by Peak, Renna
He dropped back against his seat again. “I won you.”
“Ha!” I grinned as a full belly laugh came from my throat. “Because I’m a goat. The prize-winning goat.”
“I wouldn’t say goat.” He tilted his head again, his gaze flicking down to my cleavage. “Definitely not a goat.”
My hand flew to my chest out of instinct. “Daniel, this isn’t funny. What do you want?”
“Your breasts are beautiful. You don’t need to hide them.”
I brought my other hand up to cover the first. “What do you want?” I wished desperately that I hadn’t had so much to drink, at least not that quickly. Or even that I had eaten something at all that night. My head was definitely spinning, and it was becoming more difficult to even form full sentences. I was probably slurring, but I couldn’t hear it myself, not yet.
“Just you, baby. Only you.” He reached out a hand and pulled one of mine from my chest. He wrapped his other hand over the top. “It’s all I’ve ever wanted.”
I tried to pull my hand away, but he had too tight of a grip. My voice lowered to a whisper. “I belong to someone else.”
“Not anymore, you don’t. He didn’t choose you, Jenna. He chose his real girlfriend, the one he keeps going back to. You can’t compete with a movie star.”
I yanked my hand from his. He was right, though. I couldn’t compete with her. “That doesn’t mean you win.”
“Of course it does. Jenna, I know about everything that’s happened. You don’t need to explain anything to me. I love you, and it’s all in the past. We can move forward now.”
My lip trembled and I could hear the tremor move to my voice. “No. No. There’s no future, Daniel. Not with me. I had to let you go before I broke apart. I would have cracked. I wouldn’t be here now.”
He pressed his lips into a line, shaking his head. “We’ll get past it, I promise. We’ll get past all of it. And Jenna…”
I looked up at him, my voice quivering. “What?”
“I can help you find your mother.” He stared into my eyes for a few moments too long.
“No, it doesn’t matter.” I shook my head, my pulse racing in my chest. “Only Brandon can help me, and I don’t need to know.”
“He can’t help you any more, Jenna. He belongs to another woman now.”
“No, that’s not true. It’s a business arrangement.” I nodded. It was; it had to be. That’s what my drunk brain told me, anyway.
He returned my nod. “I know that’s what he told you, but he was lying. He’s with her right now.”
I shook my head, even though I knew what he was saying was true. I knew it because I had heard her there, heard her there that night that he… “I don’t want either one of you. You’re both fucked up in the head.”
He threw his head back and laughed. “Well, baby, you’re right about that.” He pulled my hand into his again. “Come with me. There’s someone who wants to meet you.”
I tried to pull my hand away again. “Who?”
He tightened his grip on my hand once more. “We can go home now.”
“Home? I don’t want you in my home, Daniel. I’ve told you that. I don’t care what you know about Brandon. I don’t care if he’s with her. I just want you both to leave me alone.”
“Home to Baltimore. Our real home. My father’s working on it now. We can go home, start over. Start our real life. You didn’t want it in Japan, and that’s fine. I totally get that. It’s going to suck for me, but it’s worth it if I can have you back. We’ll go home. I’ll get you the house with the piano in the living room and the white picket fence in the yard. We’ll both get what we want.”
I shook my head again, gulping down the breaths that were coming too fast. “No. My home is here now. I’m not going back there, not with you. I can’t.”
He let out a long sigh, his face softening. “Jenna, baby, I’m not asking you. It’s all arranged. You can come with me willingly, or…” He let his voice trail off.
My bottom lip quivered. “Or what? You’ll force me?” I felt my hand go clammy in his. I might have been drunk, but there was no mistaking the fear I was feeling at that moment.
His eyes barely narrowed. “Don’t make me do that.”
My heart raced in my chest again and my head spun. “I don’t want to. No.” I yanked my hand away with every bit of strength I had in my body. “You have to stop this.” I stood up from the table, unable to move any further than that.
