by Dee J. Adams
“Wilson,” she gasped out. “Don’t.”
“But you don’t understand,” he told her, his voice a soft whisper. “I have to. You didn’t go over the cliff, you dodged my bullets and you didn’t get on the horse. That means you’ll take what’s coming to you now.”
Something slammed into her face and pain exploded in her head. Kim hit the carpet in a fetal position. Her fuzzy brain shouted one thing over and over. Survive. For her, yes, but mostly for her baby. But even as the thought flashed, she felt warm sticky moisture between her thighs.
No, no, no!
Wilson started a quiet rant. His words didn’t register, but as his pace picked up, so did his volume. He walked the room, stopping to yell down at her or deliver a vicious kick.
She needed to fight back, needed to surprise him somehow and get to the door. But she didn’t have a weapon, nothing near her to strike him with on his next pass.
Except…
She had her shoes. Shoes with sharp stiletto heels. Kim reached for one, and held on to the toe. Keeping the shoe behind her back, she waited, her heart slamming hard against her ribs as Wilson came at her again.
“Wilson,” she pleaded. “Please, stop. Please hear me out.” The pain in her stomach doubled.
He bent lower, his fetid breath right in her face, his eyes wide and crazed. “It’s too late for that Carolyn!”
Carolyn? “Wilson, I’m—”
“You played me for years! You can’t leave me out—”
The room suddenly jolted and everything inside bounced around like popcorn. It sounded as if a train was coming through the walls. Fresh heart pounding adrenaline soared through Kim.
Earthquake!
Wilson froze, his eyes rounded even wider. Possibly his first earthquake by the looks of it.
Kim took advantage of the distraction. She roared and swung with everything she had, rage and fear fueling her strength. She connected with his face, felt the contact as the heel broke skin.
Wilson screamed and reared back just as the shaking stopped. She tried to keep the shoe in her hand for another strike, but Wilson batted it away with a vicious kick. Pain shot through her hand and up her arm. Not ready to quit, Kim lunged up and tackled Wilson as he stood sideways, holding his cheek. They both went down, knocking into the other bed, but she scrambled up and made a run for the door.
“Help!” She yelled at the top of her lungs, every muscle shaking, every nerve ending screaming. She yanked the door open, but it bounced closed because of the maid’s lock. A guttural groan tore from her mouth as Wilson caught her from behind and threw her back. She lost her balance on something—one of her bags—and landed flat on her ass. “Wilson, it’s me. It’s Kim. I’m not Carolyn. Do you hear me? I’m Kim!”
“You can’t fool me, Carolyn. I know exactly who you are. You led me on for years. Kept me jumping every time you called. Well, those days are over. I did everything for you and how did you repay me? By screwing me, that’s how! Well, that’s not going to happen anymore.” The deadly expression on Wilson’s bloody face warned her that he wasn’t close to being finished. Kim lobster-crawled backward, trying for space, trying to buy time.
But her time had run out.
Leo got his coffee and picked up a decaf tea for Kim. It might help her stomach so it was worth a try. He tried making a couple of calls to set up one or two meetings for tomorrow, but he only got voicemails.
Waiting at the corner for the light to change, Leo had Kim on his mind. Well, Kim and the baby. The more he got used to the idea, the more he liked it. A baby. He could totally see raising a child with her. Seeing her laugh and play with a little person they created. Yeah, that was pretty cool. The light finally changed and Leo crossed the street. An odd rolling motion made him stop at the curb and he looked around to see the trees and streetlights sway. Earthquake. Oh man, Kim was going to hate that. He hurried his pace, knowing she was going to be freaking out. He got to the edge of the building when he heard a scream. Intuition had him picking up his pace and when he heard a definite cry of help coming from Wilson’s room, he dropped both drinks and ran like a wide receiver headed to the end zone.
He saw the door open a crack and slam closed a few seconds before he got there. Looking through a space in the closed curtains, Leo saw Kim cornered at the back of the room. Before he could do anything, Wilson lifted her off the floor, drew back and punched her in the stomach. She doubled over, gasping for air. Blood pooled at her feet.
