Magnificent Ruin (Everlasting Series Book 2) (20 page)

It’s our only chance, though, so that’s what we do. I hold Irina’s hand, stopping at every corner to make sure no one’s around. When we make it to the basement, I almost collapse as the stress of the escape is finally released upon my entire body.

Irina offers me her hand to keep me on my feet.

“We have to go up now,” I say, pointing at the trapdoor above our heads.

She nods but at the same time I realize I have no way of knowing if anyone’s outside. Yet another chance we have to take.

We climb out. The beautiful, quiet night is somehow terrifying. We walk slowly, my eyes darting in all directions as we approach the gate. There’s someone in front of the gate, a big man smoking a cigarette.

“Shit,” I whisper, “oh shit. Goon squad.”

“Shit,” Irina repeats like an echo. “I want that.”

I’m not sure what she’s saying. She wants shit? But then I get it. She’s pointing at the cigarette in the man’s hand.

I work out things in my head faster than lightning. “If that’s what you want, that’s what you’re going to have,” I say. I have her sit on the ground, behind a tree. “You stay here,” I say. “I will get that. No move. No talk.”

She nods. I yank the front of my shirt down to reveal some cleavage. I take two steps before I decide to go back to Irina. “You should know that smoking is very, very bad for you,” I whisper before I go again.

The guard eyes me suspiciously as I get near him, swaying my hips and throwing my head back.

“Can I have a smoke? Such a boring night,” I say to him as soon as I reach the gate. “Where in fucking hell is Mr. De Luca? I was promised a good time?”

He relaxes, putting his hands in his pockets to produce a packet of cigarettes. “Some dough, too?” he says, chuckling.

“Who? Me?” I say, batting my eyelashes.

“Yeah, yeah, you’re all the same,” he says, offering me a cigarette. “All you want is to have your little pussies fucked and get some money in your pockets. You’re all whores, aren’t you?”

That guy’s a genius, his talents are wasted here. “Well, I don’t know. Why don’t we test your theory?”

“What do you mean?”

“Second floor, third door from the right, five minutes.”

His eyes are getting hungry now. “Five minutes? I can fuck you for hours.”

What a dumbass. “No, not that, meet me in five minutes.”

He takes my arm. “Let’s go together.”

“No way, I’m supposed to be here for your boss. I can’t be seen with you. He doesn’t like his things touched.”

Bingo, I guessed right. The idiot gives me a smile as he walks past me. As soon as I exhale all my terror out, he turns around and sneaks a hand under my shirt, squeezing my breast. It takes all that I am to keep a straight face.
Irina
, I keep thinking to myself,
think of Irina, Taylor
.

The thug grabs my ass with his free hand, grinding himself against me. I’m not sure I can take one more second of this when he finally lets go of me.

“You’re one hot slut,” he says. “Two minutes, not five.”

“Asshole,” I whisper behind his back as he rushes to get to the building.

The true significance of everything I have done tonight hits me hard when Irina and I lock ourselves in the car after an excruciating descent down the hill. I shiver so hard my body nearly goes into convulsions. Parts of me died tonight. Other parts thrived. My comfort zone exploded and my fears became weapons I used to get down that hill.

As soon as I drive off with Irina lying down to sleep in the back seat, I call Tomas. My heart beats so loud, I think I might have a heart attack. “I have Irina.” I yell loudly into the phone as soon as he picks up.

“What?”

“Irina is here with me in my car. Amelia will be safe. They can go back to their country. They can go home.”

I stop talking, only now realizing the voice I’m hearing on the other end doesn’t belong to Tomas. It’s Nathan.

“Taylor, you have to listen to me. Tomas was attacked again tonight when he went out looking for you. We’re at the local medical center but they want to fly him to a hospital in Athens as soon as possible. You have to come as fast as you can. Bring the girl with you.”

He hangs up before I have a chance to ask anything.

