by Stella Rhys
“I don’t have a – ”
She was gone before I could finish my sentence.
Alone in the room, I looked down at my arms. An IV needle in each and one in the back of my hand. Once upon a time, I’d have ripped them all out and just left. Jumped out a window if I had to. But that wasn’t me anymore. I’d changed for Elle and though she was gone, I’d yet to see a return of my “badass side,” as she liked to call it. Four years of teaching fifth graders had turned me into a rule-heeding softie. So I stayed in bed, staring with dull eyes at my bruised arms. I was tracing the line of a cut on my hand when the nurse returned. Through my peripherals, I could see her cheeks, suddenly pinker than roses.
“Found him,” she sang lightly.
When I looked up, my heart stopped. Abram. Wearing a white V-neck and jeans, he stood before me. He ran a hand over his jaw as his eyes trailed from my stitches to my top lip. The heat of his gaze made me suddenly conscious of how swollen it felt.
I found my words only once the nurse left.
“You had him follow me.” My voice was flat and hollow as Abram came to my bedside. I went from glaring at him to frowning down at my lap, asking myself how I could feel both enraged and relieved by his presence.
“It was Nate. I wouldn’t have let it happen had I known.”
I wanted to ask who Nate was but I’d already figured it out. He was the blonde man in the alley, who had been dragging the body like an animal carcass. God. I didn’t know the guy but I already fucking hated him. He was the reason I was in the hospital. He was the reason I was going to miss the work I needed to pay off my bills, including this new one. Breathing hard, my fists balled in anger. But I couldn't even hold them like that, my palms too bloody and scraped.
I was the definition of pathetic and out of nowhere, I felt tears. They streamed down my face as if racing each other, quickly dripping from my chin to my chest.
“Easy.” With the back of his finger, Abram caught the next tear before it fell. Brushing my cheek, he wiped it dry. I forgot briefly to breathe but it all came back with a sudden gasp.
“I can’t.” I trembled as I contained my angry sobs. “I can’t be easy. I’m going to miss work now and I’m already behind on rent. I’ve got nothing but debt. I gave them all my money.” I gave them all my money but Elle’s dead so now they’ve stopped talking to me and it was all for nothing. My voice shook so hard Abram tipped my chin up.
“Isla, I’m sorry.” He made me look into his blue eyes. “I’m going to take care of this, I promise.”
Before I could reply, the nurse returned. She handed Abram two packets. “Her discharge papers and your receipt,” she smiled up at him, so dazzled she could hardly blink. Only then did I notice that several other nurses kept drifting past my door, craning their neck to look inside. Abram. It was my first time being in public with him and I was realizing that he probably went nowhere without causing a scene. I was so busy eyeing the reactions that I barely processed what was happening.
“Thank you.” Abram took the papers from the nurse before nodding toward me. “So you just need to take the IVs out and then I can take her home?”
“Correct!”
I blinked as he turned to call his driver, fixing my quizzical stare at the nurse. She flashed me the brightest of smiles.
“See? Bill’s taken care of. You didn’t even have to look at it. Now you just go home and spend the week getting spoiled by that beautiful husband of yours.” She glanced over her shoulder at Abram, turning back to me with a sigh. “I know today was pretty rough, but all things considered, I think you’re a very, very lucky girl.”
chapter five
Standing was fine but walking hurt. Abram seemed to notice because when we got to the hotel, he rounded to my side of the car and lifted me out like a feather, carrying me to the gated side entrance of the Monarch. I had told him that it was fine to just take me home but when he gave a simple, “No,” I shut up. He was the reason I was in this situation but I would be lying to myself if I said that I didn’t want to be here.
I liked his world.
I felt guilty about it but I had to admit that I found it endlessly fascinating. Him. The hotel. The suited men who floated around, doing things before Abram even had to ask. It was the perfect escape I couldn’t have assembled in even my fantasies. I’d certainly paid a price for it – one I’d probably never agree to if given the chance to rewind – but there was no rewinding or erasing what I saw in the alley, so I let go and gave myself permission to… enjoy this.
