I sit in my chair. I’m nervous with Darren waving the gun in my face and he has the gleam of a mad man in his eyes.
“Roberto, you got the ropes?”
“Yes, sweetheart.”
Roberto kneels in front of me and binds my arms behind my back with one rope. Then he binds my ankles to the legs of the chair. Another rope is secured around my waist. I’m not going anywhere. “What do you want?”
Roberto moves back to Darren and they clasp hands. “Race meeting. Benny? Ringing any fucking bells?”
“What are you talking about?” I try to pretend I have no idea what he’s on about.
Darren turns to his lover. “Do you hear that, Roberto? She has no idea what we’re on about.”
Roberto laughs and then turns to me. A deadly expression on his face. “The fucking horses lost and Benny wants his money. Do you know what he’ll do to us if he doesn’t get it?”
“I’ll write you a check for the fifteen thousand.”
The men laugh. Darren gets up in my face. His breath is rancid and I try hard not to heave. “Darlin’, you’re gonna transfer two million dollars from your bank account into ours.”
It’s my turn to laugh. “Do you think my accountants and lawyers will let you get away with that? How long do you think it will take them to find out who the money went to?”
Darren sneers at me. “Sweetheart, by the time they find out who has your money, we’ll be relaxing on a beach somewhere in the world where they can’t touch us.”
“You have it all worked out?”
“Yes, we do.” Darren spins the computer toward him and clicks on the banking icon on the desktop. “Number.”
I stay quiet. My silence earns me a smack across the face so hard I see stars.
“Roberto was a boxer, darling. I don’t think you want to get him mad. Now, number?”
I give him the number of an account with a few thousand dollars in it. “1376597.” Darren types it in.
“Password?”
“clbceight”
The account screen comes to life when Darren hits the enter button. “What the fuck?” Roberto leans over his shoulder and peers at the screen. They both spin back to me. “Where’s the fucking money?”
“I don’t have it.”
“What do you mean, you don’t have it?” Roberto backhands me as he speaks.
I feel my face beginning to swell and the metallic taste in my mouth can’t be mistaken for anything but blood. “I don’t have it. This is my personal account. My main accounts are only accessible by me and my Lawyer, together. It’s to protect me from being held hostage or blackmailed.”
Roberto and Darren glance at each other. “Fuck.” Darren’s anger is at boiling point.
“It makes sense, darling.” Roberto hugs Darren to him. “Let’s take the ten thousand in the account. It will get us out of the country and away from Benny.”
“We don’t have much fucking choice,” Darren growls. He enters some numbers and I see the money disappear from my account.
“What now?” I ask through my swollen lips.
Darren sits on the desk in front of me and runs his hand down the side of my face. I shiver with fear. “Such a shame.”
“What?” He’s scaring me.
“We can’t allow you to live, and I don’t want you to, bitch.” He spits the words at me. “Such a shame that there is an electrical fault and the place burns down before you can escape.” Darren nods to his partner and he leaves my office.
“Please don’t do this.” My nightmare! I smell smoke and start to shake.
“Daz, darling. Gotta go.”
“I hope you rot in hell.” I scream as Roberto’s fist again connects with my face.
They are laughing as they leave the office.
The smoke is getting thicker and I see the first flames. I feel a strange peace. Maybe I’ll be better off dead if I’m unable to have Hamish. I’m struggling to breathe. My eyes close and darkness descends.
Chapter Twenty One
HAMISH
“Dad, why isn’t Miss Blossom here?”
I pause, the comb in mid-air when my son asks the question I’ve been dreading. I know he was getting attached to her which is why I put an end to us being together. The longer it had gone on, the more he would have been hurt. “Miss Blossom and I aren’t seeing each other anymore.”
Steve spins around and I can see tears starting to form in his eyes. “Why not, Dad? I really like her.”
“Come and sit down.” I sit on the couch and draw him onto my lap. “Miss Blossom has lots of money and she needs to be with someone who has also got lots of money. Someone who has been well educated, has a good job and can make her happy.”