My body disappears from me, floating up above the car. My heart seizes and chokes. I’m not real. This moment is a dark dream. Strange logic. A girl in the backseat. No one drives the car. This is the past or the future. None of this is really here in the moment.

The car keeps racing down the road even as our bodies go backward, getting further away instead of closer. We’ll never make it to the medical center like this. Darkness rushes in on us from all sides.

Chapter 24

T
he doctor shakes my hand before leaving to see one of his patients. Tomas is still unconscious, that’s all the doctor was able to tell me. They’re running a number of tests to determine the extent and severity of his head injury. I might be able to see him when they return him to his room.

The KAT Hospital in Athens specializes in acute trauma and injury which is why Tomas was brought here. I repeat it to myself in an effort to overcome my state of denial. The last twenty-four hours have all blended in a thick mass of uniformity and waiting.

I wish Nathan and Grace were here to talk to the doctor and ask the questions that need to be asked. I’m useless right now, wallowing in relentless pangs of guilt.

The least I could have done was leave a note or give Grace a plausible explanation for my absence. I should have told someone I was going out. But I didn’t. I couldn’t think straight and let my impulses guide me.

Grace returns to the waiting hall with coffee and bagels. My stomach’s a big knot with smaller knots tied all around it but I manage to produce a smile for her and take a sip from the coffee.

Grace sits next to me, giving me a small hug and kiss. “Any news?”

“Still unconscious,” I say. “Not much progress.”

“It’s only been a few hours,” she says. “And he did regain consciousness for a while.”

I nod even though neither of us knows what that could mean.

“I have some news,” Grace says.

“I hope it’s good,” I say, my words barely audible.

“Irina will be fine, her tests are back. No permanent damage.”

“That’s a relief. At least something good came out of this mess.”

“She has asked for you,” Grace says, hugging me again. “She will never forget you, Taylor.”

“I won’t forget her either,” I say, tears rolling down my cheeks.

“Finally,” Grace says. “You have to let it all out, honey. Don’t keep it bottled up.”

“What have I done, Gracie?” I cry into her shoulder.

“What have you done? The most courageous, badass shit ever. I don’t even know how. All I know is, you’re my new hero.”

“Really?” I say, with a smile through my tears. “What about Nathan?”

“
Pft
, he knows nothing next to you.”

“The man who saved you in about fifty different ways?” I remind her.

“I still choose you. He’s unfairly aided by muscles and testosterone”

“I just got lucky, Grace.”

“I have some info,” Nathan says, hugging me upon his return. “It seems De Luca has fled the island. Greek Police are swarming his villa. Authorities in NY have been notified. They’ll be waiting for him if he’s stupid enough to ever show his face.”

I nod, not sure if this is good or bad. I’m not sure about anything under the sun. Maybe this means De Luca won’t rest until he gets to us. Or maybe it means he’ll run off to some South American country and never come back.

Nathan studies me. “We need to talk, Taylor.”

Grace nods. “Go ahead,” she says. “I’ll stay in case they bring him back.”

Nathan takes me down the corridor and out to a balcony overlooking the metro station. People walk about the platform in the early morning, phones in hand. It’s the same scene you might see anywhere in the world.

“You’re not to repeat what I’m about to tell you,” Nathan says with a face that’s dead serious. “Do you understand?”

I nod, reluctantly. The last thing I need is more secrets. If he’s about to reveal something shady or illegal about Tomas’s past, I’d rather not know. But I can’t say no to him. Not now.

“Okay,” he says, taking a deep breath in. “I didn’t hear any of this from Tomas. In fact, he doesn’t even know I know.”

“What is it?” I say, getting more and more impatient and wary. I’m still trying to recover from last night’s mayhem.

“Tomas had a severe brain injury when he was nineteen. A bad car crash that came very close to claiming his life.”

“I had no idea,” I mutter as I’m hit with the shock. “But why is it a secret?”

