Before he even got to the door, it was swinging open, and that creepy, eerie feeling that he had before was back.
“We didn't think that we would see you again, Dominic. Come in and tell us what you desire.”
It was always the same with them. If Dominic didn't know any better, he would truly think that those three ancient women were perverts. They always had some sexual innuendos and he was always a target. Not that he minded, too much.
“I want to take someone's memory away.”
“Did you have a bad night? Don't always believe women when they tell you that it happens to everyone. It doesn't.”
Dominic looked at Chelsea and smiled at the elderly woman. With the right glamour, she would look like she was barely twenty-one, but he knew what was really inside of her. Chelsea was the worst of them, as well as the oldest and the strongest. She was the one that he had to convince if he really wanted their help. The other sisters didn't do anything without her saying it was all right first. Dominic didn’t know how she had gained her dominance, but he knew not to question it.
“Not quite. I need to sell a girl who fell in love with somebody. It is easier to just rid him from her mind than for her to miss him.”
She looked at Dominic a little strangely. “Are you telling me that you have gotten sentimental in your old age?”
Dominic scoffed at the idea. “No, I just don't want it to be unnecessarily hard.”
“And what are you doing with her?”
They were asking all of the questions that he should have felt uncomfortable about, but he knew that it was probably their own curiosity more than caring about the situation. He had seen them do horrible things.
He was hopeful that they would continue in that same ilk and do it for him as well. He did not want to have Jessica wake up and still remember everything. He would have done it just so she didn't look at him like he was a monster. Dominic was really sick of feeling that way.
“Do you really care?”
Chelsea shrugged. “I guess I don't. I was just curious. It's nice to get a good story out here once in a while. My sisters can be poor company.”
The sisters that she talked about were sitting right there with her. It was clear that she did not care what was said. Chelsea was definitely the leader, and it showed.
“Just make sure you have my payment. That is really all that I care about.”
Dominic couldn't help himself. The grin spread across his face, about as much as it did on Chelsea's. Maybe she would be worth a second glance, if only he could get her to glamour up. How would one ask, though, without being turned to dust for the offense?
“I have everything that you need right here.”
“Promises, promises. I might actually hold you to that, Dominic.”
Chapter Eighteen
She woke up with a headache. Something was up, and when she sat up, her head only seemed to get worse. Looking around, she didn't recognize anything.
Even stranger was the fact that she didn't exactly know who she was. Whatever had happened to her, it left her with a million questions and zero answers.
“Hello?”
She didn't even know who to call to. She knew that help was needed, but from who was the question.
She called out again for someone to help her, and nobody answered. Finally, she got up slowly and took in her attire. She was wearing a nightgown like she was about to go to sleep, but it didn't feel like it was time for sleep.
“Amber! I am so glad that you finally woke up. Are you okay, baby? How are you feeling?”
There was a tall blond man with bright blue eyes looking down at her. He had concern on his face. He said that her name was Amber? She didn't know who Amber was. It didn't sound right. “Who are you?”
He looked even more concerned. “My name is Nick. I'm your husband.”
“My husband?”
That definitely didn't sound right. How did she have a husband and she didn't even remember him?
“Yes, we have been married for almost five years. Do you really not know who I am?”
“I'm pretty sure if I was married, I would remember it. I am not married.”
Amber was about to prove to whoever it was that she was telling the truth. She showed him her empty finger but instead was shocked when she saw a thin gold band. Where had that come from?
“See. We are married. The doctor said that you might forget some things, but I didn't realize that I would be one of them.”
“The doctor? What happened to me?”
He told her that she had been in a car wreck and had gone through the windshield. Apparently, she hit her head pretty hard, and that was why she couldn't remember anything.
“How long will this last?”
Her husband shrugged. “They really don't know. It could be a couple of days or it could be longer.”
“When you mean longer, do you mean that there's a chance it'll never come back, like ever?”
“I don't know. I think it's best if we are as positive about it as we can be, Amber. I’m just happy that you're awake.”
He moved to hold her, and she pulled away. No matter what he told her, she still did not recognize him.
He frowned and Amber felt like she had to apologize. She felt like she was doing something wrong, even though it felt wrong to pretend like she knew who the hell he was. She had no idea, and she was still trying to wrap the idea that he was her husband, around their head. It was going to take a little bit of work.
“I'm sorry. What did you say your name was again?”
“Nick. Nick Valente. I am your husband, and I love you, Amber. We’re going to get through this.”
“For real?”
“Yes, five years.” The man almost seemed aggravated for a second before concern took over his expression again.
“Five years?”
That really didn't sound right. How could she have forgotten her husband of that long?
As much as Amber wanted to think it was some joke or something, she knew that it wasn’t. Why else would she be there in the bed with him? It was obvious he wasn't a stranger to her, but her husband?
