with Tom for now. I'm Rob. Thank you for helping Mia and for coming here on such short notice."

"Margo is like a sister to Mia, and there is nothing I wouldn't do for Mia and her family." The god-like creature smiled, and Rob felt weak at the knees.

He had never been attracted to men, but there was something about Tom that transcended the normal and mundane.

It was unsettling, to say the least.

Perhaps Lynda's betrayal had shaken up his foundations so profoundly that even the basic pillars of who he was were showing cracks.

"Your sister calls me Toven, so you should call me Toven as well."

"Thank you," Rob said, because he couldn't come up with anything better. Right now, his brain was not firing on all cylinders.

"Where should we do this?" Margo asked.

Rob cast her a questioning look. "Do what?"

"Talk," Toven said. "We can sit down right here." He motioned at the couch and armchairs that flanked the massive coffee table in the center of the room.

As Rob sat back down in the same spot he had been sitting in for the past hour or so, Margo sat next to him, and Mia and Toven each sat in an armchair facing them.

"Perhaps a drink is in order." Margo rose back to her feet. "The bar is fully stocked, so you can take your pick."

Rob realized that he was thirsty despite finishing the bottle of water Margo had given him when they had entered the penthouse. Evidently, emotional turmoil burned through liquids faster than normal.

"Can I have another bottle of water and also a beer?"

Margo grimaced. "You won't like the kind of beer we have, but I can get you some very good whiskey."

"I'll take it." He wasn't a great fan of whiskey, but he needed some alcohol to dull the pain.

"I'd like some tea." Mia rose to her feet with a fluidity that should not have been possible with a prosthesis.

Toven looked at her with adoration in his eyes. "I would like some tea as well, my love."

She smiled back. "Of course."

When she and Margo ducked into the kitchen, Rob turned to Toven. "I've known Mia for many years, and I've seen her with all kinds of prostheses, but I've never seen her walk so naturally with them. You must have gotten state-of-the-art tech."

Toven smiled. "Indeed. There is nothing more state-of-the-art than what nature makes. Mia no longer needs prosthetics. She has regrown her legs."

For a long moment, Rob just gaped at Toven. "How is that possible?"

"Many things are possible when you have the right genes."

Rob frowned. "Gene therapy? Is that how it was done?"

Toven chuckled. "You could say so." He leaned forward, bracing his elbows on his knees and his chin on his fist. "Before I go into what made it possible for Mia to regrow her legs, I need to take care of security concerns first. What you are about to hear from me, Mia, and Margo is a big secret."

"I understand. I will not breathe a word of it to anyone."

Toven smiled. "I will make sure of it, but I need your permission first."

That was an odd request. "What do you want to do that you need my permission for?"

"It's a mind control trick that will prevent you from telling anyone who I don't approve as safe what you are about to learn."

Was he talking about some sort of hypnotic suggestion?

Rob wanted to laugh. He couldn't be hypnotized, but Toven didn't need to know that. "You have my permission."