My Billionaire Captor

by Shae Black

  My phone vibrates in my pocket bringing me back to the hospital room, its mom, shit. How does she always know when something’s wrong? Elijah . He’s worried about me and I’ll bet he asked her to make sure I’m ok, which I’m not. “Um, no Enrique. Elijah has gone for my things.” I answer the phone. “Mom? Can you hold on a sec?” My mother tries to object but I cover the speaker with my thumb. “You both can do something for me though, could you look after the kittens Marcus bought for me yesterday? They are shut in our bedroom, probably tearing the place up. They will need food and someone to play with until we come home.”

  Bug eyed, mouth agape Elena is shocked. “Um, ok. He bought you kittens?” “Yes, Yes and No.” I answer. “What?” They say in unison. “Their names, Yes and No.” Mom is yelling at me to answer her, I let up my thumb. Mom just a minute! “So will you…take care of them?” I ask again. “Yes and No?” Enrique asks. “Yes.” I answer. “And No?” “What?” I’m dizzy with this stupid conversation and bordering on pissed.” “Elena, the kittens are named Yes and No, get it?” “Oh, ok, yes.” Fucking finally! Elena bends down to look closer at her twin brother, she inhales and I think she’s going to say something to him but she doesn’t, instead she lays her hand over his heart for a moment and then looks up at me. “Wake him up Imani.” She’s resolute, serious. “I will.” Enrique takes that as a cue to leave, rounding the bed and taking her hand he leads her away. “We’ll take care of the cats, don’t worry about them.” Enrique says. Elena turns back to me as he escorts her from the room as if she’s remembered something. “Did you know he’s allergic? To cats I mean? I can’t believe he bought you cats.” She says, her voice trailing off and her face expressionless. Enrique rubs her back and gently moves her toward the door and she looks back at me again. I recognize that look, she’s lost too. Like me she’s attempting to put puzzle pieces from many different puzzles together, it’s an impossible, confusing undertaking. I shake my head no to answer her and they are gone.

  “Imani! Imani, what. is. going. on??” Oh, shit my mom, I almost forgot her! I release my thumb. “I’m here Mom, sorry.” “Good lord Imani, Elijah called, he said Marcus’s in the hospital again, is he ok? What’s going on over there, do I need to come? Is it serious? How many hours is a flight to Italy anyway?” Closing my eyes I inhale deeply to gather patience and strength and begin to repeat tonight’s events…again, leaving out the part about Marcus’s involvement with an Italian mob. My mother believes Marcus hung the moon, her impression of him is so warped. She’d flip her shit if she knew the whole truth. She’s not satisfied with my story, I can tell, but we say goodbye and hang up, I wouldn't be surprised to see her here within the next 48 hours, that’s just my mom.

  “Imani?” It’s Elijah , I recognize his smell, clean like soap, just regular soap nothing fancy. It’s nice. I’ve fallen to sleep on Marcus’s arm and in turn both of mine are numb. “Mmhmm?” Is all I can manage. “I brought your things, why don’t you go lay on the cot, I’ll sit with him.” “Ok, thank you.” I haven’t moved my ass from this seat in hours and my bladder is protesting. We switch spots and Elijah eyes me as I head out to the public restroom down the hall. I can’t believe I’m leaving him but there aren’t bathrooms attached to the ICU rooms. Groggy with sleep that sensation returns, I feel watched and uneasy.

  If I can just pee, brush my teeth and get back to Marcus I’d be able to sleep. But as I move past the glass windows of each room the nurse in me draws my eyes to the patients. I stop abruptly three doors down from Marcus’s room, my legs turn to lead rooted on the spot, its Brian. My god he looks gruesome. They haven’t had or taken the time to clean him up, he still has blood caked in his hair, stained down his neck. Nobody is here for him, he was visiting like us, because of us. A minuscule part of me feels sorry for him. I don’t believe he came here with the intention of protecting me from Marcus though.

  No he came here to take me away from him. I’ve given it a few moments of thought, why would he tell me about Marcus's past? He has no ties to me, no responsibility to keep me safe, hell we only knew each other from brief encounters at the hospital, the same way I know any doctor. This is personal, either he’s developed some interest in me personally or he’s being paid by someone to ruin Marcus’s life. Two conclusions and neither of them are honorable. I drag myself to the bathroom and get on with my business.

