by Diana Nixon
Love Undone
by Diana Nixon
Published by Nevermore Press
Cincinnati, OH 45224. 2014
Text Copyright © 2014 Diana Nixon
All Rights Reserved
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, duplicated, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior written consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
Copyright © 2014 Nevermore Press
All rights reserved
Published by
Nevermore Press.
Cincinnati, OH 45224
Edited by: Sandra Tribble Bucy
For Nevermore Press
Cover by: Brandy Dull
Formatting by: Brandy Dull
Love Undone
(Summary)
What would you do if all your memories were gone?
One day Kassie wakes up and realizes that her life is nothing but an endless emptiness…
One tragic incident takes away everything that she has ever cherished and loved: family, friends and all the best moments that she ever lived through.
Now everything seems unknown, including a beautiful stranger, whose mere look makes her heart beat faster.
Who is that reckless and mysterious man? Is he just an old friend or an enemy? Sinking into the vortex of indescribable emotions, they will give in to the most irresistible temptation ever, just to fall in love with each other, again and again...
Acknowledgements
A thousand thanks to my family, friends and readers who inspired me to create this story. I hope you guys will love the result.
Special thanks to my editor, Sandra Tribble Bucy. You did a great job, Sandy!
Many thanks to Mona Tippins for her help in proofreading.
Huge thanks to Brandy Dull, Dawn White and the entire Nevermore Press team. It’s my pleasure to work with you guys!
I would also like to thank Amina Black, my super-talented cover designer for a wonderful cover that she has created for Love Undone. I LOVE it!
I hope everyone will enjoy reading this new story as much I enjoyed working on it.
Sincerely yours
Diana Nixon
To the brothers we love…
To the brothers we lost…
To the brothers we never had…
Prologue
The hall of the emergency department was overcrowded. About five dozen people were taken to Lenox Hill Hospital after the explosion at one of the local cafés. The phones were ringing non-stop; reporters were everywhere, trying to take pictures and asking questions about the incident. It seemed as if the entire city was there, hoping to find out at least something about the tragedy that had happened an hour ago.
“What do we have here?” Dr. Robinson asked, running up to one of the gurneys.
“Caucasian, female, twenty-three years old,” one of the nurses said, holding the drop counter. “Head trauma, internal hemorrhaging; numerous shoulder and back injuries; at least two ribs are broken; has been unconscious for approximately thirty minutes.”
“Take her to surgery; now!” the doctor said. “Make sure her blood pressure stays stable.”
Today was the kind of day when the world around you seemed to be going crazy. But there was no time for panic; the lives of so many people were at stake.
Dr. Robinson examined the injured woman on the gurney. This was his second shift in a row, but he didn't have time to think about taking a break. He knew it wouldn’t be easy, but he hoped the woman's youth would help her live through the next couple of hours; it was important, considering the extent of her injuries.
Even with twenty years of experience under his belt, he was still nervous before every operation. It wasn’t that he doubted his ability to perform his job well; modern technology sometimes refused to cooperate with nature and fate. He witnessed death every day, but most of all, he hated watching young people die. After all, they had a whole eternity to live.
He took a deep breath, made the sign of the cross and entered the operating room.
“Ready?” he asked the nurses. They nodded wordlessly.
“Good.”
Dr. Robinson nodded to the anesthesiologist, who administered the dose of Sevoflurane that would keep the young woman unconscious for the surgery. Then he put on the gloves and looked at the girl on the operating table. “It’s going to be okay, doll. You want to live, don’t you?”
Chapter 1
Kassie
Every inch of my body hurt. My lungs refused to breathe, my head was spinning like an out of control carousel, and even with my eyes closed I could feel how painfully bright the lights in the room were.
Someone was talking in a whisper, but I couldn’t make out what was being said. I tried to open my eyes, and groaned at the unpleasant feeling the small move caused.
“She’s waking up,” a male voice said. “Kassie, can you hear me?”
After my eyes adjusted to the overhead lights, I saw a man's face bent close to mine. He looked to be in his late fifties, with a tanned face that was handsome despite its deep wrinkles. He was wearing whites, with a badge that my blurred vision refused to read. He looked worried. Is he a doctor?
“What happened?” I asked quietly. I longed for a drink, and was eager to find out what was happening. I couldn’t make myself ask anything else, though.
“There was an explosion at Valeo,” he said. “You don't remember?”
I frowned, trying to make my brain work again, but the harder I tried, the less I succeeded. What the hell? There was nothing but an endless emptiness in my head.
The doctor looked at me with a furrowed brow. “What’s the last thing you remember about last night?” he asked, taking my hand in his. Then he looked at his watch, checking my heart rate.
I tried again to concentrate on my memories; still nothing.
“I don’t remember anything,” I said, a little nervous; my heart missed a beat. “What’s Valeo?”
