Focus: Exposure Series Book Two

by Jocoby, Annie

  I slipped into the room, just like I said that I would. Robert was sitting in his chair, his eyes closed. He looked extremely happy. “That’s it, baby, that’s it,” he was saying. “Keep that up. You’re such a good girl.”

  I felt nauseated. I stealthily made my way so that I was behind him, and then I put my gun to his neck and cocked it.

  “What the fuck?” he said when I did that. “Who the fuck is in here?”

  At that, Skylar got up off her knees and beat a hasty retreat.

  “Pull up your pants,” I said to him.

  He did as he was told. And then he put his hands in the air. “I don’t know who you are, but I’ll kill you. I’ll hunt you down and I’ll kill you.”

  “You won’t,” I said. “My name is Alexei Pushkin. Since you’re obviously friendly with mobsters, you should know that, when I tell you the name of my father, you won’t fuck with me ever again. And you will never touch a hair on CJ’s head.”

  “Who’s your father?” he asked, his teeth gritted.

  “Sergei Pushkin,” I said.

  He took an enormous breath. “Okay,” he said. “What do you want?”

  “CJ had a lot of bruises on her body.”

  “Of course she did. She was in a car accident. A major accident.”

  “No. These bruises weren’t caused by the accident.”

  “You can think what you want,” he said.

  “I can. And I will.” At that, I put the vise on his head. He groaned. “As I see it, you have two choices. You can either lay down on the floor, and I’ll duplicate, on your body, every bruise that you caused to CJ. Or I’ll tighten this vise until your eyes literally pop out of your skull. Which will it be?”

  With his hands in the air, he laid down on the ground.

  I took my baseball bat, and I wacked him hard on his side. I wacked him several more times, harder and harder each time. Then I started to kick him in his side and his groin.

  He cried out, but I wasn’t finished with him. The beating lasted several more seconds, and then I finally stopped.

  I backed away from the crumpled man on the floor. “Now,” I said. “Here’s how it’s going to go. You will not beat a woman in your club, ever again. If I hear that you have, then I’ll come back here and finish the job. And don’t even think about sending any of your goons after me, because, trust me, you don’t want to start that with me. You might start it, but I can guarantee you that I’ll finish it, and it won’t be pretty. All that would accomplish would be that you’ll be dead, and so will everyone around you who’s associated with your business. Not the girls, of course, but the other cowards who you keep around for protection.”

  I knew that Robert wasn’t going to be a problem anymore.

  “Do you understand me?”

  He nodded his head while he continued to lie, crumpled, on the floor. “Yes, Alexei, I understand you.”

  “Good. I’ll be in touch with Skylar, who will be leaving your service, by the way. And you’re not going to be able do a goddamned thing about it. I’m going to ask her to be my eyes and ears here at the club. If I hear even a hint of you laying even a finger on one of these girls, you’ll be dead. And I won’t kill you quickly, either. I’ll make sure you suffer.”

  He was breathing heavy by then. “I won’t touch any of these girls. You have my word.”

  “Okay,” I said.

  And then I left.

  When I got home, I transferred the money to Skylar. I talked to her on the way, and told her what I needed for her to do. She promised me that she would keep in touch with the girls at the club, and get the lo-down on Robert’s practices.

  I really hoped that I didn’t have to pay him another visit. As much as that worm deserved what I gave him, I really didn’t have the stomach for that kind of violence anymore.

  But I knew that he would behave. He obviously knew the name “Sergei Pushkin.” Everyone who knew anybody in the underground knew that name.

  It was a name that struck fear in the hearts of anybody who heard it.

  Chapter 20

  The next day, I had to go to work. Life had to go on, even though CJ was never far from my mind. Congressional testimony was upon me, and I was heavily involved in negotiations to get more contracts from Singapore. It seemed that, everywhere I looked, people around the world were hungry for my products.

  It took my mind off of what was happening, at least for a little while. But, at the end of the day, when I was alone in my apartment, I thought of CJ. I would go and visit her every day, to see if there was any change, but there never was. So, I would go home and feel defeated.

  Marisa was, surprisingly, still in the hospital. She must have had more damage than I had anticipated, or, perhaps, she was just still in shock. I didn’t find out much about her, even though I asked, mainly because of privacy laws. I didn’t try to pull the card that I was a major benefactor of that hospital, at least when it came to Marisa. I was concerned about her, but I felt that she was going to recover, so I wasn’t overly worried.

  But CJ….I was very worried about her. Every day that I went up there and she hadn’t woken up was another day that I silently prayed for her. The doctor would tell me that her swelling hadn’t receded enough, so CJ had to stay in the coma a little longer. I needed, however, to see her and talk to her. I craved communicating with her. I craved that more than I thought that I could crave anything in my life.

  Then, one day, I got the phone call I was waiting for.

  CJ was ready to be brought out of her coma.

  I raced to the hospital when I heard the news. I wanted, very much, to be there for her when she came into consciousness. I needed her to know that I was there for her, every step of the way. I called Scarlett, of course, for she, too, was very concerned about CJ, and she was visiting CJ every day in the hospital as well.

