Walking over to little Lyall’s grave, I stopped and stared down at it and wondered what he’d looked like. How big was his coffin? I’d never seen a baby’s one before, but I imagined that they would be tiny. There was something about this little boy’s story that wouldn’t leave my mind. I’d be willing to bet that he was absolutely precious.
Before I started bawling like a wimp, I knelt down and cleared away some leaves and grass cuttings from his grave, making sure that it was perfect.
“Hey bud,” I started. I felt stupid talking to a baby that I hadn’t known, but it was important to me that he knew that he wasn’t alone. “So, I know that Louise will be looking after you and that she’ll make sure that you’re okay, but no little boy should be without one of these.” I opened the bag and pulled out the intricately made teddy bear statue that I’d bought. Again, it was almost life like and had a real satin bow in baby blue around its neck. “I hope you like him, he’s all yours. Maybe when you’re old enough, you and Louise can have a sumo teddy war?”
I heard the sound of sobs behind me and saw Ebru standing with a couple that I didn’t recognize, but given how they were looking at me, I figured that they were this beautiful little man’s parents.
I stood and brushed my hands off on my pants. I was finally getting to meet the parents of the most amazing little boy the world had ever had the fortune of creating. Well, as well as Kali.
This was one of the biggest honors of my life.
Ebru
We’d just left the graveyard after spending time getting to know Lyall’s parents. Cole had shocked me with the statue for Lou and I’d taken a photo to show my parents. I’d just walked over to see what Cole was up to when I heard him talking to the baby. Lyall’s parents had walked up behind me looking confused until we saw him place the teddy bear statue on the grave and explain what it was for. Yet again, it hit home how amazing my man was.
“Just so you know,” he said, driving down the road. “I’m putting a sofa bed in the nursery when we have babies.”
It might sound paranoid to some, but to me it made sense having seen the result of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. “You know, you can get these mat’s that the baby lies on top of that has sensors in it. If they stop moving, an alarm goes off. Obviously, it has it’s faults and isn’t one hundred percent effective, but they’re very popular with new parents.”
He was on the same page as me on this one because he nodded and said, “An alarm mat and a sofa bed. I think I like that idea.”
“We’ll be okay,” I reached over and grabbed the hand that was resting on his thigh. It usually bugged me that he drove one-handed, but then at times like this, it was convenient.
Squeezing my hand, he flashed a quick smile at me. “Always.”
Cole
Three months later…
It had taken longer than I’d thought it would to organize the court case against the girls responsible for stabbing Ebru, and against the father who had been the District Attorney. Because of the amount of time that had passed, finding witnesses like the teacher who had found Ebru and other teachers who may have seen things had been tricky. We’d done it in the end, though.
Nine other women had come forward as victims of these bitches once word had gotten out that they were being charged and tried for what they had done to Eb. There was one woman, Daisy, who had been blinded in one eye by them. You’d never guess it because her eye looked perfect, but she’d been hit on the side of the head so hard by one of them that it had affected her optic nerve and now the vision was ninety percent gone. The other women had also been through traumatic events with the psychotic bitches in question, but hadn’t received the same level of violence as Eb and Daisy. The interesting moment had been when my family and the Montgomerys had arrived and Baz had been introduced to her. He hadn’t taken his eyes off her throughout it.
It turns out that these whores had been responsible for inflicting years of terror on people and the father had gone around dishing out threats like they were Halloween candy. Ironically, he was already serving out a prison sentence for his penchant for young kids, so he would be receiving an extra sentence on top of it for his part in the case.
Listening to the women give their testimonies and describing what they’d been through was nauseating, but the truly painful thing had been when Ebru’s Dad took to the stand. He’d been sobbing and kept repeating over and over that he’d never forgive himself for not fighting for justice for his daughter. He seemed to be of the belief that if he had, that he could have saved the other victims as well as the little boys and girls that had also been victims, regardless of whether they chose to do what they did or not. Ebru had been crying beside me and when he’d come off of the stand, she’d walked up to him and for the first time, I saw her relax as she hugged him. I was going to talk to Eb about getting him some counseling because I worried about all of the guilt and what it was doing to him.
Her mother had also given a statement, but hers had been brief and then one of Coleman’s men had driven her home and was standing guard in case she needed anything. She’d finished her chemotherapy, but it had left her so weak and fragile that I worried that a gust of wind would send her flying.
The trial went on for four days, and in the end, the girl responsible for stabbing Eb got thirteen years in prison and her accomplices got eight years each. Her father, the lucky fucker, got an extended stay in his cell and was sentenced to a further seven years on top of the fifteen he was already serving. When that judgment had been given, he’d stood up and started yelling and screaming until they led him away. The bitches had been doing the same as they got lead away, but I had zero pity for any of them. They more than deserved what they got.
The judge had also awarded damages to the victims, but as the two who had been hurt the most, Daisy and Ebru got the largest settlements. They had become quite close in the run-up to the case, and stayed in touch afterward.
