Around the World in 80 Men Boxed Set 31-35 (7 page)

“
What
in baby Moses' name is
that?
” Angel spit the contents
all over the carpet, and scraped his tongue with the back of his
hand. “Who the fuck drinks that?”

Felix
laughed and took his flask, and his whiskey back. It was strong, but
the man didn't need a drink with fruit or umbrellas, he just liked
his drinks to get the job done. The commotion though, brought another
person into the room.

Finlay
however, was smart enough to place the bottle of Moscato beside the
bed, like it never existed. “How is she supposed to sleep with
all of this going on in here?” Julianne walked in as Angel was
still tongue-scraping. “There are far too many people in here.”
She placed her hands on her hips, and looked from Angel, to Felix to
Finlay.

“Then
you,” Angel pointed a thin finger with a perfectly manicured
nail at Julianne. He was going to tell her to turn around too, but
another look from Finlay reminded him that he was a guest and he
changed his mind. “Should...join...us.” His words were
slow and awkward and Julianne huffed, knowing he had fought hard to
hold back his smart mouth.

“Enough
talk, all of you...,” Julianne pointed to each man, “out!”
Morgan looked up to Finlay. He smiled down at her and brought his
index finger to her cheek, stroking it gently as everyone left the
room. Julianne poked her head back in to remind Finlay that he was to
leave as well.

“Aye,
in a moment.” He wasn't asking. He had no intentions of leaving
Morgan without allowing her the one drink that he promised. Julianne
huffed and left, just as Finlay pulled the bottle out and handed it
to her. “Just one, Love.” Morgan nodded and allowed him
to hold it to her lips. It was wonderful. “I found something
else for you.”

Morgan
adjusted herself in the bed, as Finlay crossed the room toward her
luggage. He picked something up that she couldn't see until he walked
around her side of the bed again. It was her ugly night gown, the one
with the sunflowers. He had been digging through her bag to find her
something comfortable to put on, and buried in the side compartment
was the one piece of clothing he knew would make her happy.

“Thank
you.” Her eyes were heavy as she took it from his hands and
Finlay bent one last time and kissed her forehead before standing.
Morgan held it to her chest tightly, and whispered another quiet word
of thanks.

“She
can have one more, then it's lights out.” Both Morgan and
Finlay turned to Julianne in the doorway, arms crossed and smiling.
She had known all along, and Morgan finally laughed out loud.

Chapter
Seven

Morgan
woke up sore, and barely able to move her legs or arm. The swelling
was down a bit, but the bruising looked even worse than the day
before. She wished that she had Angel there with her, because he
would have worked wonders with a
cosmetic.
She was sitting on
the side of the bathtub, wrapped in a large fluffy light blue towel,
when Julianne entered the room. “Can I help?” The woman
knew that Morgan was attempting to look halfway decent, and if anyone
could understand that need, it was Julianne. Morgan looked up, tears
in her eyes, and nodded. “Okay, you stay there, I'll be right
back.” Julianne was gone for only a few moments, and returned
with a enough beauty supplies to make the entire floor of the hotel
absolutely gorgeous. It was, however, all for Morgan.

Julianne
dried and straightened Morgan's hair, gently applied enough make up
to tone down the bruises, and helped her into some jeans and black
tank top. She would have preferred a long sleeve blouse, but the
fabric touching her skin was almost unbearable. Yes, a tank top would
have to suffice, but Julianne assured her that she looked
amazing.There was nothing going on, and Morgan knew she would most
likely spend her day watching a marathon of horror movies and
sleeping off and on, but it always made a girl feel better to
try
and look nice.

“
Julianne,”
Morgan spoke as her boss was about to leave the bathroom. “Why?”
It was a question that had crossed her mind repeatedly. “Why
did he do it?”

Julianne
walked back to Morgan's side and tucked a strand of hair behind her
ear. “Child, I don't know why people do the things they do. I
assume,” Julianne paused, and took a deep breath. “He
just gets some sort of pleasure out of hurting people. He had you to
himself, and you got away.” It wasn't what Julianne wanted to
tell her, but it was the truth. Carlos was sick, mentally ill. There
was no deep reason for doing it, and it could have been any one of
Julianne's girls in that situation. “I'm so, so, very sorry it
happened, Morgan. I can't even begin to tell you enough. But, don't
blame yourself.”

It
was hard for Morgan not to blame herself. Could she had done
something different, to have prevented all of it? The answer was no.
Morgan knew Julianne's words were true. She was just the unlucky
card to be drawn, and she had gotten away. He wanted revenge, and
that's all there was to it. It didn't help with her anger, in fact,
it made it worse. But for the first time, her mind eased just a
little.
It wasn't my fault.

“
You
have every right to be angry, and I wish there was a way to help you
through it. It will happen, and I'll be here for you.” Julianne
knew Morgan hadn't reached the mental healing point yet, but she
would be there for her when it happened.

“
Thank
you.” Julianne placed a kiss on top of Morgan's head and left
her to be alone with her new information. Morgan looked to the mirror
and sighed loudly.

At
that point, her injured ribs were the most painful thing she had ever
felt, but she knew, only time could heal her. “At least my hair
looks good.” She closed her eyes, and stood as straight as she
could and gathered a deep enough breath to let out a short sigh.

“
And
those jeans make your ass look fanfuckintastic.” Angel walked
into the bathroom without knocking, and Morgan was thankful she was
fully dressed. Not for his sake, but because he left the door wide
open behind him. “Good thing too, some beefsteak, looking like
a blonde Tarzan just showed up.”

“
What?”
Morgan felt her cheeks heat with embarrassment.
Alrik? No...

Julianne
had insisted on her taking her pain pill, but Morgan didn't want to
spend her morning asleep, and she told Julianne she would simply
deal
with it,
even if it meant being in horrible pain. Voices could
already be heard in the other room, and she suddenly wished she
could
sleep through what she was about to do.

