Broken In Pieces: Billionaire Stepbrother Romance (Wounded Hearts Book 1) (21 page)

“Good night, baby girl.” I see him smile just before I close my eyes.

It’s morning still but I’ve slept later than usual. No vampires came hunting for blood this morning. Blade is sleeping in the chair by my bed but his hand is still wrapped around mine. He looks so peaceful, no nightmares, no tears, no painful look on his face. The door opening breaks my stare at him. It’s the bubbly nurse with Donna and Styx right on her heels. She’s checking my vitals as she informs me that I’ve missed breakfast. I’m still full from last night so it really doesn’t matter. Blade wakes up when she begins talking. Donna and Styx still don’t acknowledge him. I really wish I hadn’t told them everything.

“When will the doctor be here?” I ask.

“He’s just down the hall so it shouldn’t be long,” she smiles.

“Good, I may get to go home today,” I gush.

“Well, good for you. Of course, you’ll miss us when you’re gone,” she giggles and I roll my eyes sarcastically. As she’s leaving the room, Mother and Carter are coming through the door.

“Good morning, my love,” Mother says as she firmly kisses my check. Everyone seems rested and in good spirits.

The door opens again and it’s Dr. Griffin and Dr. Sanchez. “Good morning all,” Dr. Griffin says as he and Dr. Sanchez head to my bed. “So, I hear the walk yesterday went well,” he says, giving me a half grin.

“Yeah, if you call a walk through hell fire well, then it did,” I laugh.

“You’ll be sore for a long while but that’s to be expected after everything your body has been through,” he answers.

“Yeah, but even that will be better when I’m finally home,” I wiggle my eyebrows at him.

“Very cute, Miss Stollings but that will get you nowhere,” he smiles. “I want to examine your incision one last time and if it still looks good, you can go home for my part,” he gives Dr. Sanchez a questioning look.

“Miss Stollings, it’s still very early in your pregnancy but from what I can tell, everything is going wonderfully. I want to see you for an ultrasound in three or four weeks so please call my office tomorrow and set up an appointment. I will give you a prescription for prenatal vitamins before you leave today. Start taking those immediately,” she insists.

“I will. Thank you both so much for everything you’ve done for me and my baby. I am eternally grateful,” I start tearing up but I hold it back. The others step out of the room and Dr. Griffin examines my incision.

“Everything looks great,” he smiles just before letting the others come back in. “It looks like our girl is ready to head home,” he announces. “I will be giving you a prescription for an antibiotic and some pain medication. Neither of them will hurt the baby but take as little of the pain medication as you can. Only when you really need it,” he explains and I give him a confirming nod. “It’s good that you have plenty of folks here. You’ll need someone to drive you home and stay with you for at least a week while you get on your feet,” he insists.

“She’ll be going home with me,” Blade chimes in and I shoot daggers at him out of my eyes. The others don’t catch it but he sees it instantly.

“Good enough for me,” Dr. Griffin agrees as he heads for the door and Carter follows him out.

“I’m not going home with you. I’m going to MY apartment, where I belong,” I clinch my jaw so that I don’t scream.

Blades eyes grow wide, “Then I will be coming to your apartment where I can take care of you.” He’s so exhausting.

I close my eyes and take a deep breath, “I will hire someone to take care of me.”

“Like hell you will,” he persists.

“Wait. If we can just get someone to stay with you for a week, then I’ll be here to take care of you,” Donna pipes in. I give her a confused look and she continues, “Carter has everything lined out with Berkley so I’m moving here to be with you. I just have to go home for a week and get everything sorted out.”

“You can’t just disrupt your whole life for me. I won’t allow it,” I growl.

“Oh shut the hell up, Sher. Your mom and Carter have to get back because he has surgeries scheduled. You’re here, Styx is here and I absolutely love it here. And let’s face it, someone has to be here to take care of you and keep you out of dangerous situations,” she gives me a sarcastic frown.

“Then, it’s settled. I will stay with you and in a week or so, Donna will be here,” Blade declares. I really don’t know what choice I have at this point so I just give up and don’t say anything else.

The nurse comes by with my release papers and I don’t think I’ve ever been so happy about anything. Blade pushes my wheelchair through the hospital and out the front door. I take a deep breath, capturing as much of the fresh air as I can. It feels like I haven’t been outside in forever. Styx and Donna have his small SUV waiting outside the door because it’s going to be easier to get in and out of than Blade’s sports car. Mother and Carter have gone on ahead to pick up my prescriptions.