“I can’t turn back now, Jenna. It’s already done.”
I looked around the room, trying to find a way out. Any way out. “Don’t do this, Daniel.”
“Then come with me. Come with me willingly, and none of this has to hurt either of us.” He pinned me with his dark eyes again. “Choose me.”
I could only barely get my whisper out through my clenched jaw. “No.”
* * *
“You’re sure that’s all you remember?”
“Yeah.” Apparently, I was now coherent enough to answer questions from the police. The hospital made a special exception, allowing the police officer into the critical care unit. Robin and her fucking special exceptions.
“You’re not giving us much to go on here, Mr. Richardson. This guy roughed you up pretty good. You’re sure you don’t remember anything else?”
“I’m sure.” I remembered too much, none of which would help him to help me in any way. Better to keep my mouth shut and keep Jen safe.
The guy pulled out a card and handed it to me. “If you think of anything else, anything at all, call me directly. The number’s right there on the card.”
I gave him a curt nod. “Will do, officer.”
“Detective. Detective Adams. Let me know if you think of anything else that might help us catch this guy.”
“Sure.” I tucked my arms behind my head and shifted onto my side—the only position I had found so far that was even remotely comfortable.
“Alright. Well, let me know.” He turned and walked toward the glass door of my tiny hospital room. He turned back to face me before opening the door. “Mr. Richardson, did you defend yourself? Give this guy any bruises or injuries that might help us identify him?”
“No. I never saw it coming.” I winced as I felt a stab of pain where a piece of my liver had once been. One wrong move with my arm and it was like it was happening all over again. “I don’t have anything else to tell you.” Lies. I could give them his name, his address, next of kin. But she would be next, and I couldn’t let that happen.
“Okay, well, I hope you’re feeling better soon.” The detective nodded at me and turned back to the door.
The cute little night nurse came in as soon as he left. She had a handful of pills and syringes with her, meant to drug me up to hell, obviously.
I didn’t want any of it. That stuff fucked with my head like nothing I had ever had before. How long had I even been there? Two days? Maybe three. I couldn’t really remember. “What day is it now, Stephanie?”
She smiled at me and started injecting things into the IV in my hand. “There’s a calendar on the wall, you know. But it’s Monday. Are you up for a walk after we’re done here?”
I groaned. “Hell, no.” I looked over at her, sitting at the edge of my bed. She was young, probably just out of nursing school. And cute. I could probably use that to my advantage. “You have a boyfriend?”
She looked down at my arm and grinned. Cute little dimples dotted each cheek. “I do. And even if I didn’t, I can’t date patients.” She looked up at me, still grinning. “Besides, your fiancée might have something to say about that.”
My nostrils flared at the word. I felt my jaw tighten just thinking about it. “Right, my fiancée.” Robin hadn’t so much as shown her face to me since right after the surgery; at least, not that I could remember. I had heard she’d been around harassing the nursing staff, though. “Is she here?” I wanted to get that ring off her finger. End it now before it went too far.
She shook her head. “No, I h
eard she was here earlier. She wants to take you home tomorrow, so we need to get you walking more.” She raised her gaze to meet mine, lifting an eyebrow. “And if you can get up and walking more, we can take the catheter out.”
“Well, why didn’t you say so? I’ll turn some cartwheels for you if you’ll take that thing out.” I’d had too many conversations with myself over the past few days about the thing. It was hard to decide whether I’d rather have every organ in my body ripped out with a knife or have that damned tube in my cock.
“You’ll rip your stitches out if you do cartwheels, but if you’ll get up and walk the whole unit, I’ll take it out for you tonight.”
“You’re my new favorite nurse, Stephanie.” I leaned back in my pillow. I would have been out of there yesterday if they didn’t have me chained down with that fucking thing. I needed to see Jen. “Can you do me a huge favor?”
She lifted another eyebrow and attached another syringe to the tube in my hand. “Maybe.”
