Chapter 4
1747 Words
“We need to inform Lorenzo about this,” Trey pressed in a quiet voice.
Edward made a sound of approval, and while continuing to volley his attention out the floor to ceiling window that held the view of a city in full swing, he reached out to take the glass of cognac he had set aside a moment before.
He could practically hear Gabriel’s disapproving eye roll behind him. They all had their unhealthy habits. Lorenzo smoked, much to their young doctor’s frustration. Edward liked to enjoy a strong glass to calm the nerves. And his nerves needed calming.
He had carried the woman to the bedroom and gently put her in the large king-size bed. Even though it wasn’t the first time he had carried her, it still bothered him how she weighed almost nothing in his arms. Her small frame had been completely swallowed by the sheets and soft mattress. Edward had sat on the bed and watched her for a moment until he felt like a creep and returned to the living room area of the penthouse and poured himself a glass.
He swallowed, enjoying the burn as the cognac went down his throat. He could feel the heaviness of his phone in his pocket like it weighed a ton instead of the mere grams.
It was more than obvious he had to call Lorenzo and tell him everything. His reluctance was understandable, however. He could almost predict in detail what reaction his call would receive. It wasn’t like he hadn’t known Lorenzo or the guys since he was twelve years old and about to meet his death. An experience that had shaped them into who they were today.
Edward exhaled and retrieved his phone from his pocket. He hit the speed dial before he gave it too much thought.
Barely two rings later. “Edward. Talk of the cat and you see its tail. Great timing… Abigail was just asking about you.”
A small, affectionate smile tagged at Edward’s lips. “How is she?”
“Still receiving compliments as graciously as a seven months pregnant woman can.” Edward could hear the laughter in his friend’s voice and felt guilty he was about to kill it.
However, before he could change his mind, Lorenzo caught the vibe something was up. When he spoke, his tone had changed. The humor was gone.
“Should I be on a helicopter right now?” Lorenzo asked.
“Nothing that serious,” Edward quickly assured him.
“But it is serious?”
Edward began to pace in front of the window. The other two men in the room watched him quietly. They could only hear his side of the conversation, but it was easy to piece everything together, so they just watched.
“I sort of had an accident last night... A woman ran out of nowhere and stopped right in the middle of the road right in front of my car.”
There was silence on the line for almost half a minute before Lorenzo spoke. “Since I didn’t get a call from any of the other guys or you… last night.” He paused for emphasis on how much that pissed him off. “I can safely assume you are in one piece?”
“Yes, I’m fine. No broken bones or bruises. Not even a scratch.”
“The woman you hit?”
“I didn’t hit her… I managed to avoid that nightmare. But… she was unconscious, so I brought her to my penthouse.”
“Gabriel checked her?” Lorenzo was not yet freaking out. He was still in gathering-all-the-details mode.
“She is fine, well… in his words I didn’t add to her injuries.”
“What injuries?” Lorenzo asked in a tone more serious than he had been using so far.
Edward reached for his glass again and finished it in one swallow. “In summary,” he started once he had cleared his throat. “She was almost naked, bruised, bloody and dirty before she ran into my car. Oh, and she… had a broken pair of handcuffs on her too.”
“f**k!”
Edward dished out the rest of the information like he was ripping off a band aid. “Good news is, she woke up after some hours. Bad news… She has no memory of who she is or what happened to her. And Trick can’t find anything with facial recognition. He needs a name to dig around, and we don’t have one.”
“And that is your version of not serious enough?”
“Lorenzo, you coming here and leaving your pregnant wife home in the middle of the night wouldn’t have solved anything. Even right now. We are not in any kind of danger.”
“Like hell you are not!” Lorenzo exploded. Then Edward heard him telling Abigail in the background that everything was ok. When he returned his attention to the phone, his voice had gone considerably low, but the anger remained.
“Edward, you should have called last night.”
“I am calling now.”
“Don’t get smart.” He exhaled. “Ok, Ok… so what are you going to do now?”
Edward had thought about it already since putting the woman to bed. So the answer was right on his lips. “I will keep her with me until I know more.”
He hadn’t told his two friends in the room with him about his decision before voicing it. They both gave him hard stares, but he ignored them and concentrated on the man he was talking to on the phone.
“You think that is wise?” Lorenzo asked quietly.
“If she is in danger, I don’t want to be responsible for literally signing her death sentence.”
Lorenzo hummed in what sounded like agreement. “And if she is the trouble?”
Edward chuckled. “We can handle trouble.”
“Glad to hear the ‘we’... it means you know not to do s**t on your own.”
“I know. And I wasn’t alone. We just didn’t want to worry you for nothing at an unholy hour of the night.”
“That is my choice to make… not yours.” Lorenzo sighed, then lowered his voice even more. “You call me, you hear me, Edward? You damn well call me at any god forsaken hour. Anything that happens, you keep me in the loop. Have I made myself clear?”
“Crystal.”
“Good.”
“I will catch you later,” Edward said, finishing the call and cutting the line.
He exhaled a long sigh of relief, threw his head back, and closed his eyes.
“That went well,” Trey commented.
Edward chuckled. “I guess. But you can all expect a call from him in a few. He is going to rip you all a new one and pound it home about keeping things away from him.”
Gabriel cringed at the very vivid image Edward’s words brought. “Guess that was to be expected.” He then looked at Edward. “So… you are keeping her, huh?”
“Yes.”
Somewhere in those lost memories in her head was the information they needed to know if she was the trouble, or in trouble. Or, if she was worth the trouble, Edward thought. He just had to be patient. He was sure he would have answers soon.
***
She opened her eyes slowly. It felt like her eyelids had been glued down or something.
Pain registered in her body from so many points, it was like a full body continuous ache. Oh yes, she remembered, she had been in some kind of accident. Some men had brought her to their house instead of a hospital. For reasons she didn’t understand, she felt relief they hadn’t taken her to the hospital like normal people would have done.
Reluctantly, she blinked and looked around. Wondering where she was now. It didn’t look like the room she had woken up in the first time.
She realized she was in a bedroom and in a bed. Her body shuddered with mild alarm until she realized nothing had changed from the last time she had looked at her body. She was still dressed in her bra and panties. They were filthy and dirty against the white sheets that covered the bed, but they were still on her body like a reassurance nothing had happened.
She almost felt guilty for not immediately jumping off the bed to avoid putting more dirt on it, but she didn’t have the strength for that, so guilt could kiss her ass.
Her eyes wandered around the room. It was all wide open and spacious, with very little furniture around. All she could see was the bed she was on, a coffee table with a couch next to it and another table against the wall with some statue- like decoration on it. There were two doors on one side and the opposite wall had a floor-to-ceiling window that gave her the sight of clear blue skies and tall buildings.
Gingerly, she got out of bed, biting back the groan of pain that threatened to escape her throat. Unshed tears burned in her eyes. She made her way to the doors.
The first one opened to a walk-in closet, which then led to what appeared to be a bathroom. She needed to use the bathroom, but she needed to find out what was going on even more. So she ignored that door and tried the next one.
That one gave into a hallway and she limped her way into it. Every step was painful, but she forced herself to keep going. Thankfully, the hallway quickly opened into the living room, the very one she had woken up in earlier. She paused with her hand against the wall for support before she could venture further. Pain radiated everywhere, intensified by the effort it had taken to reach the living room.
Just then, the man who she had been talking to just before she slept walked into the living room from the opposite direction. He immediately saw her, slowed down and removed his sunglasses before he hooked them on the front of his T-shirt. His hard eyes settled on her.
“What are you doing out of bed?” he demanded.
- Writer
