Free Because of His Name by Kelly Favor Page A

you
help me with that wedding.”
    “Let me help you?” she said, aghast at
the revisionist history.   “You
begged for my help, Scott.”
    “Whatever,” her brother said.   “Just explain.   Explain what Liam Fucking Billionaire
Houston is doing in your little rundown tenement apartment building with you.”   He sighed with an abundance of
aggravation, even now, playing it to the hilt.
    Grace walked a little further down the
hall.   “We spent some time together
last night,” she whispered.
    “Okay.   And now what?”
    “He took me to this weird underground
fight club today,” she continued.
    “You lost me, Grace.   This whole explanation sounds like
something you came up with after taking meth.”
    “I don’t take meth.   It’s the truth.   Liam got in a fight today at this
underground club, and then he wanted to come to my apartment afterwards because
he broke his nose.   But now I think
he might really be hurt, and he doesn’t want to go to the hospital.”
    “You sound deranged, Grace—you know
that?” Scott asked.   His voice was
getting higher and more frantic.   “Fucking deranged.”
    “He needs help.   What should I do?” she said.
    “I can’t believe you,” he said.   “Shit.”   There was a long pause.   “I guess he doesn’t want to deal with
anything getting leaked to the press or anyone finding out about this,” Scott
muttered.
    “Especially not his family,” Grace
said.   “And after eating breakfast
with them, I can understand why.”
    “You ate breakfast with the
Houstons.   Why should I be
surprised?” Scott asked.   “In
Grace’s world, this is all perfectly normal.”
    “Scott, please just help me.”
    “Give me a few minutes,” he said.   “I’ll call or text you when I know
anything.”
    “Thanks so—“
    But he’d already hung up on her.
     
    ***
     
    The knock at the door came about an hour
later, and Grace opened it, nervous but relieved that reinforcements had
arrived.
    “Hi,” the first man said.   He offered his hand to her.   “I’m Red Jameson, and this is my friend,
Doctor Vogel.”
    It was daunting enough to be inviting Red
Jameson into her dark and decaying hovel—Red Jameson who flew on private
jets and stayed in the finest five-star hotels.   Red Jameson, who Scott had called as a
favor to her, knowing that only another rich and influential person would know
how to deal with this mess.
    Dr. Vogel was only slightly less
intimidating.   He was shorter and
much less handsome than Red, with a wide forehead and eyes that seemed too
narrowly set in his face.   But he
smiled as he strode past her, carrying a black medical bag like some doctor on
an old-timey television show.
    As she walked them upstairs to her
bedroom, she explained what had happened with the fight and how Liam had
insisted on being taken to her apartment rather than to the hospital.
    Since the first time he’d thrown up, Liam
had gotten sick once more, and he seemed to only want to sleep.
    “Thank you so much for coming on short
notice,” she said.   “I’m sure this
is highly unusual for you.”
    Dr. Vogel nodded.   “Yes, it is.   But I owe Red to the point where he
could have me do house calls everyday for the next year if he wanted me to.”
    Red chuckled, giving Grace a reassuring
grin.   “Dr. Vogel’s being
modest.   Truthfully, he only owes me
about six months worth of house calls.”
    They entered the room and Liam sat up in
bed, startled.   “What the hell?” he
said.
    “Relax, Liam,” Red told him.   “You remember me, right?   We were at Easton’s wedding together.”
    Liam stared at him.   “And who’s that?” he said, eyeing the
doctor mistrustfully.
    “I’m Doctor Patrick Vogel,” he said, stepping
forward.   “I’m Chief of Surgery at
Mt. Sinai Hospital and Red asked me to come have a look at you.   I hear you don’t like hospitals.”
    Liam glanced at Grace.   “You should’ve told me,” he said.
    She