It probably also helped that I was on painkillers and just relieved to be out of the hospital.
“Are you hungry?”
I registered Abram’s question seconds after he’d asked it. I was too busy being mesmerized by the exterior of the Monarch. It was unlike any other building I’d seen – sleek and all black, matte in some places, mirrored in others. As we neared it, I gazed at the reflection of Abram’s strong arms wrapped around me, my groggy head resting against his chest. His rock-hard body was surprisingly easy to melt into. Even more surprising, I was letting myself melt into it. This is happening, I reminded myself as I watched him hold me. Still, I couldn’t absorb the moment. The meds were kicking in and I was starting to float away.
I finally gave a slurred answer to his question. “I’m not hungry. How do you live in the Monarch?”
Abram thanked his guy who held the door open for us. “How do I live in the Monarch.” I could hear a smile in his voice as he repeated my question. “I own the Monarch.”
What? I blinked. “You do not.”
“Okay. I do not,” Abram humored me as we entered something that looked like a lobby. But there were no Monarch logos and instead of smiling hotel staff, there were four men in black suits. They were all stoic but the one Abram greeted cracked a sympathetic half-wince, half-smile when he saw me.
“I’m guessing Mr. Kingdon’s in for a world of pain,” he said.
“He already got it,” Abram smirked, reading my mind when I flashed him a curious look about this in the elevator. “Nate,” he clarified before turning to speak under his breath to his guy.
In the penthouse, still carrying me, I remember Abram asking me to eat. But when I wouldn’t, he took me to the room I’d stayed in last time. I was asleep before he even got me into bed.
~
It was dark by the time I awoke. For a second, I thought it was all a dream. Being followed, crashing my bike, waking up in the ER – it was unbelievable enough without throwing in Abram. As my husband no less. I imagined him identifying himself to the nurse. “My name is Abram. I’m here to see my wife, Isla Maran.” The thought put a little smile on my lips, but it fell to a grimace the second I sat up in bed. Every bruise on my body pulsed in pain under my skin.
Struggling, I sat upright, finally catching a glimpse of myself in the mirror above the mantle. Not the worst. My top lip was swollen at the Cupid’s bow. My bloody stitches, apparently cleaned in my sleep, were now five neat X’s marching in a short, straight line. I’d think they were cute if it weren’t for money and Reece. I could already hear him cutting my shifts because of them. “You know our clientele, Isla. They come here for familiarity. Comfort. The way you look now is going to make them uneasy.”
The painkillers were clearly wearing off if I was alert enough to start worrying again. Grabbing my phone off the nightstand, I shot a quick email to work before turning my reluctant attention to the missed texts. They were half from Holly, half from Evan. I skimmed them. Both were asking me separately to meet them – Holly so we could “talk” and Evan so he could return my bomber jacket. Though his last few texts took a sharp turn.
considering the reasons you ended things with me isla it feels like you should get why I proposed to holly. You get it more than anyone. Life gets fucking hard and we all end up doing unexpected things to make it easier for ourselves. You gave up your dream job. I got engaged
but that doesn’t mean I won’t always want you.
It doesn’t mean I don’t wish I could be marrying you. you were a million worlds out of my league so I’ll probably never stop mentally reliving the time we had together. And I thank you for it but I still need closure so please call me back Isla. Please.
I didn’t realize my hands were shaking until I finished reading.
God, I should’ve known.
And in the back of my head, I probably did, but just hadn’t had the time to think about it. Evan wasn’t marrying Holly for love but for her family’s money. She had a hefty trust fund and he had massive debt that he’d spent ten years banking on paying off in one shot. Online poker, Powerball tickets, Ponzi schemes – he got suckered into it all before finally pushing me to study pharmaceuticals since teaching would “never pay six figures.” Over time, he became the world’s grandest display of laziness and the last straw for me came when he found out how much I was paying toward Elle’s medical bills.
He spent that day sulking, daring to be jealous of her cancer treatment.
I thought that kicking him out would force him to become an adult but apparently, he’d gone the easy route and proposed to a girl he once refused to so much as dance with while I got our drinks at the bar. “Sorry. I don’t do chicks with Leno chins. Even if they’re your friends.”
