Part of her wanted to marry Luke because at one time she had loved him. Then there was the other, far less proud part of herself that selfishly wanted to be looked after. Sadi hated that weak part of herself. Hated that she had been raised in squalor and poverty and feared going back to it like she had never feared anything in her life.
Sadi thought the one thing that could save her if she married Luke was to have children. She could live for them. Raise them and love them, even if she no longer loved Luke. Many people stayed married long after the spark faded. People lived together unhappily for years and it wasn’t like there was a noticeable rift between them yet. Luke had never said he wanted children. The thought made Sadi sad. She loved babies. Maybe she could find a way to change Luke’s mind. Likely he would give her what she wanted if it came down to it. He always had before.
The wedding was only weeks away. Sadi hated herself for not having the courage to do what was right and break off the engagement, but going back to her old life- in debt and living in a dank apartment- filled her with fear. When she had moved in with Luke it had been the first time in Sadi’s life that she felt safe.
Her mother had been a single mom, working hard to make sure that Sadi had enough to eat and clothes to wear, yet no matter how hard her mother worked, it always seemed like they were being evicted and that Sadi was going to school with hunger pains in her belly and wearing tattered old clothing that no longer fit.
Sadi knew that her mother loved her. At least, she thought she had. She had always been a good mother and had always tried so hard to make ends meet. When Sadi turned eighteen, her mother must have figured she was now old enough to fend for herself. Sadi had come home from school one afternoon to find the apartment stripped of her mother’s belongings. After eighteen years, her mother had finally broken. She had left to find the freedom she craved. Sadi hadn’t heard from her since. Part of her wanted to know if her mother was still alive, and yet part of her was still too wounded over being left alone to imagine tracking her mother down.
At least that was something she and Luke still had in common. His parents had left Luke and his twin brother, Connor, with an established business, an education, and more money than they could ever spend. The boys had been raised by one nanny after another.
Luke hardly had any memories of his parents. If pressed, Sadi knew that he didn’t even know what they looked like, then or now. Like Sadi, Luke had no idea where his mother and father were now. They hadn’t contacted him in years.
Sadi couldn’t imagine having a child and leaving. Never reaching out and caring about what happened to them. The thought broke her heart and brought a lump to her throat.
She had wondered for years what she had done to make her mother abandon her until she finally realized that she herself couldn’t imagine being so broken she would do such a thing. She knew there were depths of emotion, sorrow, pain and blackness that she had no idea how to comprehend. Sadi preferred to think there was something wrong with her mother that had made her leave. She needed to believe it. It hurt so much less that way.
She had worked two jobs and finished high school. She had kept the wretched apartment where she and her mother had survived and lived there for another eight years after her mother left. She had applied at Pearson and Pearson for an admin assistant position on a whim. She never thought she would get the job, even though she had experience. But she didn’t have any post-secondary to back it up. She was surprised when she got the phone call the next day, offering her the position. Sadi never guessed how her life would change.
She had started at Pearson and Pearson, unsure what to expect. It was a prestigious company, though it sounded more like a law firm. She had heard of Luke and Connor Pearson, the identical twin brothers who were taking the business world by storm. She had heard they were kind and caring people who cared deeply about bettering the communities in which they did business.
Sadi wasn’t sure whether it was Luke or Connor she had first seen. She still couldn’t tell them apart, even after years of dating Luke. She remembered thinking that whichever brother it was, he was handsome. Both brothers were tall, with sandy blonde hair and eyes the colour of the sea on a cloudy day; a storm tossed blue that sparkled with all the emotion of life. The brothers were tall, yet not tall enough to be intimidating. It was clear they worked out, judging from their broad shoulders and trim waists.
Sadi could tell they were still in the prime of their youth, their skin bronzed with tans from the outdoor activities they loved. It was beyond Sadi how two brothers, even twins, could look so alike as adults. It blew her mind that not only did they have similar features but they had the same physique as well.