It
was a rare moment for Morgan, to feel everything. It was in those
moments, medication free, that the mental torment would return.
Images of Carlos resurfaced, and she felt her heart race as she began
to fight the torture that her mind was putting her through. Julianne
saw what was happening, and demanded that Morgan take her medicine.
Reluctantly, she finally did, but they didn't have the time to begin
their magic before facing the rest of the morning.

“
Nice
te meet ye.” Finlay was the first person she saw as she turned
the corner. She knew him too well to know he wasn't actually glad to
be meeting the
blonde Tarzan.
His muscular arm was
outstretched to someone, and she discovered it
was
Arlik as
she walked further into the room. He was just as gorgeous as she
remembered, and her heart warmed a bit upon seeing the familiar face.

“
Morgan?”
Alrik glanced in her direction upon seeing movement out of the corner
of his eye, then did a double take. He was in town to take care of
business with his uncle, and nobody had told him Morgan would be
there. Let alone, her condition. “What happened?” His
eyes moved from Morgan to Finlay, to Felix, demanding answers from
someone. “Morgan, who did this to you?” He crossed the
room quickly to Morgan, rage coursing through his veins.

“
Alrik,
let's just leave it.” Felix stepped up and placed a hand on
Alrik's shoulder, trying to ease his mind.

“
Who
the
fuck
did this?” His eyes went back to Felix, and
his uncle's look told him everything he needed to know. It was the
same bastard who had hurt her the last time. He turned back to
Morgan, and placed a finger on her cheek. “I am so sorry.”
Morgan's eyes closed as she prayed for everyone to stop apologizing.
Another tear fell, and rolled across Alrik's finger. “He better
be fucking dead.” The words escaped his lips without him even
thinking, and Morgan's eyes opened instantly. She had refused to
think about it, refused to ask, but there it was.

She
pulled away slightly and looked at every person in the room for
several seconds. They all knew what she was about to ask, and the
silence was deafening.

“
Where
is he?” She backed up, feeling terrified at her own words. He
was out there somewhere, and fingers instantly balled into her palms
into tiny fists of rage and fear. “Where...is....he?”
Through clenched teeth, and open sobbing, she demanded to know where
Carlos was. Finlay quickly went to her side and attempted to put his
arm around her waist. “No! I'm not going to bed! I'm not going
to take another fucking pill! And I'm not going to ask again!”
The reality that everyone had been treating her as if she were the
last person in the world that should know what's going on was hitting
her with full force. “Tell! Me!” Alrik stepped to the
side and brought Morgan into his arms.

“I
don't know, but I'll find out.” His assurance was meant for
everyone else as well, because he couldn't understand why she didn't
know. Finlay watched Morgan stiffen in Alrik's embrace, then his eyes
followed Alrik's hand as it moved in small circles on her back. He
whispered that he would find out, and she would be the first to know.
Morgan softened, still crying, and finally rested her cheek against
Alrik's chest. Finlay let out a long breath of frustration, but not
one person noticed. The few moments that it took for her outburst,
was enough time for her pain to begin to subside.

Finlay
knew he could physically protect her, but it was just as important to
keep her mind safe. She was too fragile, in his opinion, to hear
everything. He also didn't want her to know that he, in fact, was
still alive. Being tortured, yes, but still alive. Finlay moved
forward, hoping that Alrik would take the hint to remove his arms
from Morgan, but it didn't work. “Love,” Finlay put his
large hand on her arm, “do ye want to get some air?” He
was offering to take her to the balcony for a few moments until she
collected herself.

Morgan
nodded, still leaning against Alrik. “Then I'll take her.”
Alrik lifted Morgan from the ground and turned so quickly that Finlay
didn't even have the time to say a word. Alrik left the room, with
Morgan in his arms, and Finlay's temper was about to explode.

“Boo...
I know that look.” Angel almost ran to Finlay and stood in
front of him, barely reaching his chest. He danced from side to side,
stopping Finlay's attempt at leaving. He knew the large man wouldn't
hurt him, so he kept it up for as long as he could. “That's
what G Spot looks like,” Angel's fingers moved in circles in
front of Finlay's face as he spoke, “when he's about to yell at
me for some stupid shit that you know I didn't do but he thinks I
did...,”

“Go...away!”
Finlay moved Angel's hand from the front of his face and finally
stormed out of the room. Angel smiled, knowing that he had distracted
the man long enough that he wouldn't say something cruel to Alrik.
Maybe, he also thought, he gave them enough time for the pair to
actually get out of the hotel. His Stick needed to leave that room,
and to see something other than their faces of pity.

“You're
welcome, Stick.” His whisper could only be heard by Julianne,
who instantly pretended to clean the room without notice. Angel
walked into Morgan's little room and grabbed one of the bags of sour
cream and onion chips off the dresser and sat on the edge of the bed.
Normally, he would have fixed the corner of the blanket that had
folded up, turned off the television and gathered Morgan's clothing
to be washed, but for once, he didn't feel like it.

Angel
knew there had to be a way to bring his best friend back to her happy
place, and for a few moments, he thought back on all the things they
had done together. Finally, he decided, the thing that made her most
happy were her friends. He shoved a few chips in his mouth and
inspected his shirt for evidence, then hopped up and moved to
Morgan's luggage. “Where is that mothafuckin' book of yours?”
He looked over her pieces of luggage, and discovered immediately, one
was missing. Angel planned on getting her scrapbook and all of her
supplies out for when she returned, but her pink zebra print bag
wasn't there. “Finny Stick! Yo, Fish Fin!” He yelled
through the hotel to the big Scot, but got no reply. “I know
you ain't ignoring a bitch!”