And Leo lost his shit. He slammed into the door with his right shoulder over and over, but it didn’t give an inch. He ran to his parked car, grabbed a crowbar from the trunk and ran at the window. Hearing Kim’s screams drove him like a maniac. A few people came out of rooms, looking around. “Call 911!” Leo shouted. With everything he had, he slammed that bar into the glass. It shattered with a resounding crash and Leo dove inside.
Wilson turned just in time to take the full brunt of Leo’s weight right in the chest. They flew into the back wall right next to where Kim lay curled in a fetal position.
Somehow, Wilson squirmed out of his grip. He yanked Kim up by her hair and twisted her right arm behind her back. “Stay away!” he shouted. “I’ll break her arm, I swear I will!” He looked possessed, completely unhinged.
In the second it took for Leo to figure out what to do, Kim slammed one stiletto heel on Wilson’s foot and slammed his ribs with her left elbow.
Wilson howled, Kim managed to duck out of his hold and Leo pounced.
Yes, he usually had a stuntman do the real work in any fight scene, but now he had the opportunity to beat the shit out of someone who really deserved it.
Leo got in a solid right hook that spun Wilson backward and into a small, upholstered chair. The burn in his hand felt good as he advanced to do more damage. Wilson recovered and lashed out with a punch of his own that caught Leo on the chin and snapped his head back.
That was the only shot Leo allowed.
Over and over, he pounded his fists into any part of Wilson he could find; face, stomach, ribs. Anyplace that caused pain. “I knew it was you the whole time, you piece of shit.” His knuckles felt like fire and he welcomed the hurt.
Two strangers finally pulled him off as sirens wailed from the parking lot.
“Shit!” one guy exclaimed. “This is Leo Frost.”
“No fucking way,” the other guy said.
“Let me go, let go!” Leo yanked out of their grasp and knelt next to Kim. God, he’d shot a movie that had almost this exact scene, and the victim had been Kim’s best friend in real life. What the fuck kind of déjà vu was that? “Kim, can you hear me?” She was lying in a pool of blood, gasping for breath, holding her stomach and her arm. A wave of helplessness drowned Leo. “Babe, I’m right here. Help’s on the way.” He looked behind him to the ambulance outside. Cops stormed the room, their guns drawn. The two men that pulled him off Wilson raised their hands and stood back in the opposite corner.
“Leo,” she whispered, looking up at him with tear filled eyes. “The baby. I’m losing the baby.”
“She needs a hospital, now!” Leo ordered with a glance over his shoulder. “No, you’re not,” he said, stroking some hair out of her bruised face. “You and the baby are going to be fine.” Behind him, Wilson groaned and shifted. “Get this piece of shit out of here.” Leo motioned to Wilson, lying on the floor.
EMTs rushed in and after checking Kim’s vital signs and checking her for other more serious injuries, they loaded her onto a gurney. “She’s pregnant,” he told them and the look the men shared with each other made his stomach drop.
The cops wanted to talk and Leo told them he’d be happy to, but he wasn’t letting Kim go to the hospital without him. He’d be damned if he was going to lose sight of the best thing that ever happened to him. He grabbed Kim’s bags at the last second and jumped in the ambulance next to the driver.
Leo tried to hold his emotions in check, to keep them buried deep, but remembering the agony
on Kim’s face decimated him. His heart had never hurt this much.
Once at the hospital, he made it to the back of the ambulance before the doors even opened. The nurses rushed her through the E.R., and Leo was forced to wait as they whisked her into a treatment room.
Looking around, Leo saw all the faces in the room staring at him, recognition in their eyes. An older couple in one corner. A family of three in chairs off to the right and three men sitting separately on his left. He moved into the hallway and paced until a nurse showed up asking all sorts of questions he couldn’t answer about Kim’s history, her insurance. It made him realize just how little he knew about her.
Didn’t matter. He knew the important shit. Knew he loved her. He loved her fierceness, her independence. Loved the way she looked with her hair in a bun and her glasses on as she worked at his desk. Loved how she constantly thought of others before herself. She’d become instrumental to his well-being. He couldn’t imagine living another day without her.