  Someone else is in here but she’s not doing much moving in her stall, I sense her though, hear her breathing, and it’s kind of eerie. I hustle through brushing my teeth and when I pass the stall that I suspect someone is in I can’t help but glance at the closed door. “You are good you know?” A voice comes from the stall startling me, is she talking to me? “Excuse me? Are you talking to me?” “Yes. You don’t have the dark smoke.” She needs a smoke? What the hell? This is a hospital? “Um, I don’t smoke, sorry.” No response, just humming and muttering that I can’t make out.

  This feels wrong on so many levels, I need to get out of here. This lady is making me very uncomfortable. Back in Marcus’s room I close the door and begin to close all of the blinds quickly. I don’t want weird bathroom lady looking into our fishbowl, if I could lock the door I would. “What’s up Imani?” “Elijah , have you felt like someone has been watching us since we’ve been here? I mean I know you’re usually the watcher and you don’t have to do that anymore, but I still feel it. Not the protective watched feeling though, this feels, well, it feels off.”

  I’ve collapsed with my back against the door, exhausted but having an adrenaline rush from the crazy bathroom lady. Elijah quietly crosses the room and takes my hand pulling me from the door. No words spoken, his actions speak for him as he leads me to the neatly made cot by the window and draws back the covers. “Sleep Imani, Marcus would want you to sleep. I’ll be here with him, I promise not to leave his side. And nobody’s watching you but me honey.” “You won’t go to the bathroom? Because there is a crazy lady in the bathroom. She wants a cigarette.” He bites his lip to repress a laugh “No, I won’t go to the bathroom, and I doubt that lady would be in the men’s room anyway.”

  Rolling my eyes I curl up on the cot and Elijah tucks me in and digs into a bag he brought from the house to retrieve my sleeping pills. He opens the bottles hands me the correct dose with a Styrofoam cup of water from the bedside table... “Why are you so nice to me?” I don’t know where that came from exactly, I think I’m suffering the effects of massive stress and sleep deprivation. “Imani, you’re my friend, and Marcus loves you so I have to make sure you’re safe and sound for him.” “Are you gay, Elijah ?” Since I’m blurting things out I figure I may as well take advantage of the situation and find out. He raises his brows high and jerks his neck back in disbelief. I think he’s going to be angry at first until he throws his head back and roars with laughter!

  My first impulse is to check and make sure Marcus hasn’t been disturbed, but of course he lays still in his bed. Elijah quiets and takes a seat next to me on my cot. “Oh God honey, no, I’m not gay. Quite the opposite actually. I’m a little shocked you had to ask though, I must need to up my game a little.” I feel a warm blush of embarrassment creep up my neck and I’m glad the covers are pulled up. “You just, well, you love Marcus so much I thought maybe…” He smiles down at me and tucks a strand of my wild hair behind my ear. “I love Marcus, but not that way. I love him like a brother, a fucked up brother but yea he’s done a lot for me and I’ll be in his debt forever.” What happens next takes me totally by surprise, Elijah leans down and kisses me on the forehead and then whispers in my ear.

  “If he hadn’t fallen for you I would have given you my best try Imani.” Well, fucking hell I’ve gone from thinking Elijah was gay to knowing he had a thing for me before Marcus even saw me! “No worries though honey, you’ve become my family, I love you like a sister and I’d never, ever do anything to hurt that man over there, you’re his heart, his soul. You gave his black heart a jump start and I need you to do it again.” I nod
in agreement. “Ok, sleep, I have important things to go over with you when you wake up.” “Ok, night Elijah . Oh and Elijah ?” “Yea?” “Thank you for loving him.” “You’re welcome.” “Imani?” “Yes?” “Thank you for loving him.” “You’re welcome.” My heavy eyelids slide shut, darkness consumes me and I fall instantly into a blessed dreamless sleep.

  Chapter 34

  Sleep is the healer of all things, my mom used to say that. I think she was wrong. I’m really sick of watching Marcus sleep. The first time he was comatose and I cared for him I hadn’t met him yet, this time it’s torture sitting here hour after hour, helpless. We’ve been taking shifts for the past 3 days and I’ve seen no improvement. His nurse has the easiest job on the unit, I bathe, position and talk to him, read and play music for him, and she merely gives him meds and charts what I do. But this is how I want it, no one touches him but me. I’ve been learning about the business aspects of Dominus from Elijah . I’m not making any decisions, Marcus trusts Elijah and so do I.