It was about two weeks after the end of the trial that Ebru came home one day and excitedly told me that she and Daisy were using their compensation to buy a home for kids who ran away from home, or had other issues that might lead to them turning to prostitution. Daisy would run it day to day and Ebru would help out as often as she could as well as providing medical assistance when required. They’d already found a property that was perfect for it and were in the process of buying it.
She’d told me last night that she felt like a weight had been taken off of her shoulders and that she was relieved that she’d gone through with the case. As she’d been telling me this it had suddenly hit me…I was going to take my girl on holiday. Somewhere beautiful, somewhere different, somewhere far away with just the two of us.
I had plans to make.
Chapter Twenty-One
Brett
I’d been in Houston for a week now looking after Sabine while she recovered. Whatever chemical had been used in the explosion and fire at the office, had left her with chest problems. She had been prescribed medications and had a nebulizer to use when it got too bad, and the doctors seemed to think that it would resolve itself and that she’d only have to use inhalers.
Apparently, when I’d been home after Gram’s accident, Sabine had become ill with bronchitis. She’d called in sick to the office, but Jerry Grantsen had insisted that she come in and threatened her job. The elevator in her apartment building had been out of order, so she’d had to take the stairs. Half way down, she’d had a coughing fit and had become out of breath, lost her balance and had then fallen down a flight of stairs. I kept thinking of what the resident who’d found her had said about when he’d found her and how she’d begged him for help. She hadn’t been able to move with the pain in her leg and had been yelling for someone to help her; a whole fucking hour she’d been there yelling for someone. Every time I thought of her in that much pain and all alone, I wanted to punch myself for ever leaving her in the first place. I should have taken her home with me.
>
I was down on her paperwork as a contact because her family lived where she was from in France, so she was in the States on her own. After the fire and the subsequent problems with her chest, I’d insisted that she add me as a contact and, fuck me, was I glad that I had. When they’d called and said that she’d had an accident, I felt sick thinking that the bastard had gotten to her. Instead, they told me that she was being taken into surgery after falling and rupturing her ACL in her right leg as well as some other tendon ligament thing. I stopped listening after I heard surgery and ACL and was just focused on getting to her as quickly as possible. When I’d arrived, she’d still been in surgery, but not long afterward the surgeon had come out to say that it had all gone well and that she was in recovery. They’d taken a graft from her hamstring, so she not only had a wound on her knee but on the back of her leg as well and the pain had been hell for her.
She had another week before she could start putting a little bit of weight on it, but she was struggling with the crutches, so I carried her wherever she needed to be.
On the helicopter journey back to Houston, I’d started to focus on my feelings for Sabine. As in truly focus on them. I’d met her when I was attending a conference in the UK to discuss oil reserves in the North Sea, she’d been attending for another company. I’d noticed her immediately and Jesus was she was gorgeous. I’d heard her discussing the finer points of the issue at hand soon after that, and realized that I needed her in my company. On the second day, I met with her and made her an offer that she couldn’t refuse and had moved her to the US. Nothing had happened between us apart from a few kisses, so far, and it fucking shocked the shit out of me that I was actually okay with that.
It was 5AM and I was lying in bed watching her sleep. I woke up every hour to make sure that she wasn’t in too much pain and that her leg was up on pillows. Looking down at her long silky black hair falling across the pillow behind her, I gave in and reached out to touch it and wind some around my fingers. I thought back to not long ago when I’d been in the bar and had seen Trinny and the thoughts that had gone through my head, and I hated myself for even thinking for a second that I could touch anyone that wasn’t Sabine. I know I wouldn’t have gone through with it, but I’d thought it and that was bad enough for me.
She groaned breaking my thoughts and turned her face in my direction and I saw the frown on her forehead. Looking at the clock, I saw she was due her painkillers, so I got them ready and picked up the bottle of water. Turning back to her, I saw that the frown was more pronounced; she was definitely in pain.
“Baby,” I whispered, gently shaking her. She opened her eyes and let out a moan. “It’s time for your painkillers, sweetheart.”
She blinked and I saw tears forming. The surgeon had warned me that she would be in a lot of pain when he’d released her because of the surgery and the fact that she was badly bruised from the fall. I kept her medications to the dosage and times that he’d advised, but sometimes it just became too much for her. Seeing her in this much pain killed me.
“Here you go, baby,” I sat her up slightly and passed her the pills and then held the bottle out to her. When she was done, I lay her back down and got the special cuff that they’d given us that had a coolant thing in it to reduce the swelling and pressure in her knee and put it on the area. She whimpered and I wondered if maybe I should call the doctor to make sure that she was okay.
“Brett,” she had the most beautiful French accent. It wasn’t a strong one, but it had an almost musical lilt to it. “It hurts.”
“I’m calling the doctor.”
I’d just turned to snag my phone when she grabbed my hand. “No, please,” she said before pulling me over to her. The last couple of days, we’d taken to lying with her head on my chest when she was in pain, so I lay down and let her get into position.