Cops showed up a few minutes later and the nurse left them to talk. Leo told them all he knew, which wasn’t much. Wilson—who seemed like an average ordinary guy—had taken a short leap into deep waters. The guy still hadn’t regained consciousness. It was the only thing that gave Leo some satisfaction. He looked at his bloody knuckles for the first time and registered the hot burn. He ducked into the men’s room and washed his hands, his stomach turning as he thought about all the blood Kim had lost.
There had to be something he could do. Someone he could call. Kim’s parents were gone and the scumbag who’d attacked her was her only living relative. But she did have her best friend in Indiana. A woman he’d met when he’d starred in a movie based on her sister’s life. Back in the hallway, Leo rummaged through Kim’s purse, found her phone and searched up Chelsea Harding, now Chelsea Rivers since her marriage. He punched the screen and hoped he wouldn’t have to leave a message.
“I knew it was you,” a woman answered. “No one else calls this late and you’re the only one I know on California time.”
Leo cleared his throat. He’d never been at a loss for words before. “Is this Chelsea?”
“Yes. I’m sorry. I thought this was Kim.” She must have looked at the screen again before coming back to the line. “Who is this?”
He heard a baby crying in the background. “Uh…” Leo didn’t know how to tell her. “This is Leo Frost. We met a long time ago when you were in California.”
“Yes. Leo. Dangerous Race, Leo. This is a surprise. Is there something wrong?” She knew there was. He heard it in her question and he wouldn’t be calling this late at night if something wasn’t very wrong.
“I, uh…” For a man rumored to be a smooth operator, he had zero tact at the moment. He glanced at the double doors Kim had disappeared through. “I’m at the hospital. With Kim. We just brought her into the emergency room.”
“Oh God. What happened? Is she all right?”
“I’m not sure yet,” he admitted. “They’re working on her now. Her cousin lost his mind and…” Leo swallowed hard. “He hurt her. Badly. I got to her as soon as I could, but…it wasn’t as soon as it should’ve been.” There was a lot of blood. Too much blood for the damage that Wilson had inflicted, which meant that something else was happening. Something he didn’t want to consider.
“Was she conscious when you found her?” Her voice cracked on the question.
“Yeah.” But just barely. And, God, all the blood. Leo wiped a hand down his face. He’d never forget it as long as he lived. “I know she doesn’t have any family, but—”
“I’m her family,” Chelsea said.
Leo hoped he was too.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Kim blinked her eyes open to bright hospital lights. An antiseptic smell invaded her nostrils and her parched mouth craved water. Men and women in various shades of blue and green hospital scrubs talked over and around her, but she only caught a few words. Nothing broken. Vital signs stable. The excruciating pain in her stomach was gone and she didn’t know if that was because she’d been given drugs or because…
No. She couldn’t go there. Wouldn’t go there.
“Leo?” she asked. She felt groggy and slow. “Is Leo here?” She licked dry lips and grimaced when she encountered her cut lip. Flexing her hand only brought a sharp sting from the attached IV.
A young man with thick dark hair and wearing a white lab coat glanced at her before gesturing to a nurse, who hurried out of the room. “We’ll get him now.” His dark eyes studied her face. “I’m Dr. Godwin.” He asked her a few questions to determine if she’d suffered a concussion. Her name, the date, the day of the week. She remembered it all. She also remembered the amount of blood she’d lost in the ambulance. She’d felt it beneath her.
With every minute that went by, an overwhelming sense of loneliness washed through her. She wanted Leo.
A minute later, he came into the room, the concern in his eyes and bruise on his jaw pushed her over the edge. Hot tears slipped down her cheeks. She didn’t want to face the news she was about to hear without him. She needed him more than she’d ever needed anyone.
He took her hand and she squeezed tight as more tears flowed. He bent low, grazed his lips across her cheek and whispered in her ear. “It’s okay. You’re going to be okay.”
But their baby wasn’t. The one thing she’d been looking forward to. Her chance to have someone to love and care for had been stripped from her in an instant.