“Why don't I go get you something to eat?”
“That would be good, thank you.”
“What would you like?”
She shrugged. Amber didn't even know who she was. How was she supposed to make any other decisions at the moment?
“Since you are my husband, just bring me whatever it is that I like.”
Nick agreed, but he looked a little too cautious. She had a feeling that if they had been married as long as he said, their marriage wasn't the open kind that she would have wanted for herself.
Watching him leave, she tried her best to feel something for him. If he was, in fact, the man that she had married, then surely, there had to be a reason.
She waited for almost thirty minutes, and she spent the time looking around the room, trying to get something to trigger a memory. There were a couple of pictures of her and Nick, but they looked strange. She couldn't quite place it, but everything just felt off. Amber wanted to know what was going on, but at the same time, she didn't believe that she could really talk about it. She wasn't sure if she trusted Nick.
Once he got back, he had several things with him, and if she didn't know any better, Amber would have thought that he didn't know what she liked at all. There was such a wide variety, and when she asked him what her favorite was, he just kind of gestured with his hand.
“You were always the type that liked to try new things. You liked everything. I think it would be good for you to give it all a go. See what you like now. Things might have changed.”
None of that made any sense to her. If he was her husband, then why did he not know what her favorite meal was? Did he not pay attention to her? Was he one of those types of husbands that was gone all day and she never got to see him? The house that she had woken up in was huge, and a peek outside showed her that he must be wealthy. They must be wealthy.
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It was going to take a long time for her to get her mind around it all. It made her head hurt. One minute, she was asleep, blissfully unaware, and the next, nothing made sense.
Most of the food that he brought; she did not like it all. For someone who seemed to like new things, Amber was definitely not liking the experience at the moment. Some mouthfuls, she just wanted to spit out as soon as it touched her tongue. Others were a little bit longer.
“Are you sure that I like doing this, trying all of these new things?”
Nick shrugged and said that he was sure.
“We travel a lot, and you always want to try something new when we go.”
Amber wrinkled her nose. It was hard for her to imagine that she would actually enjoy what she was doing at the moment. She ended up liking some egg concoction and happily gave up trying the rest of it. Even though she was in luxurious and decadent surroundings, it seemed to Amber that she was the type that like simple things.
“So, tell me a little bit about us. Where did we meet?”
He launched into a great story about how they met on the beach and he saved her from drowning. It sounded like something that would be in a romantic comedy instead of in real life. She wasn't sure she believed it. Nick was supposed to be her husband, but he wasn't like anybody she would have picked on her own.
“That sounds almost too perfect.”
“Are you saying that you don't believe me?”
The accusation was so quick, and his head whipped around to look at Amber. Was he always like that? Did he always have that sort of temper? Why in the world would she pick someone like him to be married to?
He was cute, sure. He was tall and strong looking, blond hair, blue eyes. His skin was tanned, and there was an overwhelming presence when he was in the room. Nick basically took up all the extra oxygen. Even now, when she looked at him, she had to wonder things of a sexual nature. Had they been together for five years and she didn't remember a thing?
“Sorry, I wasn't saying that I don't believe you. It's just sounds like a movie plot more than real life. We have such a nice beginning story.”
“Yes, it's something that we will tell our children one day.”
“Oh God, I didn’t forget my kids, did I?”
“No.”
She felt relief wash over her. “So, we don't have any?”
He shook his head no, reassuring her that she wouldn’t do such an unforgivable thing.
“We have been working on it, though. I'm hoping when you're feeling better, we can start working on it again.”
Desire filled his eyes, and Amber had to look away. She didn't like the look of it, even though he was a perfect specimen of a man. There was no reason for her to feel it back.
Amber wanted to believe that if she was really going to marry this man, had married him even, there was no way that she would feel so against being with him intimately. She felt against it, though, with every fiber of their being. It was like she knew that it just wasn't right. She knew that the current situation she found herself in was not one that she wanted to stay in for very long.
“I hear ya. I think maybe we should get to know each other a little bit before we start talking about making children.”
He chuckled, forcing it almost, and Amber still wasn't sure what she felt about Nick. She certainly didn't feel this overwhelming desire to be with him. It was more passion than anything else. Why did she feel like she had to be cautious of her own husband?
When Amber asked about other people in her life, she was rather surprised to find out that there weren’t too many. She had a falling out with her family because of the two of them being together.
“Wow, I can't believe that. I feel that my family and I used to be so close.”
Why was she talking past-tense?
“You are. I think you still want to be close to them, but you aren't able to. It's not a decision that you made, but one that your family made for you. I know that it bothers you.”
“What was it about?”
He shrugged like it didn't matter either way, like her family didn't matter.
