Forever Mine (Providence Series Book 1) (25 page)

“I think she’s in shock,” I heard Mr. Mackay say behind me, and I gave myself a shake and got up off the floor.

“Maya I think we should get you checked over,” Dale said running his hands over me until he got to my knee and hissed. “Fuck you’re bleeding, honey.”

I became aware of throbbing in my right knee and right hand and looked down at both to see blood dripping down my shin and dripping off my hand before everything went black.

*
 
*
 
*
 
     

I woke up as we were getting into the white SUV that had collected Tony and me from our hotel earlier that evening.
 
I was about to say something when I realized I was sitting on someone’s lap; a muscular lap with a big firm chest.
 
Now Tony wasn’t a slouch in the physique department, but this most definitely wasn’t him.
 
Opening my eyes, I tilted my head back and came face to face with Dale.

“We’re taking you to mine, and Doc Johnson is meeting us there to check you over, kiddo. Do you remember what happened?”

“Yeah, I remember. Do you mind if I sit on the seat?” I asked pointing to the spare seat next to us. Tony was sitting next to the window looking at me in concern.

“We’re already here,” Dale said as we pulled up in front of his house. He had bought an old mansion two years ago and had renovated the entire building bringing modern elements into it. That had been how I’d met him and his family as he’d hired me to do the decorating for him.
 
It was my first huge contract, and I’d loved every second of it and was immensely proud of what we’d done to the place.
 

After settling me down on the couch, Dale went to find a blanket while Tony sat in front of me on the coffee table chewing on his lip as he looked at me.

“I’m fine,” I rested on the back of the couch closing my eyes. In all honesty, I really wasn’t; I kept replaying the moment the car had skimmed past me and what would have happened if I hadn’t been pulled back when I had.

“Sweetie, you are far from fine,” Tony drawled, and I opened my eyes to see him staring pointedly at my knee which was bleeding through the handkerchief that had been put around it. “That tall God on the other hand, now he is fine.”

I couldn’t help the giggle that turned into a full blown roar as Dale walked around the corner with a first aid kit, a pillow, and a blanket and looked at Tony with a raised eyebrow. I had never seen Tony blush, but he went scarlet and glanced up at the ceiling suddenly screaming, “TARANTULA!” And ran out the front door straight into the chest of the security guard posted there and fell on his ass.
 

I would have continued laughing at his misfortune, but I wasn’t a huge fan of spiders, so I looked up, noticing Dale doing the same thing.
 
Both of us squinted, moved our heads and looked back at each other before looking back up again at what could only be described as a spider the size of my pinkie nail. Sure it was still a spider, but given how big those bad bastards get I wouldn’t be screaming over that one anytime soon.

Clearing his throat, Dale picked up the first aid kit and sat where his royal twatness had been sitting. “Anyway…” He said as he removed the hankie from my knee.
 
I’m not going to lie, it hurt, but Tony had already made a big enough tit of himself in the last ten minutes, and I was not going to follow him, so I bit my tongue.

“Mr. Mackay, the Doctor’s here,” A deep baritone voice came from the door. It was that deep that it sounded almost unnatural like that guy who was in Armageddon and The Green Mile. I looked over and did a double take when I saw the baby-faced guy standing in the doorway with Tony standing mouth open beside him.

“Sweet Jesus,” Tony apparently had lost the ability to conduct thoughts inside his head. “Hey, can you sing for me? Anything, I just have to hear that again.”

Now the man may have had a baby face, but he sure as hell did not have a baby body so when he turned to Tony and looked at him with absolutely no expression on his face, Tony made the right decision and turned away. Thankfully we were all distracted by the doctor coming in and Dale telling him what had happened as he looked over my knee and hand.
 

Deciding the best thing to do would be to give me an injection of painkillers and antibiotics before he cleaned out the wounds, the doctor asked Tony to help me onto my side to make my butt cheek available to him.
 

The mean asshole just couldn’t help but add to my embarrassment. “Here ya go, Doc, take your pick of where you wanna jab that huge old needle. God knows there’s enough acreage to choose from. Damn Maya, ever heard of Atkins?”

“I will hurt you,” I ground out from between clenched teeth, as the doctor took Tony literally and tried to murder me with the branding iron that he’d incorrectly called a ‘small pinch’.

That was when the world decided to prove in the best way possible that Karma was a bitch when the sound of flesh hitting tile broke the silence, and Tony was out cold on the floor on his knees with his ass in the air.
 
The doc and Dale went to move him, but I got Dale to pass me his phone, and with my good hand got a couple of shots first; because the bitch would have done the same to me.

After half an hour of cleaning, bits of gravel and God knows what else out of my hand, five stitches in my palm, glue holding a cut on my knee together and two huge bandages the doctor cleared out leaving me with antibiotics and pain medication. It was also decided that Tony would go with one of his security back to our hotel room to get our stuff, and we would stay with Dale for the rest of our visit.
 

I needed to talk to Ren and just hear his voice, but I didn’t have my phone anymore as it had been crushed in the accident, and with Luke in France meeting with a possible new client and it being 2 am, I couldn’t call my aunt and uncle. I had no choice but to go to bed and try and get some sleep hoping and praying that this trip ended quickly so I could get home.

*
 
*
 
*

After two days of discussions and research, we decided on a
 
scheme for the Mackays’ new building, and I had a copy of the blueprints to take back with me. It was now Thursday, and we were flying home tomorrow. I’d asked the Mackays to keep my accident quiet until I could get home and tell everyone face to face so that they didn’t worry. I also knew it would get back to my parents and with them being so far away, I didn’t want them to panic for no reason either.
 