The ride home is more painful than I anticipated. By the time we reach the parking garage, I am throbbing all over and it must be written on my face. “They’ll be here soon with your pain medicine, baby girl,” Blade assures me as he lifts me from the vehicle and sits me in the wheelchair.

“I wanna try to get past this and not take the pain medication,” I insist.

“We’ll get you inside and see how it goes,” he agrees. As we approach the door of the apartment, it hits me.
Holy shit, this place is still a disaster area. I haven’t been back since it was ransacked. Fuck!

“It’s okay. You’ll see,” he smiles as he puts the key in the door. He always seems to know what I’m thinking. I close my eyes in dread and don’t open them again until we’re through the door way.
What the fuck!
It’s exactly the way it was before it was torn apart. All the shit that was broken has been replaced with exact replicas and everything is perfectly in place. I’m shocked as I give Blade a questioning look. “My team is really good, baby girl,” he smiles.

“Thank you,” I whisper and he kisses my forehead before he wheels me into the bedroom.

“I don’t wanna lie down yet. Dr. Griffin said I could sit in a tub of water that hits me at about the hips, that way the incision doesn’t get wet,” I insist. I’m so dirty and grimy that I can’t stand myself any longer.

“I’ll start the water and help you,” Blade says as he heads for the bathroom.

When he’s out of ear shot, Donna questions me, “Are you okay with this, Sher? If not, I’ll be more than happy to help you.” I assure her that it’s fine. I know telling him no will only cause a problem and I don’t have the energy to deal with it. “Okay, if you’re sure then while you’re bathing, I’m gonna fix you something to eat.” I nod in agreement.

Blade returns and wheels me into the bathroom. “I’ll help you undress,” he offers.

“I can do it,” I protest as I stand up out of the chair. I begin to undress but start feeling very awkward, almost embarrassed. I grab a towel, holding it around me while I fight my way out of my clothes.

Blade steps closer, “You don’t trust me anymore, do you?” Tears begin to well in my eyes as I lower my head and look at my feet. “Look at me please,” he whispers as he raises my chin with his fingers. “I’m so sorry. I promise, if you give me the chance, you will trust me again,” he almost pleads. He leans in, kissing me softly on the lips then he wipes my tears.

He lifts me into the tub, “Will you let me help you wash your hair, please?” I really don’t see any way around it because I’m sure I can’t do it myself. I lift the towel so that it won’t touch the water but will still be covering my breast and the incision. I ease down into the tub as I agree to let him wash my hair. The water feels wonderful, washing away all the dirt and sludge left from the chaos.

Blade lifts me back out of the tub and begins drying me. When he’s finished, I ask him to leave the room so I can get dressed. He’s hurt, I can see it in his eyes but I just can bring myself to drop the towel in front of him. When I’m finished, I walk out into the bedroom where Blade rushes over and picks me up. “I am capable of walking. As a matter of fact, Dr. Griffin wants me to walk,” I growl.

“You’ve been through a lot today. We’ll walk tomorrow,” he puts me on the bed.

He retrieves a brush from my make-up table and begins brushing my hair. I close my eyes, day dreaming back to the first day at his house when he did this.
How could something that felt so close and intimate then seem so intrusive now?
Donna and Styx enter with soup and sandwiches just before I say something that would have probably been very hurtful to Blade. We all sit on my bed and enjoy lunch. As Donna is gathering everything to take back to the kitchen, Mother and Carter arrive.

Although I’ve really tried to endure the pain, it’s beginning to be too much. I really don’t like the thought of pain meds while I’m pregnant so I break one and only take half. All the Kentuckians are flying back home tonight so they say their good byes. There’s lots of love and tears exchanged. “I’ll be back before ya know it,” Donna whispers as she hugs me tight. The medication is taking over now and I feel a little strange. As soon as they’re out the door, I get comfortable in the bed and sleep takes me.

The next week passes quickly. I sleep a lot, walk around the apartment as much as I can manage and spend long periods sitting on the balcony, drinking in the sunshine. Blade doesn’t push any issues so we don’t really talk much. I’m really okay with that because I don’t have anything else to say. I figure he has finally accepted things for what they are and is just waiting for Donna to return so he can resume his normal life. He has, however, slept in the bed with me every night. There’s no cuddling or intimacy. We don’t touch at all.