She had asked after Luke, as he was the brother she thought she had seen first. The other girls in her department had trouble telling the brothers apart as well, but the first name Sadi had heard had been Luke's. She had stared at him from across the way when she thought he wasn’t looking. She had found him attractive. More than attractive actually. Sadi had observed the way Luke carried himself, his poise and his athletic grace. She thought he looked like a god. A bolt of desire had shivered through her stomach at the thought of what it would be like to be seduced by him. At what it would be like to press her lips against his perfectly shaped ones, to feel the rigid muscles she knew were hidden under the polo shirts he wore to work.
One girl had mentioned that Luke only dated blondes. Sadi had immediately been turned off at the suggestion. She knew the kind of women men such as Luke liked. She was so far from that she knew she wouldn’t even be on his radar. Though Sadi told herself she found fake, ditsy women distasteful, it didn’t stop her from dying her hair blonde a week later and making changes to her wardrobe and her diet. She had hoped Luke would notice. And he had. She had been lucky enough to be asked out to dinner a week later.
Sadi shifted under the dryer again, touching the tin foil in her hair in an effort to quell the itch of the bleach. How had she come so far from those early giddy days where even the slightest touch could send shivers of passion racing through her body? Even the smallest smile Luke sent her way never failed to brighten her day. Now Sadi felt like she was living someone else’s life. She felt as if she were using Luke. Sadi felt like she was adrift, floating in a sea of apathy and being swallowed by the waves of a meaningless life.
She turned her attention back to the television when a large red banner flashed across the screen. The TV was on mute and Sadi couldn't hear anything, but she could read what the neat tiny white writing said as it flashed along the bottom of the screen.
Bombing. Pearson and Pearson.
Sadi felt like she had been punched in the gut. She was completely winded. She watched in horror, pinned to the chair, hair dryer continuing on, blissfully unaware that Sadi's world was collapsing in around her.
Chapter 2
She watched the wretched pictures flash across the screen. The building on fire. Flames spouting and roaring out of busted windows. Shards of glass sprayed all over the street. A giant hole gaping like a wounded toothless mouth in the side of the building. The side on which Luke's office was located. Oh Jesus. Luke.
Sadi finally spurred herself into action. She slid from under the hot blowing air, ripped the black salon covering off and tore off through the front entrance. It did dawn on her that she should pay, but she couldn't wait one second longer.
Was this really what her life had boiled down to? Thoughts of paying for a half finished dye job she didn't even want in the first place shouldn’t enter her head alongside the worry about her fiancé and everyone else she knew in that building. She had worked there for over a year. She knew at least half of the employees.
Sadi said a prayer for the first time in as long as she could remember. She vowed that if Luke had survived, no matter what happened to him, she would marry him and do her damn best to try and help them find their way back to where they had been in the beginning.
When they had been in love. She would cherish Lu
ke like she should. She would never take one single thing for granted again.
Sadi had felt so numb for so long she had thought that her love for Luke was dead, but the thought of him lying injured or worse brought it back in a rush.
Every single feeling and emotion, every joy and sorrow, every memory from their relationship came flooding back. How could she have wasted so many minutes, hours, days, months? Precious time she had with Luke that she hadn't even been grateful for.
Sadi felt ashamed as she rammed her car in gear and sped away from the stupid salon. It was true that her life had become all but meaningless, but she had been wrong to blame Luke for what had happened.
The choices she made were hers alone. She had done nothing but waste the money and opportunity she had been given when she had met Luke. She knew there were many people who made it their life's mission to ensure their money was well spent on philanthropic endeavours. They lived to help others. Sadi had lived to get her hair dyed every twenty one days without fail.
She glanced in the mirror. She could see the tin foil sticking out all over her hair. Far worse, Sadi didn't even recognize herself anymore. Where was that girl who had grown up rough and tumble? Who didn't care about perfectly manicured nails or if a dark root was showing? Who didn't need designer clothing and fast cars to define her self-worth?