  Then there’s Brian, he’s recovering as well as can be expected and he’s pissed. He refuses to see me but I make an attempt every day anyway. If he is really interested in me and that’s what this is all about then he’ll come around and I’ll be here when he does. Elena is on her way with dinner, she’s been spoiling me with homemade Italian food. Marcus’s not the only one who learned a thing or two from Aunt Angelica and Elena is determined to fatten me up.

  A quick rap on the door and she’s bursting into the room carrying insulated food bags and chatting a mile a minute. “How’s he doing tonight? Do you like ziti? I hope you do, I’ve brought a lot of it.” She seems nervous with her bustling around and that makes me suspicious. “What’s going on Elena?” She continues to busy herself, taking things out of bags she arranges things a little too perfectly, never looking me in the eye. “Nothing, I’m just checking up on my brothers’ condition and bringing you food, nothing’s going on.”

  Still no eye contact, something is defiantly going on, she’s a sucky liar. “Elena, look at me. I repeat, what is going on?” She finally raises her eyes to mine and sighs. “I have something I need to talk to you about and I know you’re going to be, oh I don’t know, surprised?” She tilts her head in question when she says surprised like she’s hoping that’s all I’ll be. “Spill, just tell me.” “Let’s sit down, maybe have a little dinner before we…” “No Elena, I’m not eating until you tell me what it is you have to say.” Setting down the silverware she had been arranging she smoothes her unwrinkled skirt and nervously begins.

  “Imani, when you signed all of those papers last week did you happen to read any of them?” “Well, no. I listened to the lawyers and signed what Marcus put in front of me, why?” “None of them? You didn’t even look at them?” I’m starting to get irritated, I told her I didn’t, what the hell is she getting at? I knew I should have at least skimmed over each document but there were so many, and I trusted Marcus. “No, I didn’t take the time to read 75 plus, long, dull legal forms. Is there something wrong?” She sits down when Marcus’s nurse arrives to hang a new bag of IV fluids and we wait quietly until she’s finished and gone. “All right Imani, I don’t know how to tell you this, there is just no good way. One of those papers was really important. Marcus had you sign a…” She pauses to look over at her brother and cringing back to me she spits it out. “A marriage license.”

  She steps back anticipating the fallout that will come from detonating a bomb like that. “What?” My lips are suddenly very dry and my heart hammers in my chest. I’m sure I didn’t hear you correctly, did you say marriage license?” No verbal confirmation she just a nods her head yes. “That’s not legal, it’s, it’s like entrapment or something isn’t it?” I’m grasping at loose ends as my vision blurs in and out. Why would he do that? Why not just ask me to marry him? If there were ever a good time to pass out now would be it but noooo, of course not! I’m stunned, shocked, temporarily paralyzed until I remember he's right here, he may not be awake but that’s not going to stop me from yelling at him.

  I whirl to face the love of my life, the sneaky deceptive bastard with two personalities, and my husband. “What have you done?! Why the fuck wouldn’t you just ask me?!” I scream and smack his leg that continues to be still as death under the sheets. “I would have said yes, I would have said yes, I would have said yes.” I sink to the floor on my knees and sobs begin to rack my body, I cover my eyes with my hands. I cry for him, I miss him so much my heart feels empty and raw. I cry for us, he must have been so insecure, so unsure of my love for him to believe he had to trick me into marriage. I cry for the missed experience of having him ask for my hand in marriage. I cry because as strong as I’m trying to be I am scared shitless he’s never going to wake up and I’m never going to get to have the chance to tell him how mad I am for being cheated out of a proper proposal.

  We deserve a chance at love after all the suffering and pain we’ve been through, if God could just give us this one thing. Elena crouches to hug me and helps me up to my chair where I will stay steadfast until this infuriating man opens his eyes. “I’m sorry Imani. Do you know what I think?” She doesn’t bother waiting for an answer. “I think he was afraid something like this was going to happen and he wanted to be sure you were well taken care of, that you would want for nothing. Maybe he was afraid there wasn’t time for a wedding and all of that.” She could be right but that doesn’t change the fact that he deceived me, it would have been just as easy to ask, allow me to accept and then sign the papers. He was scared I’d say no, I don’t know why but he must have been.

