by Grant, Livia
“Just need you,” she whispered, squeezing his hand harder.
“I was worried I’d hurt you more if I laid next to you.”
“Can’t hurt me more. Please…”
Shane crawled gingerly into the small space next to her on the bed, being as careful as he could not to injure her more or worse, pull out any of the many medical devices she had attached to her.
“You need to get back to sleep. Rest is the best thing for you right now,” he urged once they were as settled as they could be.
“Can’t sleep. Hate to close my eyes and remember…”
God, he sure as hell understood that problem.
What might make her feel better?
“You know, he’s in jail now, right? He’ll never be able to hurt you, or anyone else, ever again.”
“He’s been there before. He’ll get out again.”
He hated the certainty in her voice as if Ainsworth getting away with his crimes was a foregone conclusion.
“Not if I have anything to say about it.” He bit his tongue from sharing all the horrific deaths he had imagined for Henry Ainsworth. He knew those wouldn’t bring Nalani any comfort.
It left them in awkward silence. He was glad they couldn’t see each other’s faces as they laid next to each other, her on her back, him curled up next to her. He finally broke the silence with a lame confession.
“I don’t know what to say.”
“It’s okay. Neither do I.”
“Do you want to talk about it?” he offered, praying she wouldn’t take him up on the offer.
“I can’t. Not yet.”
“It’s okay. I’m not sure I’m ready to hear the details yet.”
Under his arm, he could feel Nalani’s shaking turning into full-out convulsion-like tremors throughout her whole body.
“Are you cold? I can get more blankets.”
“Not really,” she bit out.
Shane sat up, reaching for the small clicker on the other side of the bed. “Have you hit your pain med button this hour? Remember, Sarah said it won’t let you overdose yourself.”
“No!” she cried out as he went to pick up the medication delivery button.
“But you’re in pain. The meds will help. You’re shaking.”
“That’s not it.” She hesitated. Their eyes met, and he saw the anguish in her gaze as she added, “It’s the meth withdrawal.”
“But it was only one dose. You shouldn’t be having such a strong reaction. I’m sure the meds will help.”
Nalani clutched his arm, fighting through a fresh wave of pain. He resumed his search in the dim lighting for the button to give her the pain meds.
“Don’t want any more drugs,” she begged.
“Kitten, that’s insane. You need drugs to help you through the worst of the pain.”
“Too addictive.”
He didn’t understand why she was fighting him on this.
“Nalani, you need the medicine to take the edge off the pain. You won’t get addicted from just a few doses over a few days.”
“It’s too late for that.”
He wasn’t following her reasoning. She wasn’t thinking clearly. She needed him to make the hard decisions right now. He was about to press the small button to deliver pain meds when Nalani shouted, flailing wildly.
“No more drugs!”
Her sudden agitation caught him off-guard. His right arm got tangled up in her IV feed and almost pulled it out of the back of her hand.
“Okay. Okay. Settle down. Let’s talk about this.”
“Nothing to talk about. No. More. Drugs.”
“Nalani, baby, you’re in incredible pain. You’ve been through hell. There’s nothing wrong with taking medicine to help.”
“Maybe for most people, but not for me.”
“I don’t understand.” He truly didn’t. He was hovering above her on the bed and could see the anguish on her face—more than pain or fear.
Nothing could have prepared him for her next words.
“I’m a recovering drug addict, Shane.”
“Say what?”
Tears flooded her swollen eyes and spilled down the sides of her cheeks.
“You need to distance yourself from me now while you can. The only thing that could make this whole thing any worse is if I end up hurting your reputation. The media is never going to let it go when they find the truth.”
Shane didn’t think his brain could get more overwhelmed with confusing thoughts and emotions—he’d been wrong.
“I don’t understand. I’ve never even seen you take an aspirin.”
“Exactly. I don’t take anything. I can already feel myself starting to go through withdrawal. It’s going to get way worse before it gets better. I can’t let you see me like this.”
“You aren’t making any sense. Ainsworth only gave you one dose. People don’t get hooked on just one dose.”
“It’s been six years, but this was far from my first time on meth. God, I hate this. I was so sure we’d break up before I ever had to tell you the truth.”
“Break up? What the fuck are you talking about?” Shane knew he needed to rein in his anger. He hated the flood of fear he saw shining back at him from Nalani’s swollen eyes. He’d frightened her.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you. I just don’t understand what you’re talking about.”
“Of course, you don’t because I lied to you.”
Shane’s brain exploded as possible explanations for her words tried to form. Nothing was making sense.
“What did you lie about?”
“Technically, it was more of a lie through omission, not a real lie. Still, it doesn’t change anything. You need to get away from me as fast as possible before the media take you down with me.”
“You’re gonna have to connect the dots for me here, kitten. I’m not following you at all.”
Nalani closed her eyes, letting more tears spill down her cheeks as she tried to tell her story.
“My father and brother were the biggest crystal meth dealers in Hawaii for many years. Right up until they went to prison when I was sixteen. They might get out by 2028 if they are granted parole.”