The doctor’s frown deepened. He looked at someone I couldn’t see.
“Looks like I was right after all,” he said.
“How long do you think it may last?”
I looked for the source of the voice, and found it as another man approached my bed. He leaned forward and smiled down at me. His nearly black hair was tousled, as if he had just gotten up out of someone’s bed. He ran his fingers through it, and I almost forgot how to breathe; the move was damn sexy.
“From a few days to a few months,” the doctor replied, bringing me back to reality which, judging by my go-off-in-a-swoon reaction to the guy, left much to be desired.
Not good, I thought.
The stranger’s smile faded. “Months?” he repeated, looking at me thoughtfully. His dark-blue eyes looked familiar, although I couldn’t remember his name. Slowly, his gaze moved over what I bet was an awful view of my bandaged body. Still, it made me feel sensations I hadn’t even known existed. My eyes slipped lower and stopped at the man's black open shirt which showed off a few bleeding scars that, to my surprise, didn’t ruin the view of his perfect chest.
Holy Hell...
I couldn’t believe I was still able to think like that, considering my injuries, and that my head was still spinning.
I let out the breath that I hadn't even noticed I was holding, and felt my heart pounding in
my chest.
“Do I know you?” I asked the guy, hoping he didn’t notice my awe-struck stare.
The two men shared a glance. “I’m Daniel Farrell, an old friend of yours,” he answered. “And, this is Dr. Robinson. He’s your surgeon.”
I smirked mentally. Who would have thought that I had such a provocative, bad-boy-looking friend?
Not bad. Not bad at all.
Pain stabbed me. Even though I couldn’t remember anything, I was sure I had never felt so much pain before.
“Can I have a glass of water, please?”
“Here,” Daniel said, as he put the glass to my lips.
I took a few sips of the most delicious water I had ever tasted, and leaned back against the pillow.
“Thanks.” Unintentionally, my eyes followed Daniel, whom I suddenly didn’t want out of my sight. I took a moment to drink him in: tall, broad-shouldered, with a face and torso to die for; and a voice that would make any woman forget her own name.
Uh, that won’t do, Sweetie, my inner voice said. Time to get a damn grip on yourself!
Right.
“So,” I said, hoping I wouldn’t start coughing, “you said there was an explosion at-”
“Valeo. It’s a cafe you were working at last night,” Daniel said.
“I work there?”
“Yes. Don’t you remember that?”
I shook my head.
“You're a confectioner at The Sweets. It’s a bakery not far from here. The owner of Valeo asked you to make the cake for a wedding he had been hired to cater. According to the police, there was a gas leak in the kitchen. Thank God, you were already leaving when the explosion occurred. You were thrown out into the street by the explosive wave. Your head hit the pavement, and you got a few ribs and an arm broken. That’s why you needed an operation.”
“Oh, my Goodness… What about the rest of the personnel and the visitors?”
“About ten of them were badly injured,” the doctor said. “Some are still in a critical condition. We also lost two people, including the café’s owner and his sister.”
I felt my palms shaking as a few tears ran down my cheek.
“What about my family? Do they know about the incident?” I swallowed hard, trying to wrap my mind around the shocking news.
Daniel took a spare chair and moved it closer to my bed, saying to the doctor, “Would you mind leaving us alone for a while?”
“I’ll come back later. Call me if you need anything.”
“Okay.” Daniel nodded and waited for the doctor to leave.
Then he turned to me and took my hand in his, caressing it lightly. “I think you need to know a few things before you start asking any more questions,” he said uneasily. “Do you remember anything about your family?”
“My parents are divorced. My Dad lives in California, my Mom lives here in New York. And, I also have a brother; Adrian, right?”
Daniel nodded. “Your mom left a few hours ago. She had been here all night. She didn’t want to go home, but I insisted. She was exhausted and needed sleep. I also tried to call your dad, but no one answered. I will try again later.”
“Thanks.” I smiled briefly, pulling my hand out of Daniel’s. I felt a little uncomfortable. Even though he said we were friends, and I truly enjoyed the light tingling on my palm that his touch caused, something still felt wrong.
“How did you know about the explosion?” I asked after a short pause.
“I was on my way to Valeo, when a friend of mine called and told me the news. When I got there, it looked like a bloody battlefield. I hoped to find you safe and sound, but you were not there. Later, someone told me that you were taken to the hospital.”
“What about your scratches?” I asked, nodding toward his injuries.
“Oh, there was a woman whose kid got trapped in between the shatters. I helped her release him, and well, ruined my shirt.” Daniel smiled slightly, even though that smile never reached his eyes. They remained unreadable, as if he couldn’t let himself lose control and show his true emotions.
“How did you know I was at Valeo?”
“I was supposed to pick up the cake you were making for the wedding. I’m the groom’s best man.”