“I can call him if you like. I hate you being in pain.”
“It’s to be expected. The medication should start to work soon.” She went so quiet afterward that I thought she’d fallen back to sleep. “Thank you for being my hero,” she murmured dopily, and then I felt her body relax; the painkillers had worked. I hated having to give her the types of medications that she’d been prescribed, but right now they were what she needed.
Every woman that I’d been with had made demands from me for my time, money, gifts, extravagant shit, whatever; they all wanted something. I’d been waiting for Sabine to start demanding things, but all she ever wanted was for me to hold her like this when the pain was too much. Well, on top of her addiction to action movies; that had been a shock.
When I’d first brought her home, we’d been lying in bed, and she’d asked if I was up for watching something with her. I’d expected the standard chick flick and was stunned when she chose Olympus Has Fallen. After that, it had been action movie after action movie and when I’d told her she could choose another genre she’d explained that she saved romance for books because it hit her harder; action movies were her favorites. That night we’d fallen asleep together when I’d intended to move through to the spare room, and I hadn’t left that bed since. So far, we’d watched the entire Die Hard series, Lethal Weapon series, Star Wars and any other movie that had shooting and danger in it. I’d assumed that horror movies would be included, but she’d shot that down immediately; my girl hated those.
I knew that I’d been wrong judging her by the standards of the trash that had come before her, but what she didn’t know is that I’d never allowed a woman that wasn’t family in my home. This was my place to unwind and to relax in, and with all of the shit that had happened to my family and the Montgomerys recently, I’d needed the sanctuary.
Having her here, though, made the anxiety that I’d been feeling go away. I loved walking into the room and smelling her in my space. I loved opening my cupboard and seeing her stuff hanging in it. I loved looking after her and making her stuff to eat or just carrying her around. I swore I’d never do this, but I didn’t know if I could stop it. Or even if I wanted to.
Sabine
I woke up to Brett putting a cup of coffee beside the bed along with my pills. When I’d first met him, I’d already heard the rumors about him and how he went through women. I’d also heard about his business mind and how he was much respected in our industry, but I’d judged him based on the other rumors. How stupid did I feel?
When I’d moved out here, he had left me to find my own way, but had also made sure that I was settled and okay. Over the months, we had started spending more time together, and I felt terrible about my judgement when I found out how funny and nice he was. Not once had I picked up on the asshole side that I’d heard about. There had been a couple of occasions when I was in his office that a woman had tried to get in and had been turned away, and his phone often had messages from women on it, but he hadn’t left my side unless he had to go back to his family. The way he spoke about them was beautiful, and I envied the relationship that he had with them. I came from a wealthy family who expected my sisters and me to marry into wealth and my brothers to build my father’s business. When I’d taken the inheritance left to me by ma grand-mere and had attended university in Cambridge they had been disgusted with me. When I’d started working in the oil industry, though, they had turned their backs on me completely and refused to even let me speak to my baby sister. I missed Seline so much! We were the closest out of all of us, and I wished I could just speak to her for five minutes.
I was happy with my decision to move to Houston, and I loved working for the Townsend Oil Company and Brett, but there was one issue. The head of Personnel, Jerry, had been making me very uncomfortable. When we’d moved to the new offices after the fire, he had taken an office closer to mine, and now he came in whenever he could and would get very close to me. The day before my accident, he’d skimmed my breast and had smiled at me and always kept his face very close to me. Then there were the occasions where he would come into the copier room or supply closet and close th
e door and press himself against me. This industry was still a very male one, so I was scared to voice my worries. I’d also had to take a lot of time off because of my chest, and now my leg, so I didn’t want to push my luck. It made me dread going into work though because he was doing more and more and getting closer and closer. I knew that I had to tell Brett at some point, I just didn’t know how and if he would believe me.
“What’s got you so worried,” Brett had come back into the room and sat down on the bed beside me.
“Nothing,” I tried to give him a light hearted smile, but he was very astute and the look on his face said he didn’t believe me.
“You know you can tell me anything, don’t you?”
I really needed to go to the toilet, so I nodded and started to move carefully to the edge of the bed. The surgeon had said that a physical therapist would visit soon to tell me what exercises I could do and how much weight I could put on my leg, and I couldn’t wait to have some independence back. Right now, I couldn’t weight bear and the crutches hurt my arms so Brett had taken to carrying me around. For this, though, I would suffer the crutches.
“Where are you off to?”
“The little girl’s room,” I grinned at him. He’d laughed when I first called it that so it had become our private joke.
Laughing at me, he picked me up and started in the direction of the en suite. “Brett, please. I can go on my own. It’s not necessary!”
Ignoring me, he walked into the bathroom and placed me on the toilet. “Do you need any help?”
I think my horrified expression was enough of an answer for him. As he left, I thought about how he laughed at my formal English and the way that I pronounced certain words. He’d also told me that his sister-in-law had grown up in England, I hoped that I got the chance to meet her.
Until Forever (Providence Series Book 3) Page 20