What the hell? Her closest family members were in prison? Still…
“Fuck, I’m so damn sorry, but what the hell does that have to do with you taking pain meds?”
“It’s only going to take the press a few minutes after finding my real identity to find out I was in prison once too. Well technically, it was a juvenile detention center, but…”
Her words made no sense. She was the sweetest, most innocent woman he’d ever met. There was no way…
“I don’t believe you. Why are you saying these things? Are you hallucinating from the pain?”
Her bark of incredulous laughter haunted him.
“Oh, how I wish it was all just a big nightmare, but I’m afraid it’s the truth. My family started using me when I was only twelve to help deliver drugs. They knew as a minor, I could go undetected longer, and even if I were caught, it wouldn’t be as big of a deal.
“At first, I didn’t even understand, but I caught on quickly. When I threatened to turn them in to the police when I was fourteen, they decided getting me hooked on the product was the best way to keep me quiet. Once they made me crave it, they had me. I did anything they asked, just to keep my next fix coming.
“I tried so hard to resist it. I really did, but each time I’d get close to weaning myself off, my brother would hold me down, dad would inject me, and just like that, I was back in.
“Ainsworth hurt me in many despicable ways, but it was the injection of meth that was the most horrible atrocity he did to me. I know the drill. It’s going to take weeks, if not months, to put this setback behind me.
“So, no more drugs. I can’t risk getting addicted to anything else.”
The ringing in Shane’s ears got so loud, he worried he wasn’t hearing Nalani correctly. What she was saying couldn’t be true. It just couldn’
t. It was too horrifying to think of her being abused by her own family.
Shane’s brain was scrambled, flooded with more thoughts than he could process.
“Are you alright?” she whispered.
She was so selfless. She was the one who’d been brutally injured, yet she was more worried about him. He didn’t deserve her. Still, her revelations blew his mind. Was he all right?
Shane hugged her tighter as he tried his best to reassure her.
“Nalani, I don’t give a rats ass about your childhood, other than I wish I could have been there for you back then. No one deserves to go through what you did with your family, but that has absolutely nothing to do with how I feel about you today. If anything, it makes me love you more. I can’t even imagine how hard things have been for you.”
“Wait. You love me?”
Her question was so soft he almost missed it. He replayed his words and realized it was the first time she’d heard him say them. He needed to fix that. He lifted up so he could look into her eyes again. Her tears were back.
“Of course, I love you. If I had any doubts, they were gone when I realized how lost I’d be if you weren’t here.”
“Oh, Shane, I didn’t dare even dream you could feel for me the way I felt for you. But you shouldn’t. You can have anyone you want in the whole world. Please don’t stay with me because you feel guilty, or you just want to protect me. I don’t want your pity.”
Shane reached up to cup her face gently, using his thumb to swish away a tear.
“Listen to me, kitten. I’m not here out of pity or guilt. And you say I can have anyone in the world I want, then that includes you. I want you. So, I need to ask you. Do you trust me?”
“Of course. I wouldn’t even be here if you hadn’t found me.”
God, he hoped that wasn’t true, but they would never know for sure. There was only one thing he did know with complete certainty at that moment.
“Then you need to trust me now that you need… no, wait… you deserve to use every tool we can to lessen your suffering. I understand with your history, it’s riskier, but let’s just take one problem at a time. My first priority is to heal your body and to do that, you need to get good, pain-free rest. Then, if we have to, we’ll deal with weaning you off the pain meds. You’ve done it before when you were alone. This time, you’ll have so much help.”
The sobs that wracked her body as she hugged him broke his heart. His Nalani had been through so much in her young life. He worried there may be other secrets he had yet to uncover, but tonight, he knew she was the bravest woman he’d ever met. After all she’d been through, then and now, she was still only thinking of others.
The decision was easy. When Nalani’s emotional sobs turned to groans of agony as the pain attacked the dozens of wounds on her shaking body, Shane pressed the button, sending the needed medicine into her blood stream, taking only a minute for her to begin to calm. He could feel the tension releasing from her body as the torment in her eyes dimmed, replaced with a soft glaze.
He suspected she would be angry with him later. He rejected the comparison of what he’d just done to her to what her father and brother had done years before, but the truth was, all the men in her life had drugged her against her will. He could tell himself a thousand times he’d done it for her own good, but he hated himself at that moment.
Nalani’s breathing calmed until she dozed off into a fitful sleep. He finally laid his head back down on the pillow next to her, letting her long, dark hair tickle his cheek. Her words rattled around in his head, mingling with the horrific visions haunting him.
He wouldn’t be getting any rest that night.
Chapter 25
It was standing room only in a room clearly too small for the event. The fact the DA had scheduled the press briefing in the downtown district office meant Nolan had spent ninety minutes in traffic to barely make it on time, but nothing was going to stop him from being in the room for this update.