Amy had gone apeshit and threatened to hunt the ‘tiny pricked dick’ down herself when I’d told her and Lucy yesterday swearing them to secrecy until I could tell our family myself.
 
To be honest, I wouldn’t put it past Amy; she was a bit of an act now ask question later type of girl. Fortunately, she had the innocent face and eyes that got her out of trouble ninety-nine percent of the time.

Tony had set up a night out with our old friends, and as always it was at a club with gay pride flags flying from the ceilings, people in drag milling around and cocktails named after famous actresses like
 
- the Judy Garland, Ginger Rogers and Doris Day.
 
I had wanted to stay home as I was still limping and feeling the pain from my badly swollen knee, but I did want to see my friends too so I’d agreed to go out for a bit.
 
After a couple of hours though I called it a night when the alcohol wasn’t sitting well with the antibiotics and pain meds in my system. I was also conscious of the fact that I had managed to steer clear of Andy until that point, but it would be unwise to court danger especially if it had been him driving that SUV. In 12 hours I would be flying back to Ren, and I couldn’t wait.

21

____

Ren

I hadn’t heard from Maya since
she’d left three days ago and whenever I called her phone, it went to voicemail which worried me. What if she’d had an accident? What if she was unconscious? What if that asshole had kidnapped her?

Walking out of the garage because I couldn’t focus for shit, I took a left and bumped right into the man that I’d been going to see, George.

“Ah, Ren; just the boy.”
 

“Is she OK George?”

“Seems she had an issue with her phone, and it was broken, but she’ll be back tomorrow and Tony’s coming with her.”

I felt three days worth of stress and tension deflate out of my body and slumped against the wall shaking my head to clear it. “Why didn’t she call?” I croaked.

“Uh this is Maya we’re talking about son,” George replied shaking his head at the same time that I nodded mine in understanding. “That girl has her entire life in that damn phone of hers. She even had to go on Google to find my office number to update me on the case she’s working on.
 
When she gets back, though, I need to have a long chat with her; there have been quite a few accidents on different job locations. On further inspection, they found evidence suggesting that it wasn’t accidental.”
 

My head snapped up, and I took in the firm line of his mouth and how pissed off he looked. “She’s in danger?” It took every ounce of self-control that I had to stop myself from getting on a
 
plane and going to her. If I hadn’t just found out that she was on her way home tomorrow, then I would have.

“We don’t know for sure, but I’m not taking any chances. Luke is back tomorrow too, and I’ll be arranging security and going through things with them as soon as I can. As it is, I contacted the Twyman’s and got their permission to install the best security system I could get in Maya’s house. Luke already has one in his…”

“George with all due respect, I have no doubt that it’s a top of the line, but Maya will stay with me after she gets back.
 
I am not risking her getting hurt!”
 

Already in my mind, I was thinking through getting Cole to take over the garage so I could watch her and calling the alarm company to see if there were any possible upgrades for my own system.

“Good man, I wish you the best of luck convincing her,” George said as he patted my shoulder, and then walked away.

I was so engrossed in my thoughts as I walked to meet Cole, that I didn’t see the bitch from hell until I walked into her.
 
The slimy snake put her arms around my waist to steady herself and then pressed against me. “Ren!”

“Francheska,” I used my bored tone reserved for her and tried to detangle myself from her python-like grip.

“I’m so sorry about Maya.”

I paused my bid for freedom as her words registered. Had she done something? No, she was too dumb for that. Then I remembered that movie where the chick boiled the bunny and stopped to look at her carefully.
 
Seeing she had my attention, she rubbed my arm.“I can’t believe she went back to him, I mean he’s a good looking guy and all, but still.”

“What the fuck are you on about?” Is this chick actually insane? She hated that asshole with a passion, so there was no way the viper was telling the truth.

She shook her head as she pulled out her phone and opened up her FaceBook. That in itself proved she was all kinds of crazy because who stalks people on FaceBook?

“Here you go sweetie,” she passed her phone to me.
 
On the screen was a photo of Tony with his arm around my girl. She was grinning while being pulled towards some guy who was kissing her on the cheek.
 

“That proves nothing.”

“Look at who’s tagged in the photo Ren,” she said pointing back at the screen. “I didn’t want to believe it, but why else who her ex be kissing her?”

Sighing I look back down, and above the photo, Tony had written that he was with Maya and Andy. I looked back down at the picture and saw she had her arm around this Andy guy too, and she didn’t look like she was unwilling or unhappy with his proximity and the kiss.
 

I thrust the phone back at Francheska and walked away as quickly as I could with her yelling my name behind me.
 
Shoving open the Diner door so hard that it hit the wall, a majority of the people inside looked up at me as Jeff to glared at me from behind the counter.
 
Ignoring all of that I looked for Cole, I needed to show him before I lost my shit.
 
Seeing him in a booth in the corner I stormed up to him, “Open your FaceBook!”

Cole’s eyes were huge as he looked at me and saw how close to losing it I was and quickly did as I asked; handing it to me.
 
Typing in Tony’s name in the search field, I pulled up the photo and tossed the phone to Cole to look at.
 
His hand shot out to stop it from flying off the table, and a grin broke across his face as he saw the photo.
 

“Really man, you’re this pissed because some dude is kissing her cheek?” Chuckling he shook his head slowly and looked at me.

“Look at the name of the guy kissing her.”

Cole looked back down and stared at the screen. I saw the moment it hit him when his eyes widened, and he moved his thumb up and down obviously reading all of the comments.
 

“Is this him?”

“Looks like it!”