Nathan locks his eyes on mine. “He lost his memory,” he says. “At least a good chunk of it. Retrograde amnesia it’s called if I remember well. You can look it up. He lost almost two years’ worth of memories just prior to the accident.”

“That’s terrible,” I say, feeling cold all of a sudden. No words seem to be adequate right now. What must it do to a human being to go through something so traumatic?

“It was,” Nathan agrees. “Especially because during those two years he forgot, he had fallen in love with a girl that meant the world to him. When he woke up from his surgery, he could not remember her. It was as if she had never existed.”

My knees get a little shaky and words are still nowhere to be found. My brain is suspended in a vacuum, empty and confused. “He was in love?” is all I manage to say. But I know the answer. Tomas told me himself in his own way.

Nathan nods. “His brother is the one who filled me in on the story, Taylor.”

“He has a brother,” I whisper. “He never even told me that.”

“Tomas doesn’t confide in people,” Nathan says. “He has never even confided in me. Sure, he has no problem sharing all the meaningless stuff, but the heavy shit never gets out. And this was too heavy even for him.”

“What was? The fact that he forgot a girl he had been in love with?”

“The fact that he watched her visit him at the hospital day after day with tears in her eyes and that he could not feel a thing for her. Again and again, he had to listen to her recounting how they met, how they kissed for the first time, how he had told her he loved her. How he was her first lover, how he had told her he wanted to spend his life with her. She showed him pictures of the two of them together, skiing, swimming, kissing, dreaming of a life together and he could not remember a thing. She cried so much it broke his heart. He did the only thing he could do: he sent her away.”

I try to imagine all that but it’s hard. “What are you saying, Nathan? That he hasn’t been able to love since because he’s afraid something like that might happen again?”

“I’m not trying to analyze him, Taylor. I’m just telling you what happened. Months after he told that girl she should move on, he started to get bits and pieces of his lost memories back until he recovered most parts of those two years he had forgotten.”

“He remembered her,” I say, the truth finally dawning on me.

“He did. And with that, all his feelings for her resurfaced more intense than ever.”

I lower my head, not sure how I want this story to end. “Did he tell her?”

Nathan considers my words for a second before he answers me. “He went to her and told her he remembered who she was and he remembered all the promises and all the plans they had—that he loved her still.”

“And?” I say with quivering lips.

“It was too late. She had already moved on with another guy like he had asked her to. She had listened to him and built a new life for herself that didn’t include him. Tomas was never the same after that.”

Tears sting my eyes as I finally get it. Tomas isn’t running away from feelings or ties. He’s running away from ghosts.

“I thought you should know,” Nathan says. “I should have probably told you on the phone the moment Grace said she suspected you were falling in love with Tomas.”

“She said that?” I say, smiling. “I can’t hide anything from her.”

“Why do you think I let her drag me all the way here? She said you needed her even if you didn’t know it.”

“I knew I did,” I say, hugging him. “You are both terrific friends and I love you so much.”

Nathan kisses my forehead. “He’s strong like a bull, he’ll be fine,” he says. “And you’ll have to take it from there.”

I have to believe he’s right because I have no idea how I’m going to live with myself if Tomas never wakes up; if I never get to tell him I love him. I could live with anything else. Even if he doesn’t love me back, even if the second head injury will lead to a new bout of amnesia and he forgets all about me. I just need to let him know.

Grace rushes through the door to find Nathan and me in an embrace.

“It took forever to find you,” she says, out of breath.

“What’s wrong?” I say, fearing for the worst.

“Nothing’s wrong. He’s awake.”

My heart leaps out of my chest but I’m still cautious. “Tomas is awake? What do you mean?”

“He’s conscious,” Grace says, “and responsive to what the doctors tell him to do.”

I just about shove her out of the way as I start running down corridors, totally oblivious to the fact that I’m running in a hospital. I reach the door of his room in the ICU and slow down just in time to step inside.