“Dad, you made her happy. She told me. She said she would give away everything to be with us.”
My gut clenches. “She said that?”
“Yep. When you were getting the drinks at the fair, she told me. She said she loves us. Are you scared to be with her, Dad? Do you think we’re not good enough for her? Are you scared of falling in love?”
“No, and when the fuck did you start learning about things you shouldn’t know until you’re much older?”
“Dad! You swore.”
“Sorry but you’re saying things I would expect an adult to say, not a seven year old.”
“Nearly eight, Dad.”
“That’s beside the point. When did an adult crawl inside your head?” Steve laughs at the question.
“Dad, you are a really good person with a good job. We live in a nice apartment now. If Miss Blossom makes you happy, I think you should take a chance. If things fall apart, you’ll still have me.”
“You’re one smart kid, you know that?”
“Yep. You told me. I can see you’re hurting Dad. Please give it a try.”
I kiss his cheek and place him on the floor. The kid has started me thinking seriously. Last night was nothing short of hell on earth. I didn’t sleep a fucking wink thinking about holding Blossom in my arms, laughing with her, talking. She is special. If she cares so much about us, am I being selfish by pushing her away? What really gives me the right to decide who is good enough for her?
“Dad, are we going now?”
“Yes. Grab your hat. It’s warm and sunny outside and I don’t want your face getting burnt.”
We head for a day at the beach.
***
I’m miserable. I have hardly slept since Blossom walked away. Or, more accurately, since I sent her away. She hasn’t left my thoughts and Steve constantly bringing her up in conversation hasn’t helped. He is as tenacious as a bulldog.
I’ve dropped Steve off at school and have been balancing my bank account and paying bills all morning. I haven’t bothered with lunch. A dull, heavy ache resides in my chest. Something is nagging at me. Sitting back in my chair, I massage my temples as I think.
If she thinks you’re good enough for her isn’t that enough? We can tackle any ridicule or sneers together, as a couple. Are you scared of a relationship failing? Are you really prepared to walk away from the woman you love?
I sit forward in my chair. “Fuck. Love? Am I in love? Is that why I feel like I’ve lost my right arm? I am. I’ve fallen in fucking love with her. But it’s only been a few weeks? Who gives a shit? Weeks, months, years. Why does time have to dictate how we feel?”
I push my chair back and stand. I need to tell her. She said she loves us. I need to tell her, we love her.
I grab my keys and wallet and rush from the apartment. I know she’ll be at Cleo’s because she told me on Saturday she was computerizing personnel files. I stretch out my stride, anxious to be with her. As I get closer, I smell smoke and see flames leaping into the sky up ahead. I start to run. It’s fucking Cleo’s. I run the last block like I’m a fucking Olympic sprinter.
People are milling about. I push through the crowd. A siren alerts me the Fire Brigade have arrived. The building is alight. I glance around frantically searching for Blo
ssom. I can’t find her. I scream out her name. People stare at me but start calling out her name too. There’s no answer. Cold fingers of fear grip my heart when I realize she’s probably trapped inside.
I burst through the front door and hold my arm against my face. Flames are leaping. Wood is crackling. My attention is drawn to the kitchen. There is a relatively clear path. I dash over and catapult myself through the doors. I tear the packet containing a fire blanket from the wall and rip it open. It takes only seconds for me to drape it over my head and body and head back out into the flames.
The office! I race for the office. The flames aren’t quite as bad here but the smoke is thick and I cough. I see her. Lifeless tied up and slumped forward. What the fuck?
I have no time to think and no time to untie her. The ceiling is going to give way if the cracking is any indication. I scoop up Blossom, chair and all, pull the blanket over both of us and make a run for the front door.
The fire department is hosing the building with water and I am nearly knocked from my feet by the high-powered spray as I burst into the safety of the street. One of the fireman crosses to me.
“Are you fucking crazy? You could have been killed.”