  “There’s one more thing Imani.” What the hell else could there possibly be? “He made all of us promise to make sure you had the teddy bear he gave you when you first met. He was absolutely obsessive about that, reminded us every chance he could. Elijah put it in your bag.” What? My teddy bear? Diamond? What the hell is that about? He’s always made sure that bear followed me wherever I went, even home with me when I left him. There must be something special about it, other than the fact it’s eyes are giant diamonds worth a fortune, I can’t imagine what could be so important. My bag is next to my chair so I bend and rifle through it pulling Diamond onto my lap I stare at her.

  Ok bear, what’s your secret? Why is Marcus crazy about me having you? I turn her upside down, nothing different, just the tag I used to snoop and find out where she was from and if her diamond eyes were real, which they are, it’s ridiculous. But when I look closer I notice the seam looks like it’s been tampered with. “What is it?” “I think she’s been opened and sewn back up.” “Really? I’ll get some scissors.” Elena jumps up and heads out of the room I stand and go to the edge of Marcus’s bed and take his hand, propping my hip against the mattress. “You’re so unfair, if you were awake I’d smack you. What are you up to with this bear anyway?”

  I turn Diamond in my hands and lay her on the bed. Please Marcus, wake up, I miss you terribly, you’re not fighting hard enough damn it! You know I won’t live without you right? Why are you doing this to me? I need you Marcus, you’ve made all of these plans to take care of me when you’re gone, it’s like you gave up a long time ago. But I’m telling you right now, it’s not happening. You go, I go remember? So that means I have to do something terrible if you don’t fight for me, for us. You’ve tricked me into being your wife so my first wifely demand is for you to wake the fuck up!”

  I squeeze his big hand hard and pray a power packed prayer to God that he can hear me and that God can hear me. I hold his heavy lifeless hand to my lips and turn it over to kiss his palm. “Got em!” Elena sings clicking back into the room waving scissors in my direction but her face dims when she realizes she’s interrupted an intimate moment. “I’m sorry, do you need a few minutes?” “No, I’m fine.” I carefully lay Marcus's hand back on the bed and swipe the fresh tears from my cheeks. “Let’s see what he’s hiding in this bear.” Elena grabs Diamond and turns her over, scissors ready to open the s
eam but I grab her wrist and stop her from making the first tear. “What if it’s something bad, something illegal?” I whisper. “He’s supposed to be the leader of some mob, ya know?” “Oh stop Imani, he’d never put you in any danger hiding something poisonous or illegal in there. Let’s just open it!” “Ok but if it’s something illegal you better know how to sew that thing up so nobody knows we opened it!”

  She waves me off flippantly and begins to pick at the stitching with the point of the scissors until she’s got a three inch hole open in Diamonds back. Before she goes any further she looks up at me to confirm I’m still on board with seeing what’s inside and I nod yes. After a minute of poking around with her long delicate tanned fingers she freezes. “What? You got it? What is it? Come on Elena get it out let me see!” “Oh, Imani, definitely not illegal.”

  Her face lights up with a thousand watt smile as she removes Diamonds secret. I gasp and cover my mouth with my hand, no way, this isn’t real. I’m suddenly torn between elation and heartbreak. He is going to be the death of me, wicked and angelic this man holds my heart, threatening to burn it into a pile of ash if he doesn’t wake up.

  Chapter 35

  Elena pulls a soft blue Tiffany’s box from the hole in Diamond’s back and I know immediately what it is. Before I can stop her she’s opened it to show me my wedding rings. Both of us gasp simultaneously this time and I feel a fluttering in my tummy. An exquisite round diamond surrounded with rose gold and smaller diamonds, the band is constructed of diamonds as well, typical Marcus Castillo style, big and lavish, so unlike me but somehow exactly right.

  He must have had this planned from the first week we met. That’s when he gave me Diamond, he has been expecting this all along. He must have been, there’s no other explanation for hiding the rings in my bear, he wanted me to have them if he…I can’t even think it, I shake the notion from my thoughts. Glancing back toward the bed I watch as the ventilator continues breathing for him, fluids flow into his veins, all of this keeping him alive, keeping my hope alive. That’s my husband lying there, and he may never wake up to tell me he loves me again, to touch me and smooth my hair behind my ear, make my heart stop when he smirks. He may never boss me in that irritating but sexy way, worry for me or hold me tight to make me feel safe, cherished and loved. He may never make love to me, set my skin on fire, or shock my core with the electrical charge that satisfies me like no one else.