You scumbag. I should have never gone to meet you that night. The thought played in my mind on such a repeat that I must’ve summoned the asshole because suddenly, he was calling. I don’t know why I picked up. He seemed shocked too. I could hear the sound of a busy restaurant or bar in the background, but it took Evan a couple seconds to speak.
“Isla?”
“Yes. Why are you calling?”
“I’m sorry, I know it’s late.”
I took the phone off my ear to look at the time. Past one in the morning. I had no idea. “Yeah. I got your texts but I’ll get my jacket another time. Or you can mail it to me.”
He ignored everything I said. “I’m at Maloney’s right now. With Jared, Mikey, Joey Guinness. You remember the guys.” His speech was slurred. This was officially a drunk dial.
“Why are you telling me this.”
“’Cause they’re giving me shit. Joey’s asking if he can take you out now. I’m gonna give him the phone and you’re gonna tell him no thanks because he looks too much like Kermit the fucking Frog and you…” He groaned. “You are the sexiest girl on the fucking planet. You know that? I want you to know that, babe. You’ve got the legs… and the ass… the tits. You’re the full package and I can’t even… get fuckin’ hard unless I turn off the lights and pretend she’s – ”
“Evan.” My stomach lurched. It hurt to clench my jaw but I had to. “Stop this. You cannot fucking lie to her like that!” I hissed between my teeth.
“And you’re a good person, too. Holly went after me and you’re still defending her.”
I hadn’t known that detail but it made no difference anymore. “I don’t care, Evan. I don’t want to hear this.”
“Just come meet me.”
“Are you kidding?”
“No,” he said firmly. He was still slurring but now there was a cockiness to his speech. “I know you, baby. If you haven’t seen anyone since me, you haven’t fucked anyone since me and I remember how much you need it, Isla. Good, deep fucks every night and every morning. That was my favorite thing about you.”
I froze, livid.
“See, you woulda said something by now if I wasn’t right. And I’m pretty sure you woulda let me fuck you in that bar that night if I didn’t tell you about stupid Holly. Fuck.” I heard a growl and what sounded like the heel of his palm hitting his forehead. Once. Twice. “Why’d I do it, babe? Why’d I even tell you about her?”
I hung up. Revolted, heart pounding, I threw the phone across the bed and scrambled to get out. But I was on my feet for barely a second before toppling to my raw hands and knees. Pain searing me, I cried out.
The second I did, the door flung open.
chapter six
Through tears, I looked up. Fuck. Standing there was Abram in just a pair of black sweatpants, every section of his six-pack tight till he realized I was mostly fine. Before I could say a word, he scooped me off the floor with the effort others might take to lift a book. There was a faint smile on his lips as he looked at me.
“Fall out of bed?” He set me back on its edge.
“No, I was…” Running from an asshole’s voice.
“Who were you talking to on the phone?” Abram leaned against the table next to the bed.
“My ex.”
“Everything alright?”
“Um…” I trailed off, staring ahead at his bare abs. God. “Everything’s fine. Just… the usual ex things.”
He grinned. “Thankfully, I don’t have too many of those. Care to enlighten me?”
I giggled and sucked on my lower lip. “Well… drunk dialing. That’s a big ex thing. Wanting to get back together. That’s another one. But in my case, there’s also confessing that he’s marrying my best friend only because he wants her money.”
“Christ.”
“Mm-hm.”
“Pretty sure you dodged a bullet with that one.”
“I most certainly did,” I said, lifting my gaze as I suddenly realized. “You saw him that night. My ex. I was running from him, which was why I ran into you. So I guess I dodged a bullet by running into a tornado.”
Abram laughed. “Yeah, well. A bullet kills you. A tornado just wreaks havoc before letting you back on your feet again.”
“Marrying Evan would’ve had me dead inside before our first anniversary, so you might have a point.”
“Seems like a great guy, this Evan. How’d he ever manage to get you?”