I grinned. She was fun. Not as fun as Jen, but fun all the same. “I had some stuff when I got here. A phone. Two phones, actually. My clothes—there was some stuff in my pockets that I need to see. Is there any way I could get them?”
She finished with whatever it was she was injecting me with and opened a pill into a little cup on the table next to me. She handed me the pill and a glass of water. “Take this, then we’ll talk about it.”
I looked down at the horse pill. I knew it was pain medication, and there was no way I was taking it. I had refused it all day, and I was doing fine. “What is it?”
“It’s your pain medication. Look, I know you think you don’t want to take it, but if you want to make the full circle around this floor tonight, you’re going to need it.” She nodded down at the pill. “Take the pill and I’ll get you your phones. And then when it kicks in, we’ll take a walk and you can get your catheter out. Deal?”
“God, you drive a hard bargain. It’s pretty sexy.” I popped the pill in my mouth and took a drink of the water.
“And you’re too charming for your own good. I’ll be back in a minute.”
I watched her walk out of the room, then took the pill out of my mouth and flung it toward the trash can on the other side of the room.
She returned a few minutes later with a big bag that said “patient belongings.” My phones were there along with my wallet and my suit. Just the jacket and pants, no shirts. I forgot for a second why the shirts were missing, until the burning in my belly reminded me of the reason. It would have to do; it would at least get me out the door.
“Are you feeling any better?” She gave me a hopeful look, both eyebrows lifted.
I nodded, lying. “I feel great. Ready for that walk whenever you are.”
8
I convinced Stephanie to loan me her phone charger when we got back to my room. Both of the phones were dead after sitting in a bag at the nurses’ station for three days. It was late, but I needed to call her. I needed to hear her voice. I’d get to leave tomorrow, and Robin could go to hell for all I cared. I sure as hell wasn’t going to go to her house or some private nursing place that she arranged. I shook off a vision of the weird lady from Misery chopping off my foot. Robin wasn’t quite that obsessed; at least, I didn’t think she was.
The nurse had been right—walking that circle was a nightmare, but it was worth it to have that tube not hanging from my dick. The pain in my belly was going to go away as soon as I heard Jen’s voice, anyway. I could have climbed a mountain to hear her voice.
I charged the work phone first, only because that was the one he would have called. But there was nothing, not even a text. He probably assumed I was dead, so what would have been the point of calling and gloating?
I turned on my personal phone as soon as it had enough of a charge, leaving it plugged into the wall. Maybe she would have called, left a message. I glanced up at the clock; it was after nine. She probably wouldn’t be up, but I needed to hear her voice. I needed to apologize for how I had treated her Friday morning, telling her she couldn’t have that job. I had been a total dick and she deserved to know why. I vaguely remembered calling her after I had been stabbed, but I only remembered telling her I loved her. I couldn’t remember what she had said or what we had talked about. Maybe I apologized to her then. Everything that had happened after that knife ripped through my gut was kind of a blur. I looked at the call history—two calls made on Friday afternoon. That made sense. I called Robin to come get my bleeding ass out of there, then I called Jen to tell her I loved her, because I had been sure I was going to die. Had I told her that?
It didn’t matter. I pressed her number to call her and waited for her to pick up, praying she hadn’t turned her phone off before she went to bed.
“Brandon. I didn’t expect to hear from you again.”
I looked down at the phone. It was her number, but it wasn’t her voice. I put the phone back to my ear. “Daniel?”
“Jenna can’t talk right now. She, uh…” He paused. “We’re a little busy.”
My hand shook and I almost dropped the phone. “Put her on the phone, asshole. Prove she’s there, that she’s okay.” A cold chill went down my spine.
“She’s fine. She’s just a little tired. She hasn’t had a real man in so long…”
My muscles tightened. “You motherfucker, put her on.”
“I told you, she’s totally passed out. I think I wore her out.”