He knew what the herd of news and media outlets lined up with their expensive cameras and microphones didn’t. They’d come to hear the Chief of Police and the Assistant District Attorney lay out the charges against Henry Ainsworth, but thanks to details his own private investigators had already turned up, today’s news was just the tip of the iceberg.
Nolan wiggled into a small space against the back wall, near the far corner, out of the way of the fireworks that were about to ignite. He patted his suit jacket, comforted by the feel of the small packet of documents he’d brought along that had been provided by the private investigator he’d hired. He wasn’t a particularly religious man, but he prayed he would never need to use the evidence they’d dredged up, for many reasons. If the Los Angeles County and Beverly Hills police did their jobs right, the five-year-old heartbreaking story outlined in his pocket would never need to hit the light of day.
He knew with clarity, even if Piper would end up hating him, there was no way he would stay quiet forever if it meant Henry Ainsworth would walk free. That fucker would be spending the rest of his life behind bars, one way or another. Nolan just prayed it wouldn’t mean having to go public with a story that wasn’t his to tell. A story he knew just the bare details about.
He didn’t have to wait long. A line of officials and uniformed officers ushered in from a door behind the platform where a table with a podium and microphone waited. They lined up, looking sober.
At the end of the line of officials was a furious Shane Covington and Jaxson Cartwright-Davidson, accompanied by two other men, both he’d seen at Black Light in the past. He was pretty sure the burly Hispanic guy was part of Davidson’s security detail, and the other was a lawyer.
The four men may have been relegated to standing along the sidelines of the stage, but it was a clear statement to the dozens of reporters in the room, they were there to support Nalani’s case.
After a quick conference on the stage between the officials, a uniformed police officer stepped to the podium, reaching out to turn on the microphone before speaking.
“Thank you for coming this morning, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Doug Johnson, and I am the chief of police for the city of Beverly Hills. Before I begin our official statement, I want to set some ground rules. I realize there is much media interest in this developing story. Our investigation is only beginning, and therefore, I will intentionally keep my remarks brief. My department, along with the LA County’s DA office, will schedule additional updates as further details become available.
“In addition, we won’t be taking questions today.” The room broke out in a groan. “I’m aware you have many inquiries, but until we are confident we have the right answers, we will hold off on providing too many details.
“What I can share with you is the following. On or around February 5th, Henry Ainsworth allegedly sexually harassed an employee of the Runway club and hotel on Country Club Drive. That unnamed woman did not press charges at the time but did report the incident to her supervisor.
“In subsequent interactions between the accused and his accuser, additional verbal threats were raised until last Sunday, when the Beverly Hills Police were called to Runway in response to a physical attack on the same young woman. Henry Ainsworth was placed under arrest and taken into custody while at Runway by my uniformed police officers. He was then transported to the police station for questioning.
“An official police report was not immediately filed by the woman accuser, and based on Mr. Ainsworth’s standing in the community and lack of criminal record, the judge on duty that weekend allowed Mr. Ainsworth to post bond and leave the jail on his own recognizance until such time he could appear in court.
“Later that night, the still unnamed woman returned home after work and was attacked in her apartment by an assailant who pushed himself into her apartment. She has accused Henry Howard Ainsworth of beating and sexually assaulting her for an undetermined length of time, then threatening her to remain silent before departing.
�
�We are in the process of testing physical evidence collected both at her apartment as well as on her person after she was transported to the Cedar-Sinai Trauma Center. She arrived at the hospital at approximately 2:23 a.m. on Monday morning. While my department will not be releasing the young woman’s identity or a detailed description of her physical injuries, I can confirm, she was indeed the victim of a heinous sexual assault.”
The chief of police paused, giving the whispers that had broken out in the room time to die down. Before continuing, he looked over his right shoulder at Jaxson and Shane, who nodded slightly.
“There has been much speculation regarding the victim’s arrival at the hospital and her relationship to those who transported her there. I have been authorized by the parties involved to confirm the victim was transported in the private SUV of her employer, Jaxson Cartwright-Davidson. Also, in the vehicle was her significant other, Shane Covington. Davidson and Covington had found the victim lying unconscious after breaking into her apartment to perform a wellness check when she failed to respond to their phone calls and texts.”
The room erupted into a chorus of questions shouted in the direction of Shane and Jaxson, but the men remained silent, facing forward, refusing to interact with the media circus. Only after the chief got the crowd to quiet down did he continue.
“While I wish the men had waited for the police and ambulance to arrive on the scene, they made the decision that they could transport the victim the few blocks to the hospital faster, thus removing much of the physical evidence from the crime scene without my forensics team processing first. While I initially considered their actions as reckless tampering with evidence, the victim’s doctors have assured me, the injuries sustained were serious enough, every minute was critical, and therefore, their actions are to be commended.
“At the present time, Henry Ainsworth remains in custody, pending the outcome of our investigation. I am acutely aware we have only twenty-four more hours to formalize what, if any, charges will be filed in this case. My detectives and forensics teams are working non-stop on this high-profile case and will hold a follow-up press conference tomorrow at the same time in this same location. Until then, that concludes today’s update.”