  We both got there and were led to CJ’s room, in anticipation of CJ being awoken from her coma. “I’m so excited,” Scarlett said to me. “I have been so afraid for CJ. I just can’t believe that all this happened to her. I hope she doesn’t have a relapse of her condition.”

  “I hope so too,” I said. “But if she does, I’m here to help her, every step of the way.”

  “CJ will be thrilled that you’re back in the picture,” she said. “She talked about little else but you before all this happened. I had to tell her to shut up about it, because it was getting old.” She smiled when she said this, so I assumed that she was at least half joking.

  “If it’s any consolation, I feel the same way about her as she does about me. I never thought that I could feel like this about anyone. I have surprised myself, though, with these new feelings.”

  We got to CJ’s room, where the doctor explained that he had eased up on the drugs that were causing CJ to be in a coma, and that it might take awhile for her to be fully conscious.

  “What can we expect?” I asked the doctor. “When CJ wakes up?”

  “Hopefully there will be minimal damage to her brain. However, she might have to relearn some of her motor skills. There might be aphasia, which is where the patient has problems speaking, or there might be memory loss. It’s difficult to say.”

  “So, how long does this take her for her to come out of this?”

  “It could be anytime. I’ve been easing up her phenobarbital now for several hours, so it could be minutes. It could be days.”

  Scarlett and I had a seat next to CJ, who was still hooked up to the scary machines that were helping her breath. I had her transferred to a private room some time earlier, so there was plenty of space for Scarlett and I to watch CJ come back to us.

  I took her hand. “CJ,” I said softly. “I hope you can hear me. I love you, and I’m here for you.” I kissed her forehead. “I know how much you like it when I do this. Because it shows how much I care for you.”

  We sat there, just staring at CJ, for several hours.

  Then, gradually, CJ opened her eyes.

  Chapter 21
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  CJ

  I was disoriented, to say the least, when I opened my eyes. Scarlett was there, along with a very handsome man who I didn’t recognize at all.

  “Scarlett,” I said to her, after the doctor forcibly removed the feeding tube and breathing apparatus. “What happened to me?”

  “You were in an accident,” she said. There were tears in her eyes. “But you’re going to be okay.”

  The handsome man, who was holding my hand, also appeared to have tears in his eyes. I looked at him, wondering why it was that he was holding my hand. I didn’t know him at all.

  I felt embarrassed, but I boldly made an attempt to figure out who he was. “I’m so sorry,” I said to him. “Are you my doctor? Or are you dating my sister? She’s so secretive, I just never know who she is dating these days.”

  His face fell and he bowed his head. He looked at Scarlett, and she gave him a look. “CJ,” he said to me. “I-“

  But then Scarlett shook her head. He made a face and looked perplexed.

  “Scarlett,” I said. “Where’s mom? And Stella and Nathaniel?” I had no idea why they wouldn’t be there in the hospital. After all, Scarlett was there. And so was this handsome stranger. Why wouldn’t mom and my siblings come and see me as well? “Hell, where’s Clifford? He’s been the closest I’ve ever come to having an actual father.”

  “Um,” Scarlett said. “Let me call your doctor. He’s going to want to examine you.”

  “Okay,” I said. “Don’t be long.” I didn’t want to tell her that I was embarrassed that this handsome man was standing by my bed, and, thus far, he hadn’t yet identified himself.

  “I won’t be,” she said. “In fact, I’ll just be a moment. Now you just sit tight, and I’ll bring the doctor back here.”

  At that, Scarlett left, apparently in search of my doctor.

  I smiled warmly at the man. “Okay, so, who are you again?”

  He looked like he didn’t quite know if he should say something to me or not. “I’m here to see you,” he said. “Hopefully the doctor can tell you a bit more.”

  The doctor came back in with Scarlett. “Hi, doctor, uh, Bristow,” she said, looking at his name tag. “Hopefully you can fill in the blanks on why I’m here.”

  “CJ,” he said. “What year is it?”

  I raised an eyebrow. “Is this a trick question?”

  “No,” he said. “What year is it?”

  “It’s 2013,” I said. “We just had that Mayan calendar scare, didn’t we? The world was supposed to end a few months ago?”

  Scarlett and the man just looked at one another, concerned.

  “What other events do you remember?” he asked.

  “Just daily things,” I said. “I do have to say that I’m a little bit concerned that I missed quite a few days of school. I guess. How long have I been in this bed?”

  “For five days,” he said.

  “Five days.” I looked at Scarlett. “I hope you’ve been in contact with my instructors. I know that Hewitt is going to flunk me for sure if I just failed to show up to his class without a damn good excuse. But, I suppose that being in the hospital would qualify.”

  Scarlett’s face was pale, and the handsome man’s face was even paler than hers. He was shaking a tiny bit.

  I looked at him. “I’m so sorry. I don’t think that I got your name.”

  “Asher,” he said. “Asher Sloane.”

  I nodded. “Asher Sloane. Asher Sloane. Where have I heard that name before?”

  I saw his face light up as I contemplated where I had heard that name before. But I just shook my head. “I guess I haven’t really heard your name before. I was thinking of Sloane industries, but you’re not involved with that company, are you?”