I studied Abram, trying to figure out if he’d just complimented me. “I was in college and he was a bartender on campus. Semi-pro snowboarder. Wore a backwards cap and gave me free drinks. Those were the things that impressed me at the time,” I rolled my eyes at myself. “I was nineteen. Obsessed with partying. You know how it goes.”
He laughed, tantalizing me as he adjusted the waistband on his sweats. “I was in the Air Force when I was nineteen. Not a whole lot of partying but I’d gone to keep myself in check, so I guess that was the point.”
My smile was wry. “You were a bad kid like me?”
He smirked. “Worse, I’m sure.”
“Care to enlighten me?”
He pushed off the nightstand. “No. I’d rather keep your impression of me at least slightly favorable,” he chuckled before nodding toward the bathroom door. “By the way, you’ve spent the past five minutes trying to untangle your hair. Would you like to shower?”
I dropped my hands to my lap, only just realizing I’d been attempting to unknot my matted locks since sitting back down on the bed. “Um… yes. Please.” I needed a shower. Badly. My bloody limbs had been cleaned but my hair was still stiff and caked in some sort of anesthetic. The nurse said they’d injected it before giving me stitches.
“Alright.” Abram led me to the bathroom. “Let’s get you cleaned up.”
In front of the shower, he stood behind me, reaching in it to start the water. My pulse raced double time when I felt his bare abs press against my back, the warmth of his hard body driving me silently wild.
“Towel’s here.” He set one on top of the sink, watching me just stand there for a second. “You alright?”
I couldn’t lift my arms over my head. I didn’t have to try to know that it wasn’t going to happen. Every muscle in my body was sore and undressing myself was bound to be an hour-long affair. But I didn’t want him to know, so I said, “I’m fine. Thanks.”
He read straight through me. “Can’t move?”
“I... not really, no.”
Abram stared for a second before breathing out a sexy laugh. “I can help if you need it. It wouldn’t be my first time undressing you.”
Ha. I chewed the inside of my mouth as I blinked at him, wondering how disgusting it would be if
I delayed a shower. My guess was extremely, so I peered at Abram. “Can you keep your eyes on me?”
“I’ll look right here the whole time,” he assured me, his blue eyes gleaming with amusement at mine. With a single step forward he had my heart racing.
And before I knew it, he was stripping me.
I reminded myself to breathe as I stood there letting this strange, gorgeous man take off my clothes. I regretted telling him to keep his eyes on my face because it flushed pink the second he hooked two fingers into my waistband. They pressed against my hipbones and stroked me all the way down as he pulled off my leggings. Fuck, I cursed as my hot thighs twitched under his touch. I knew he’d felt it because I could see a different glint in his eye now. A smirk. As I stepped out of my bottoms, Abram checked in on me.
“Good so far?” That knowing voice. He knew exactly what he was doing to me but for some reason, I let it go on.
“Yes,” I replied. And with that, he gripped the hem of my shirt, giving the stretchy fabric a little tug before peeling it up slowly, exposing me inch by inch by inch. Something about his air intensified as he tossed my shirt to the ground. I could feel his… was it, or was I crazy? I could feel his arousal. I could feel it in the way he breathed. My eyes still on him, I felt suddenly hyper aware. Of everything. Every sound, every smell, every sensation. I felt the heaviness of my breasts in my bra, the way the cups pulled tight around each swell as I inhaled. And I couldn’t help being feverishly conscious of Abram’s scent as he closed what little gap there was between us. It was something natural mixed with the slightest hint of cologne and it made me want to touch him so. Damned. Badly. I was dying inside and there he was, his concentration unbreakable.
But it all changed when he reached around to unhook my bra.
One hand, one pinch and Abram had me undone. But the second he pulled back, taking my bra with him, I caught his lip between his teeth. He bit it for all of a second but I saw it. The look. That hot, male, I’ll-fuck-you-against-the-wall kind of lust that had me so instantly wet I could hardly stand still. Chills erupted over my naked breasts as my bra fell to the floor and landed on our feet, taunting us in the way it sprawled over our toes. Still, I simply stood there, determined to keep this business only.