It was going to change. All of it. Sadi needed it to. If Luke had survived, she knew it was a message. It was a wakeup call, a second chance.
A chance to get to know her husband. To fall back in love with him. To find that girl she had been when she had been proud of herself. Sadi wasn't going to squander it. If Luke was alive, Sadi knew it would be nothing short of a miracle. She had never believed in miracles before, but she wanted to now. She needed to.
Sadi pulled as close as she could get to Pearson and Pearson. The street was a mess of swirling sirens, ambulances, police cars, specially marked vehicles… everything. She got out of her sports car and left it with the door hanging wide open. In the back of her mind Sadi thought she should shut it but she didn’t. She just left it. She did have the foresight to grab her purse.
She approached the scene with trepidation. The building didn’t look half as bad as it had on TV. The hole that had been blown in the side was much smaller, but it filled her with dread all the same. It was as she thought- the side of the building that Luke’s office was on.
Sadi approached one of the uniformed officers who was holding back the swarming crowds and media frenzy. There were people holding cameras and people recording everything on cell phones.
Sadi was disgusted. This was the scene of a tragedy for her and many others, yet to some it was just something to gawk at; a video to upload to the internet for a quick viral buzz. The thought that there may have been people killed, and certainly injured in the blast, filled her with rage. Who could do such a thing? And why Pearson and Person? Luke and Connor were good men who did a great deal for their community. Who would want to hurt them?
“I’m looking for Luke Pearson,” Sadi said, alarmed at how hysterical her voice was. “I’m his fiancé.”
The officer turned to look at her but shook his head. “Sorry miss. We aren’t allowing anyone past this line.” He motioned to the yellow tape that cordoned off the area.
“But I’m his fiancé,” Sadi insisted.
The officer just shook his head. Sadi could feel her frustration growing. She felt it bubble up from the pit of her stomach, choking her with rage. “God, he could be dead! I want to know what happened to him! Let me through!” Sadi screamed. She tried to push past the officer but he held fast. Another man came over to help. The second officer was much younger than the first and he looked at Sadi with compassionate eyes.
“I’m very sorry miss, but you really can’t come across this line. It isn’t safe. The best bet would be to try the closest hospital and see if he was brought there. Most of the ambulances have already left with survivors.”
Survivors. Oh god. Sadi closed her eyes, fearing for a moment that she was going to be sick. She let the younger officer steer her back in the direction of her car, all the while fighting back bile that rose in the back of her throat. Survivors. The word kept playing over and over in her mind.
“How many people are dead?” She asked the officer.
The man looked like he was debating with himself but then he shook his head with a small smile. “So far miss, everyone we got out was alive. We have yet to search the building thoroughly though.”
Sadi nodded. The relief that flooded over her was so great her knees almost buckled. “Thank you,” she whispered. She could see her car now. She let go of the officer’s arm and walked over to it. He looked at her as if he thought it was unsafe for her to be driving, which she didn’t doubt for a second, but he released her arm all the same.
“Take care now,” he said, and turned and walked away.
Sadi got in, started her car and drove to the hospital as the officer had suggested. It would be the most logical thing. She should have just tried it in the first place. Sadi’s hands shook as she searched for the fastest way to get there. Finally she got an address and her GPS turned on. She normally hated the tinny voice but in the moment it seemed strangely relaxing. Sadi took a deep breath before she drove away.
She followed the directions. The route seemed to take forever even though the female voice informed Sadi it was only going to be seventeen minutes in current traffic.
Finally Sadi approached the building. The dread mounting in her chest threatened to cut off her oxygen. Please let Luke be alive. Sadi took a ticket from the dispenser and the bar admitted her into the parking lot. She found a parking spot and hurried into the entrance.
Sadi had never been in the hospital before, but she was able to find the front desk without a problem. She gave her name and told the young woman she was looking for a Luke Pearson.