The doctor stood at the end of the bed. “Ms. Jacobs, I know you wanted to see Mr. Frost, but I’m sure he wouldn’t mind waiting outside if you’d like some privacy while we talk.”
Leo glanced at her like he might bust a gasket if she sent him out and she quickly shook her head. “He’s part of this too.” She squeezed his hand and waited for the news that would surely crush her.
The doctor held a chart, his eyes solemn. “I’m sorry to inform you that you had a miscarriage.”
Despite already knowing, the words sent a fresh round of pain to her heart and a full body flush made her hot. A tremendous sense of loss flooded her, destroyed her in its wake. She’d wanted this baby so much. Wanted to be a mother to a little baby girl or boy. She’d been planning a nursery, thinking of names, doing all the things that went with pregnancy and now it was gone.
Leo swore quietly as he squeezed her hand tighter.
“I know you went through a serious trauma tonight,” the doctor continued. “But I’m curious if you had any cramping before you were attacked.”
Kim wiped her eyes and nodded. “I had a little cramping two days ago, but I thought it was the airplane or something I ate. They were on and off while I was on the East Coast, but not so bad that I thought about it. Then I had more on the plane home earlier and I noticed spotting. I just thought maybe it was the altitude or something and I’d read that a little spotting isn’t out of the ordinary. The cramps got progressively worse. I planned to go to the hospital tonight and call my doctor in the morning.”
Dr. Godwin nodded, his eyes sympathetic. “I know it’s not much consolation, but I think you would have miscarried this fetus even without tonight’s incident. You weren’t that far along, not even through the first trimester. Miscarriages aren’t that uncommon so early. The good news is I did a D&C and everything looks fine. When you’re ready, you can try again. Just because you miscarried this time doesn’t mean you will ever again. I just don’t want you to have that worry.”
“So this might not have been Wilson’s fault?” Leo asked, his voice hard.
“Possibly.” The doctor set her chart at the end of the bed. “At this stage, the fetus is so small that even a hard punch probably won’t affect it. There’s too much insulation. The fact that Ms. Jacobs experienced classic signs of an impending miscarriage makes me think it was inevitable. Devastating, I know. But inevitable. I’m sorry.” He looked back and forth between them, compassion in his eyes. “Honestly, her bigger injuries are the cut along her ch
eek and lip and her bruised ribs. Those will probably take longer to heal than anything else. Ice is your friend. Apply it often in twenty-minute increments. Arnica will help the bruising.” He glanced over his shoulder. “Just don’t tell my staff I suggested anything holistic. They’ll give me crap about it for weeks.”
Kim wanted to smile at his playfulness, but wasn’t in the mood. She should be asking questions, but her brain wasn’t functioning on all cylinders. Thank God Leo was thinking. He asked all sorts of questions about the time frame of her recovery.
Leo.
Leo was now free to do what he wanted and not what he thought he had to do. Yes, he’d convinced her he loved her, but that was when they had something connecting them. Yes, they got along great and she loved him, but what if this gave him the excuse he needed to bail?
Then she’d not only lost her baby, but the man she loved.
Fresh tears slid down her cheeks. This morning, she had everything, and now, she might possibly have nothing.
The doctor left and Leo gave her all his attention as a pretty Asian nurse scribbled in her chart.
“It’s okay,” he soothed. “You’re going to be okay.” He pulled a chair over and sat next to her. “What can I get you? What do you need?”
Just you. But she didn’t say it out loud because she didn’t want to pressure him. “Nothing. I just want to get out of here.” She wanted to be alone where she could grieve for the child she lost. The child they lost.
The nurse looked up from her chart. “The doctor wants you to stay a little while longer to make sure all your vital signs remain normal, but I doubt you’ll have to be admitted.”
“Good news.” Leo gave her a half-hearted smile and she loved him even more for trying. But his face sobered and he took her hand again. “I know you probably don’t want to talk about it, but the police are waiting outside for a chance to talk to you. They’re booking Wilson on attempted murder and assault charges. You do plan to press charges, right?”