I balled my hand into a fist, pounding it into the mattress. “Fuck you, Daniel. Just put her on the phone so she can tell me to go to hell. Then I’ll leave you two lovebirds to fuck yourselves silly.”
He let out a long sigh. “I don’t think you understand, douche bag. I won the war. You might have won a few battles, but I won the war. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
My jaw clenched. “Put her on.”
“You don’t have any cards left to play. She was your last one, and I have her. She’s my card now, and I have every intention of playing it. Do you understand what I’m saying, asshole?”
I felt my heart race in my chest, my heartbeat thudding in my ears. “Put. Her. On.”
“I’m trading her in. We’re on our way there now. The unfortunate thing for you, for both of you, really, is there isn’t a fucking thing you can do about it.”
My lips flattened and I punched the bed again. “Put her on the phone, damn it.”
He let out another sigh. “Fine.” I heard some shuffling. “Jenna, baby, wake up. Wake up. Jenna, wake the hell up.” I heard her let out a little moan. “Damn it, Jenna, wake up. Brandon wants to tell you about his wedding.” She whimpered a few times and I heard more shuffling. “I told you, I wore her out.”
My side began to burn, and I gripped it tightly, trying to hold back the pain that was coming from the tension building up in my body. “Don’t take her there. You know what’s going to happen if you do. We can talk about this. I can help you get what you want.” I held back the groan of pain that almost left my lips.
He laughed into the phone. “That’s what you said last time, and all I ended up with was you fucking my fiancée. Neither one of you are worth a damned thing to me. She’s worth way more to him than she is to me.”
I shook my head; my vision was starting to cloud from the pain. “You’re wrong. You won’t get what you want and she’ll end up dead. Or worse.”
“What, like you? Gutted like a fish? I don’t see that happening. He’ll use her until he’s done with her, and if you’re lucky, maybe you’ll get her back. Of course, she won’t be the same when he’s done with her…”
My hand dug into my side, trying to splint my wound. “You love her. Don’t do that to her. Just…please.” I held back another groan from the pain that was beginning to overtake my body. “I’ll bargain with you. Anything you want.”
“When you love someone like that, you’re weak. Remember who told me that, Brandon? You. You’re the one who told me that, remember? Remember that, dou
che bag? You are the one who convinced me to give her up in the first place. And now you’re the one who’s weak. Pretty ironic, isn’t it?”
I groaned despite trying to hold it in. “I’d love to discuss the multiple levels of irony in this situation, Daniel, but I’m barely holding what’s left of my liver in my body. If you have any feelings for her, do not do that to her. Please, let me take care of this.”
“Hmm.” He paused for a few moments. “I’ll take it under consideration. But I’m meeting with him in the morning and I would guess he’ll want to take possession of our little prize as soon as possible. The plane leaves in a few minutes and that meeting is set in stone, asshole. You better come up with something I can’t live without. And it had better be fucking amazing.”
My muscles quivered, and I wasn’t sure if it was from the pain or from my brewing fury. “Yeah, it’ll be amazing. Name your price; I’ll make it happen.”
“I’ll think about it.” He paused again. “It’s kind of fun, being the one with the power, isn’t it? I can understand why it gets you off. It’s a pretty fucking amazing feeling.” He paused again. “Oh, and just so you know, I’ll be fucking the love of our lives all the way to Baltimore.”
* * *
“Are we flying?”
His fingers brushed the hair away from my neck and I felt his lips touch my sensitive skin. He groaned into my neck and pressed his body against my back. “Yes, baby, we’re flying.”
I smiled a little and my body melted into his, his arms wrapping tighter around my waist.
He inhaled from my neck. “You smell so good, Jenna, baby. I’ve missed this.”
I let out a small sigh and let my head roll back into his chest. His lips found my neck again. My eyelids were so heavy I couldn’t lift my eyes, even though I was trying. He felt so warm, so comfortable, but there was something about him that wasn’t quite right. He smelled different. Familiar, but different. I must have been dreaming. “I love you. I love you so much.”