“The woman I love was in there. She needs fucking help. I need a paramedic. NOW!” I set the chair on the ground, fling off the blanket and start untying the ropes. Blossom’s lips are blue. Her face looks like she’s gone three rounds with a fucking boxer. Anger bubbles inside me.
“He yells to his colleague and a man in a paramedic uniform dashes over with a medical kit in his hands.
I lay Blossom on the ground and he immediately begins to assess her. “She’s not breathing.”
My heart stops with those words. I feel as if the whole world has crashed in on me. “Get her fucking breathing. I’m not losing her.”
“I’ll do what I can.”
He yells instructions as he starts CPR. An oxygen cylinder arrives and another man connects tubing and a mask to it.
“Come on, breathe.” The paramedic is yelling at Blossom as he pumps her chest. Trying to give her life. Bringing her back to me.
It’s a fucking nightmare. Everything seems to be happening in slow motion. I feel tears roll down my cheeks. I grip her hand. “Come on sweetheart. You have to come back.”
She coughs. Yep, she fucking coughs. She’s breathing. The paramedic sits back on his haunches and secures the mask over her face. He turns a knob on the cylinder and explains.
“The oxygen will help her to breathe easier. Her lungs are probably full of smoke and maybe even a bit burnt. The ambulance will be here any minute and we’ll get her to hospital.”
I nod and lift her into my arms. Her head rests against my chest. Her breathing is raspy but, she’s breathing and that’s all that counts – for now.
“Are you okay?” The paramedic is eyeing a burn on my forearm.
“I’m fine. I’ll get it taken care of at the hospital when I go in with Blossom.”
As I answer, an ambulance pulls up and a man hurries toward me.
“Our patient?”
“Yes. I’m coming to the hospital with her.”
A gurney is pushed through the crowd by another man and Blossom is lifted from my arms and placed upon it. I stand and follow as it’s pushed to the ambulance. As soon as they have her secured inside, I climb in.
On the short ride to the hospital, I call Wade and explain what has happened. I ask him to organize for someone to cover my shift for a few days and for Grace to pick Steve up from school. He tells me he’ll take care of everything.
I hold Blossom’s hand and take a closer look at her beaten up face. Her left eye is bruised black and so swollen she wouldn’t be able to open it even if she wanted to. There is bruising and a cut down the side of her left cheek and her lips are swollen, cut and bleeding. Who the fuck has done this? I vow I’ll make sure they pay. Big time.
The doors at the back of the ambulance fly open and the gurney is lifted out. A nurse with a wheelchair insists I sit in it so the doctors can check I’m okay. I fuss for a few minutes but then realize I’m not going to win this argument and it’s keeping me from my love. I park my ass in the fucking chair and a nurse wheels me inside.
“Put me with Blossom.”
“We can’t, sir. The doctors need to assess both of you. You need to be in separate bays.”
I grind my teeth in frustration. “I need to be with her. I need to know she’s okay.” Tears fall from my eyes. The nurse has pushed the chair next to a narrow examination bed. She crouches before me and takes hold of my hands.
“Sir, I know you’re worried but it will be easier if the doctors can do their job without you being in the way. I promise, as soon as they are finished, I’ll open the curtain between you and you can see her.”
“I love her so much,” I blubber to this complete stranger.
“I’m sure she’ll be fine.”
She helps me from the chair and asks me to lie on the bed. I co-operate. There’s no fight left in me. I’m terrified of losing Blossom and if my co-operation means she’ll survive then I’ll do whatever they ask. I lie back and send a desperate prayer to the good Lord above.
There is a lot of low talking coming from where Blossom is being treated. I can hear machines beeping. People are rushing in and out. My curtain is pushed aside and a doctor strides in. “Hi. My name is Sandra Walker. I hear you’ve had a bit of an incident with a fire.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“I need to get your details and I believe you know the young lady in the bay next to us?”