“Oh, I see.” I blinked hard, trying to look at anything but Daniel. He had a dangerous gleam in his eyes, which only made everything about him even more intoxicating. “You should probably ask the doctor to tend your wounds.” I don’t know what worried me more: the wounds or the view of his bare chest that I seemed to be unable to stop staring at.
“I’ll be fine,” he shrugged. “A few scratches won’t kill me.”
“What about my brother? Does he know I’m here?”
Somehow, Adrian was one of a few people I still remembered and wanted to see now, even though my memories about him were vague.
Daniel’s expression darkened which I took as a bad sign. He cleared his throat and said, avoiding looking at me, “Adrian, he… Died two years ago in a car crash.”
I gasped, staring at him in disbelief.
“That’s impossible,” I whispered, stunned.
Finally, Daniel’s eyes met mine and I could swear he knew exactly what I was feeling at the moment. There was so much pain and compassion in his look, which was the only sign of his emotions breaking through the unreadable mask.
“I know it sounds horrible, considering the problems with your memory and the rest… But all you need to think about now is getting better.”
I nodded absently, still unable to believe his words.
“Adrian was a great man,” he said almost in a whisper, “a true friend and a wonderful big brother. Losing him was a tragedy for all of us.”
“How did the accident happen?”
“I don’t know the details. All I know is that doctors found alcohol in Adrian’s blood.”
“What? He would never get behind the wheel drunk.”
“This is what we all thought, but the tests proved different.”
I closed my eyes, feeling tears running down my cheeks. Adrian and I were very close. No explosion could make me forget that. He wasn’t just my older brother. No matter what happened, I knew he would always be there to cover up my tricks, or simply to hear me out.
Daniel rose to his feet and went to the window, staring absently outside. “He was one of the most generous people I’d ever known. I will owe him one forever for everything he has done for me. I don’t know where I would be now if it wasn’t for Adrian’s help.”
“Why?” I wiped my tears with the back of one palm, and looked at Daniel again, whose tension I could feel even from the distance. His every move and word were carefully chosen.
“My sister and I grew up in an orphanage,” he said, leaning against the window sill with his arms crossed on his chest. “I ran away when I was fifteen, promising to come back in a few weeks and take her out of there. But, everything went wrong from the very beginning. I foolishly thought that robbery was the best way to get money.”
Daniel smirked at his own words. “When Adrian and I met, I was hiding from the police. I was starving and dying to get at least a glass of water. He found me sleeping on the street and took me home. He didn’t ask any questions, and the only thing I told him was that I needed my sister out of the orphanage. Since that day, my life changed tremendously. Adrian was four years older than me. He helped me find a job, and together we found a family who agreed to adopt Emily and me. Tabitha and Jonas are wonderful people. They always treated us as if we were their own children. They also liked you and Adrian a lot.”
“Looks like I have a lot to remember,” I said, sighing.
Somewhere deep down in my heart I knew that the pain of losing my brother would never go away, but I was sure that now it was much easier to stand than two years ago.
Daniel went back to his chair near my bed and said, “You will remember everything. Dr. Robinson says your memory will come back as soon as your mind is ready to deal with the consequences of the incid
ent.”
“I don’t even know what my last name is.”
“It’s Benson.”
“So, I am Kassie Benson. I guess I’m not married.”
“Last I checked you were not.” I could see Daniel’s chest rising and falling; he took a few deep breaths, closed his eyes for a moment, and after a short pause he said, “You can’t even imagine what I felt the moment I found out about the explosion. I knew you were supposed to be at that café, and I when I got there and no one knew where you were, I thought I would have a heart attack. Later, when I came here, the nurse said you were in surgery. Of course, she wouldn’t let me in. The four hours your mom and I had to wait for the operation to end felt like forever.”
Daniel’s words sounded so desperate. Suddenly I wanted to hug him to make him feel at least a little better, but my shoulder hurt like hell, and I grimaced at the pain I could feel all over my body. “Do you know how long they are going to keep me here?”
“About a week or so.”
“I need to call someone from my work. Do you know how to contact any of my co-workers?”
“I’ve already taken care of that. Your manager is a very nice woman. She’s here, by the way; waiting outside. Do you want me to call her?”
“Yes, please.”
Daniel nodded and headed for the door.
“Thank you,” I said after him.
He stopped, staring back at me with a look that I couldn’t decipher. “I’m the last person you should thank,” he said, and left before I could say anything else.
I frowned. What did he mean by that? I could feel that being here now wasn’t easy for Daniel, and I wondered why.
“Miss Benson, may I come in?”
“Leslie, right?”
The woman nodded, smiling. “This is for you,” she said, giving me a bouquet of white roses.
“My favorite,” I said, only later realizing that the thought came out of nowhere. It was good to know that my mind remembered at least something.
“I know,” Leslie said, as she put the flowers into a vase on my bedside table. “We were so worried about you. How are you feeling?”