“Who knows. You wouldn't really talk about it all that much. I just know that they did something to upset you and you have ignored them for years now. Maybe they said something about me; I am not sure. I think you were trying to save my feelings.”
Amber didn't like the sound of that at all. She had always been close to her family, that much she knew. She couldn't see their faces in her mind, but she felt an incredible amount of responsibility for why they weren’t in her life anymore. She didn’t know what happened, just that it was probably her fault.
“I am going to have to figure out what happened. I can't imagine not talking to my family ever again.”
There was something in his eyes when he looked at her. Something that told her Nick did not want her looking into her family. It could have been nothing, most likely, it was nothing, but it sewed the seed that kept growing inside of her mind.
It kept blooming, giving her more and more possibilities and none of them ended with her actually being married to the guy. But if she wasn't married to him, what was she doing there? Why did she have a wedding ring on? Why did he know all of these things about her?
The more she thought about it all, the more her head hurt from trying to figure out what made no real sense. What didn't make sense was the fact that her husband claimed to not even know what was going on. If they had been together for five years, surely, she had talked to him about it once or twice. If it was a marriage, it was the strangest marriage she had ever heard of.
How did she get involved with Nick? Even though she’d told Nick that she believed their little love story, she didn’t. Something was off, and Amber was determined to figure out what it was.
Trevor couldn't stand to stay still any longer. Everybody kept telling him to just give it time. It wasn't working out, though. While most people thought that Jessica had left in the night because she didn't like where she was, Trevor knew better. They had spent a glorious night together, and then she had just up and disappeared.
His daughter didn’t believe she left either, and she was just as strong in the conviction that Jessica didn't leave because she wanted to, but because she had to. It made Trevor feel better to think that she wouldn't just up and leave him in the middle of the night, but she owed him nothing, and why would he expect any different from her?
It was a back and forth in his mind over and over again. The longer she stayed away, the more he was confused with the whole situation. He had called Dylan over and over again.
Repeatedly, they had been attacked by the Syndicate, and Trevor was still convinced that the Syndicate had taken her. He was on the phone with Dylan again, trying to convince him to give him something to do. He needed to fight, or he was never going to get the anger out of him. It was possessing every inch of his soul, and soon, he would be thinking of nothing else.
“I just hate that you had to get involved in this.”
“You can hate it all you want, Dylan, but I'm involved. You dropped that damn girl off at my door, I fell in love with her, and now she just split on me. It can't just be a coincidence, not with everything else going on.”
Dylan paused on the other end of the line for a moment, and Trevor knew what was going to come next. It was going to be the question of what if she just left. What if she just took off because she didn't want to be with him, they were together, and she freaked out. It had just as much value as the idea that the Syndicate attacked them for no reason. Why would they go through all the trouble for one girl?
Trevor had heard that question before, and he didn't know the answer.
“You know what is going on with them? Your wife didn’t pay when they were sold. They might just try to sell her again.”
“I'm not going to say that they wouldn't do something like that. I just hate to think that you're right.”
“I don't want to be right, either, Dylan, but I am. I can just
feel it. For whatever reason, they made her write that note so that we wouldn't go looking for her. I am not going to be able to stick to that. I need to find her.”
“What if she doesn't want to be with you?”
He shrugged. “I used to think that you were a glass-half-full kind of guy.”
“I may have been at one time, Trevor, but I don't have that luxury anymore. Ever since I got involved with my wife, I have had nothing but trouble. I know that Jamie didn't mean to bring it all on us, but it has certainly been a challenge. Have you even asked yourself if it is all worth it?”
Trevor smiled to himself, and while he could understand the question, he didn't want to answer it. Of course, he knew what he wanted. He wanted her, and nothing else was going to do.
“It's worth it. I can't tell you why exactly or how I even know it, I just know it. All of it will be worth it as soon as I find her again.”
“And if she doesn't want to be found?”
“Then I guess this will have all been for nothing. I don't think that is the case though.”
Dylan breathed out. “I can't say that I don't know exactly what you're feeling. Jamie was off-limits, but I wanted her anyway. I would have done anything to get her.”
“Do you regret it?”
“Of course, I don't. How could I ever regret her?”
For some reason, that was enough of an answer for Trevor. He didn't know what he was going to find when he finally tracked Jessica down, but he had to know the truth. Whatever that truth may be, and no matter how painful it was going to be on him, he had to know one way or another.
“So, will you help me find her?”
“We're looking for her now. Jamie is worried about her.”
“If you hear anything, will you tell me?”
“Of course, Trevor. I’ve got your back. We're going to figure this out.”
Trevor felt relief from hearing that. He could not imagine ever losing her. He had just found her, and he wasn't willing to give Jessica up just yet.
Alpha Shifter Bride Service: (A Paranormal Romance Series) Page 39