“Yes, ma’am. She’s my fiancée.” Yeah, I know I haven’t asked her but once this is over I plan to put a ring on her finger and I ain’t taking no for an answer. I don’t care if we don’t get married for another ten years as long as I know she’s mine.
“Congratulations. Are you up to filling in a couple of forms for me?”
“Yeah, sure.” I sit up on the bed and she hands me a clipboard. I begin filling in forms for myself and Blossom. I know pretty much everything about her except for her Medical Insurance details. The doctor returns and I hand back the clipboard. She places it down on the end of the bed.
“Let’s have a look at this burn on your arm.”
I hold out my left arm. It’s red but no skin is broken. Hurts like hell but it’s not serious. She turns it over in her hands and examines it thoroughly.
“I’ll get a nurse to bandage it up. It should be fine in a few days. You were very lucky.”
“Thanks, ma’am.”
She leaves me alone again and I realize how quiet it has gone where Blossom is. Apart from the constant beeping of a machine, there is nothing.
A young nurse comes through my curtain with a small trolley and smiles at me. “I need to bandage your arm and then I’ll pull back the curtain so you can see your fiancée.”
As she starts to bandage, I ask. “How is Blossom doing?”
“Much better. The doctors have her on a drip with medication for her lungs and she’s breathing much easier. She woke up briefly and called for Hamish. Is that you?”
“Yes, it is.” My heart soars. She’s okay. She called my name. She doesn’t hate me for telling her to go.
I sit quietly until the nurse finishes.
“You can come and sit in a chair next to her if you like. We don’t need to do anything else for you.”
I leap off the bed, push the curtain aside and move to Blossom. I don’t have to be told twice. I push the chair close and sit. Taking her hand in mine I watch as her chest moves up and down. I don’t know how long I sit there. Doctors and nurses have come and gone checking machines and fiddling with tubes. They smile but don’t say a word. I lower my head onto the bed and close my eyes. I’m exhausted.
Minutes or hours later, I have no idea, I feel a hand softly caressing my hair. I lift my head and gaze into her beautiful eyes. The left one is open but barely. “Hi beautiful.”
“What are you doing
here?”
Her voice is barely above a whisper.
“I came to see you at Cleo’s and saw the fire.”
“Oh. Why were you coming to see me?”
“I was coming to tell you…”
We are interrupted by two police officers. I sit back down.
“Blossom Cartwright?” One of the officers asks.
“Yes.”
“Do you mind if we ask a few questions?”
“No. Go ahead.”
“We were told by the firemen at the scene that the fire was probably deliberate. Is that correct?”
“Yes.”
“Do you know who set it and why?”
“Yes. I do. It was Darren Castle and his cousin Roberto Gonzales. I fired them a few weeks ago when I found they had been stealing from me to pay betting debts. I placed bets in their names with a man named Benny that they dealt with. I made sure the horses had little to no chance of winning. I wanted them in trouble with Benny and his cohorts. They found out and came after me. They tied me up, stole ten thousand dollars from my bank account and did something with the electrical box to set the fire.”
The cop turns to me. I am quietly seething. Why the fuck did she mess with an illegal betting ring and criminals? Didn’t she realize what a dangerous game she was playing? “You were the one who pulled her out of the building?”
“Yes, sir. The fire truck was only just arriving and I thought Blossom was inside. I couldn’t wait for them to get set up. I couldn’t risk losing her.”
“Brave but stupid, Mr. Masters.”
“I don’t think so. She’s very precious to me.” I turn to Blossom. “I love her.” Her eyes light up and she attempts to smile. I squeeze her hand.
“That’s what you were coming to tell me?”
“Yes.”
“Okay. We’ll leave you love birds to it. We’ll be in touch.”
“Thank you officer,” Blossom says before turning back to me. “You love me? But I thought…”
I cut her off with a gentle kiss. “I love you. I want to try and make whatever it is that we have, work. It scared me to death when I thought I might have lost you.”
“You love me.”
Born To Sin (Born #1) Page 18