There’s his doctor writing something down on a pad he’s holding, a nurse inviting me in with her hand, and a strange, tall, good-looking man in a light colored suit by the window that eyes me curiously.

Tomas is propped up on the bed with two pillows, his eyes half open underneath the bruising. He gives me a smile as soon as he sees me but then he closes his eyes.

“What happened?” I ask the doctor, terrified.

“He’s tired and heavily drugged,” the doctor says, looking at the machine that’s monitoring Tomas’s vitals. “Everything looks normal.”

“Will he be okay?” I ask, scared to expect too much. My house of cards could come tumbling down at any moment.

“He will,” the doctor reassures me with a smile. “The scans are good and he responds to the medicines. You can’t stay too long. He needs rest.”

“Thank you so much,” I say, squeezing his hands. I’d kiss the doctor but even I can realize it’d be totally inappropriate.

“He will be happy his wife is here,” the nurse says as she goes.

I process her words trying to determine whether something’s lost in the translation or not.

“I told her that,” the strange man says. He’s American. I forgot all about him. “I hope you don’t mind.”

Staring at him like an idiot, I try to process what he just said.

“I thought it fair that you should have a part in whatever decisions might need to be made—more than me, frankly.” He extends his hand to me. “Jesse Keller.”

Could that be the brother? The resemblance is definitely there and it is what threw me off when I first saw him. His colors are darker but the shape of the eyes and nose, even the way he grins, are uncannily similar to Tomas.

“I’m sorry,” I say after a few seconds, “you must think I don’t know how to speak. Are you Tomas’s brother?”

He nods. “I haven’t seen him in years. I got on a plane as soon as Nathan called.”

Nathan. He thinks of everything. “You flew all the way from the States?” I say, dumbfounded. Even if he lives on the East Coast, it should have taken at least twelve hours to get here.

“No, I live in Paris,” he says. “I had no idea Tomas was in Europe again. We Keller boys like to travel.”

Tomas opens his eyes again, raising a hand to invite me over. I want to touch him all over but the only part of him I can see that’s not ravaged with injuries are his fingers.

I wrap my own fingers around his and lift them to my lips.

“Welcome back to the land of the gods,” I say.

“And goddesses,” he says, almost in a whisper. “Aphrodite.”

Jesse steps in next to me. “You finally found your match, eh, bro?” he says.

Tomas turns his gaze on him, unbelieving. “I thought I was in heaven,” he says. “What’s he doing here?”

“Good to see you, too,” Jesse says, taking his other hand.

I lean over Tomas, getting my mouth next to his ear. “Both Amelia and Irina are safe,” I say. “They will be going home soon.”

He can barely move the muscles on his face but he manages to produce an expression of total bewilderment. “How?” he says, gripping my hand.

“It’s a long story with a happy ending,” I say. “We have all the time in the world to go over it.”

Talking starts to get difficult for him. “I couldn’t say anything because Irina was in danger,” he says, as if apologizing. “I had to save her first. They would have killed her.”

“Stop talking, you big goof. I know all that. You did the right thing even though you should have trusted me.”

“You need to take it easy,” Jesse says. “From what I’ve been told, you tried to take on an entire mob organization on your own.”

“Rumors of my bravery are greatly exaggerated,” Tomas says, coughing.

I grab a cup of water with a straw and bring it to his lips. He sips some water and then lies back on the pillows.

“Tomas,” Jesse says, “the only reason you’re alive is because you still have the protection of some powerful people. But, man, it’s time to get out. Fucking walk away. You never belonged with that crowd.”

Tomas glances at me. “That’s my baby brother,” he says. “A year younger. He’s a genius.”

“If you won’t do it for you, do it for her,” Jesse goes on, ignoring all that Tomas is saying. He looks at me, “I’m sorry, I forget your name.”

Tomas laughs so loud, the bed shakes. “Not so much of a genius at times.”