I’m sitting on the balcony stressing over the fact that Donna has disrupted her whole life for me. She’s due to be back here tomorrow and as much as I will love it, I feel so guilty. The doorbell rings bringing me out of my thoughts. As I amble into the living room, I hear Blade arguing with a female…
Fuck!! That fucking Bridgette is here!! Who the hell does she think she is?!
I head for the door as quickly as I can. “What the fuck do you want?” I shout as I come up behind Blade.

“She doesn’t want anything. She leaving now,” Blade pushes her toward the door.

“Wait, please. Sheridan, I need to talk to you, please,” she pleads.

“What could you possibly want to talk to me about, you motherfucking whore,” I blast.

“I deserve that,” she looks at the floor and I almost think she’s sincere. “I owe you a huge apology and the truth,” she persists.
The truth? Well, here’s my opportunity to get some real answers about that night. I don’t believe a word Blade says so I’ll get my answers from the whore.

“Let her go, Blade. I wanna hear what she has to say,” I insist. He turns her loose, we all walk out onto the balcony and take a seat. “Go ahead. I don’t plan on sitting here all day like we’re best friends,” I smart.

She inhales deeply, “The pictures I sent you, they weren’t what they looked like. I ran into Blade at the bar that night and hit him up. He flat out turned me down then headed for the restroom. I’m sure he was hoping I would be gone when he got back but instead, I ordered him another drink and mixed in a sleeping pill. He finished his drink, started feeling loopy so I lead him to my car and took him to my apartment.”

Oh no! He’s been telling me the truth this whole time.
“By the time I got him in the door, he was almost out of it so I lead him to the bed where he passed out. I undressed him, put on lingerie and posed us in those positions to take the pictures. If you look closely, you never really see his eyes because they’re closed,” she explains further.

“You stupid bitch! Why the hell would you do this? What the hell did I ever do to you to deserve that,” I storm as I stand up, reach back and slap the shit out of her. Silence…total silence.

She raises her hand, rubbing the side of her face, “I deserve that too.”

I sit back in my seat, trying to calm down. “I felt like I was losing him to you. I thought if I could just run you off,” she pauses. “But the truth is, he was never mine to lose. Blade never felt that way about me and I hadn’t accepted it yet. When he got the call the next morning about you being kidnapped, I knew then that he loved you. He was so distraught and scared. I knew I had really fucked up,” she confesses further. “I want to apologize to you. You didn’t deserve the shit I pulled and I’m very sorry,” she sincerely apologizes.

I’m calmer now, “I appreciate the apology and the truth but that doesn’t excuse what you did. The best thing you can do is go away and stay away. If you get involved in our lives in anyway, I promise I will tear you from limb to limb.”

She nods an affirming nod, “I completely understand. I would feel the same way. You won’t hear from me again, I promise.” She rises to leave as Blade and I follow her out. When she reaches the door, she turns to face us. “I wish you both all the love in the world,” she says and walks out the door.

Blade and I stand in silence forever and a day. “Come on, we need to get you back into to bed,” he reaches down and picks me up.

“I’m sorry,” I whisper in his ear.

He kisses my cheek before placing me on the bed. “I’m just glad you know the truth. I never would have dreamed she would come here but I’m glad she did. You never would have believed it if she hadn’t,” he says sweetly as he crawls in beside me.

I don’t know why but I feel ashamed of myself for not believing Blade. By no means does this fix everything but at least I know he didn’t sleep with her. That was breaking my heart beyond belief. It had become easier not to deal with him than to feel that pain. The relief of knowing the truth brings a peace I hadn’t felt in a long time. I still don’t know him, I still don’t believe he loves me but at least I can respect him again.

Relinquish

D
onna and Styx
have been here a little over a week now but Blade still hasn’t offered to leave. I can tell she’s becoming more and more agitated with him so I’m glad he has decided to return to work tomorrow. At least then he will be away during the day, which will give her a chance to breathe. It’s not necessary for him to be here anymore but I’m trying not to hurt him. I really put him through the wringer on the Bridgette thing. I’ve decided that when he gets in from work tomorrow, we have to have a talk about him going home.