  “Uh,” he said, and then looked at Scarlett and the doctor. “CJ, I…need to talk to your doctor.”

  I looked at the doctor quizzically. “Why? I guess I don’t know why you’re this concerned about a stranger.” He was certainly a magnetic, handsome man, that was for sure. I just wish that I could have some kind of a recollection on who he was. Any recollection at all.

  Asher and the doctor went out into the hallway, and Scarlett was now holding my hand. “CJ,” she said. “I can’t tell you how thrilled I am that you’ve come back to us.”

  “Of course I did,” I said. “Where would I go?”

  She looked anxious, like she wanted to tell me things, but didn’t know if she should. “CJ,” she said. “I would love to tell you about what happened to you that brought you here, and about everything else, but I need to also talk to your doctor and find out how much you can handle at this point.”

  “How much I can handle?” I said. I suddenly felt apprehensive. “What year is this?”

  She looked around, and saw that Asher and the doctor were coming back in.

  The doctor put his hand on Scarlett’s shoulders and asked her to come out into the hallway with him. Which left me all alone.

  Suddenly, I started to feel apprehensive. Everybody was acting so strangely, I just didn’t know what to think.

  I waited for all of them to come back into the room, so I could start asking the questions that I needed to ask.

  Chapter 22

  Asher

  When CJ opened her eyes, I was completely over the moon. I couldn’t believe that I was about to get another chance with her.

  Then, my heart fell. CJ apparently had a memory loss, and she didn’t know who I was. I could see in her eyes, though, that there was something inside of her that knew me, even if it was something in her sub-conscious brain.

  That gave me hope. I saw just a spark inside her eyes.

  But perhaps it wasn’t a spark of recognition, so much as it was a spark of attraction. As much as I didn’t want to think like that, considering she just woke up from a coma, after suffering through a horrible ordeal, there was still a part of me that wanted her very badly. I wanted, very badly, to hold her in my arms and make love to her. I missed that so much.

  How she felt about me, and the fact that she didn’t remember me, wasn’t exactly the issue. While I felt discouraged, I also knew that I could win her over. She and I would be back together, and I would get her to fall in love with me all over again.

  The issue, of course, was that she still thought that Nathaniel was alive.

  So, I had to talk to her doctor about how to approach this matter.

  We got out into the hallway, and I immediately asked him how to gently tell CJ what had happened. It was going to be awful. She was going to have to relive all of that again. Just when she was starting to get over it, and finally live her life the way that she should be living it, she was going to have to relive it.

  “Doctor Bristow,” I said to him. “As you can see, CJ has some memory loss. Tell me about that.”

  “That’s somewhat common in patients who were in a coma.”

  “Will she get her memory back?”

  “That’s difficult to say. Most of the time, the patient can recover the memories that are lost. Other times, more rare, the patient might never recover these memories. I will have to run some tests to see the extent of the damage to her brain, and this might give us more of a clue.”

  I took a deep breath. “I don’t know if you know about what happened to her.”

  “Yes,” he said. “I retrieved her psychiatric records, so I know what led her to being institutionalized.” He looked sad. “And I understand that she doesn’t yet realize what happened to her little brother. She still believes that he is alive.”

  “Right,” I said. “How should we approach this? She’s going to have to know what happened.”

  He took a deep breath. “I almost hate to say this, but, for the time being, she’s better off not knowing about that tragedy. She’s very fragile, and it might take some time for her to recover. Hearing about something like that could delay her recovery, or even prevent it.”

  “So we lie to her?” I said. “You know that she’s going to
be asking about her family. She apparently was close with them before Nathaniel died. What do I tell her when she asks about them? And what do I tell her about myself?”

  He looked thoughtful. “As much as I do not advise you to lie to CJ about the tragedy involving her brother, I feel that it might be best to do so for now. She’s going to have to get stronger, mentally and physically, before she can handle something like that.” He nodded his head. “As for telling her who you are, please tell her the truth. There apparently is nothing traumatic about knowing about who you are. At least, I hope that’s the case.”

  “It is,” I lied. Actually, I was thinking that this entire thing was a chance for us to reset. I would have to come clean, of course, on who I really was, because I was serious about her. I needed her to know everything. This was a chance for her to forget that ugly period when we weren’t together. And it was a such a blessing, because she wasn’t going to have any recollection of the horrors that apparently befell her when she was in the clutches of the mob.

  This memory loss was a curse, because CJ was going to have to, eventually, relive the trauma that she was trying so hard to put behind her. It might not be for several weeks, but she was going to have to relive the trauma. But it was also a blessing, because it meant that she wouldn’t remember what she went through after she was abducted. I had no idea, myself, what kind of horrors she went through, but I could just imagine.

  Then the doctor went in to get Scarlett, and she came out into the hallway with us. “Doctor Bristow, I don’t know what to think.”

  “She has memory loss,” he said. “Mr. Sloane wanted to know what to tell her about her tragedy involving her younger brother.” He paused. “I believe that it would be best to tell her when she is strong enough to hear it. As much as I do not like to advise individuals to lie to a patient, in some cases, that’s what is medically necessary. For her to receive such traumatic news at such a delicate time might be disastrous for her recovery.”