The girl at the desk looked younger than Sadi. She had long black hair that fell to the shoulders of pink scrubs with cartoon characters on them. While the girl typed something into her computer, Sadi stood wringing her hands.
She was in luck. All the air whooshed out of Sadi’s lungs when the girl said she had a Luke Pearson. The girl looked at Sadi, sympathy shining in her eyes. For a moment Sadi feared the worst. That it was over. All of it. That she would spend the rest of her life living with regret. That there were so many things worse than dying.
Then the girl glanced up at Sadi’s hair and allowed a soft smile. It gave Sadi hope. Surely someone wouldn't choose to smile at her wretched appearance if her fiancé were dead. No matter how ridiculous she looked at the moment, no one could be that cruel.
“Yes we have a Luke Pearson. He’s in room 302. I can take you there if you like?”
Sadi nodded woodenly. She didn’t think she could have found her way even in the best state of mind. As it was she could hardly concentrate on anything but seeing Luke, alive and well. She prayed that was the case. If something was seriously wrong surely she would have been told he was in surgery or in critical care and taken to another part of the hospital? Or told she wasn’t allowed to see him at all. This had to be a good sign.
The young woman took Sadi’s arm and led her down the long white corridor. Sadi swallowed hard. It was the first time another person had touched her with kindness in a very long while. Her nerves were frayed and she was embarrassed to find that she was perilously close to bursting into tears. She shook her head and swallowed to clear the fire that was burning in her throat. The woman led Sadi down the twists and turns and mazes of rooms until she stopped in front of a solid wood door.
“This is the one,” the receptionist, or nurse, or whomever she was, said. Her voice was soft. Almost a whisper. Musical. Sadi liked it. She felt its calming effect like a balm to her frayed nerves.
She watched as the woman pushed open the door. Sadi’s heart stopped beating when she saw him. He was hooked to a myriad of machines and monitors, an IV bag dripping from a pole beside
the bed, oxygen going into his nose. His head was bandaged, his leg and arm had white gauze as well but he was alive. Luke was alive.
Sadi was so relieved when she saw the rise and fall of his chest that she crumbled to the floor. She covered her face and sobbed.
“Hey now, surely I don't look as bad as that.”
Sadi started at the sound of Luke's deep voice. How could he possibly jest? That was something Sadi had always loved about him. How his spirit refused to be crushed.
Sadi allowed the young woman to help her off the floor and into a chair by Luke's bed. She was embarrassed but also moved to further tears by the compassion this stranger offered her. Sadi thanked the girl and watched her exit the room. She closed the door shut firmly behind her.
Sadi took Luke’s hand in her own, squeezing firmly as if to reassure herself that he was real, and that he was still with her. “Thank god you're okay,” Sadi whispered. She wiped her tears with the back of her hand and leaned forward, placing a kiss on Luke's forehead.
She was almost afraid to touch him. Afraid if she did he would break. She couldn't quite believe that he was really here, whole and well and alive.
“Have you heard about Connor yet? Did they find him?” There was a catch in Luke’s voice that told Sadi she wasn’t the first person Luke had asked about his brother.
Sadi felt the bottom of her stomach drop and for a second she thought she was going to be sick. She could feel the tremor start in her hands, the sickly sweet heat wash over her.
She took a deep breath, forcing herself to regain her composure. Luke was the one who had been through a bombing. He was the one lying in the hospital bed, tubes and machines hooked to his body. Not her. Yet somehow he was more put together than she was.
“I’m sorry I haven’t heard anything. I came right to the hospital when I found out what had happened. I don't understand Luke, who would do something like this?" The Pearson brothers were good men, well liked and even revered by their peers and rivals alike. It was beyond Sadi that someone would want to hurt them let alone bomb a building filled with innocent people.
The Billionaire's Mistaken Match ( A BWWM Romance) Page 10