Page 19 of Blood Lost

I opted to check my emails first to see if there had been any requests from my clients. I only had a few big projects going on, and one was nearly finished. Watson had requested changes at every turn, so I held off on finishing the piece. I couldn’t blame him. The crib was a gift for his daughter, who made him a grandpa for the first time. Nerves were to be expected. But if he completely changed the theme again, I’d charge him double. Twice was enough for starting over. As expected, there was an email from Watson. Could you change the inlay on the crib? My daughter would love cherry instead of the walnut we’d agreed upon before. What an ass! I had special ordered the walnut.

I adjusted the design after sending my reply back with the additional cost and time. The crib was intricately carved with woodland creatures along the bars and a fairy tale scene in the head and footboards. At least he hadn’t wanted to change that again. I got lost in my design for a while and didn’t notice that Delilah was stirring. I added some finishing touches in the preview image to send to Watson when her hand found me. I jumped at her fingers on my stomach.

“You okay?” She asked with a giggle.

“I was working. You caught me off guard.” I admitted freely that I’d been lost in my work. For me, creating with wood was more than work. It was my passion. And I was damn good at it. “I heard you got a call last night.”

She smiled and nodded. “Eli called for you, but you were sleeping. I didn’t think you’d care if I answered.”

“I have nothing to hide. If I did, you wouldn’t have the unlock code to my phone.” I paused for a moment, unsure if I should tell her about Eli mentioning her phone. “The guys will be here in a while. They needed sleep. He’s supposed to let me know when they leave.”

“Good. That gives me time to shower and get ready. I’m going to make you all take me shopping today. I need clothes. I should have grabbed some from Eli’s. Did you know there was an entire closet full of my stuff at his place?” Delilah’s joy was apparent. I wondered if she regretted agreeing to come home with me last night. I was too scared to ask, though.

“Maybe he’ll bring you some things. If not, we can always go there and get what you want. Or I’ll buy you what you need for here, and you can keep that stuff there. It’s up to you. I got the impression that they agree with me—we just want you to be happy.”

“I am happy. I can’t say that I’ll be happier when I remember who I was. The girl I used to be seems to have been through a lot. I honestly am not sure I want to remember those things. I want to go from here and move forward. If I could see the memories and not get caught up in them, that would be okay. It just feels like I can’t breathe when one of them takes hold.” A single tear fell down her cheek. I wiped it away with my thumb and pressed my lips to hers.

“It’s okay. We need to figure out a way for you to let us know that it’s happening so we can pull you back from it. The whole thing is going to take time. We all have to be patient and work together.” I couldn’t believe I was saying that. It was as if we really were a family. Somehow, I felt connected to these guys almost as much as I did to Delilah. I hoped it wasn’t a mistake.

“I wish I knew how to explain my feelings. There’s this connection to all of you, but with the other two, it’s different. There’s history, and I don’t remember most of it. I’m at a disadvantage with them. But with you, I feel safe. When I was with them, I randomly had those memory flashes. I haven’t had one since we left. The things I remember aren’t all good, either. Those two have done some nasty things to me and for me.” Delilah shivered. I placed my tablet on the nightstand and pulled her into my arms.

“I’m here for you. If you want to tell me about it, I’ll listen. If you want me to hate those other guys, I will. Whatever you want. You tell me, and I’ll do it.” I held her close as if my arms could convince her that my words were true.

“I don’t want to feel so confused. I hate that one minute, I want them, and the next, I want to punch them.” The battle inside of her showed on her face. I wanted to kiss away her worries. There was no way to do that, though. She had to decide what she wanted, and I had to make sure she got it.

“Let’s go get ready for that shopping trip. I have a feeling a little retail therapy is just what the doctor ordered.” I kissed her gently and climbed from the bed, holding a hand out for her to join me. She took my hand and followed me to the shower. It would have been easy to make love to her again, but we had company coming, and there would be time for that later. Once we were showered, I found Delilah one of my shirts and a pair of leggings Steph had left for her. Since she felt safe with me, I figured it might help ease her anxiety. We got dressed and enjoyed a blood bag in the kitchen while waiting for the guys to arrive.

Chapter 23

Delilah

I wasn’t sure if it was the stress of everything going on or the workout I’d had the day before, but I was famished. Declan had to stop me at my third blood bag, or I would have insisted on a fourth. “I’m sorry, it just tastes so good.” I hated feeling like I disappointed him. From what Dec had told me earlier, I knew I had to be careful with the blood. If I let myself have too much at once, I could spaz out and kill someone. I didn’t want that. I needed to remain in control. I took a minute to breathe while he disposed of the bags. The scent of his shirt helped calm me. Maybe I shouldn’t go shopping. I could just get pants and make sure I had to wear the guys’ shirts all the time.

I knew it wasn’t a great idea. Vik would want to go to another fancy dinner, or Dec would want to go to the club again, or Eli would have something that would mean I needed my own clothes. Part of me just wanted to run away with the three of them and not deal with anything ever again. Given that they had their corporations to run, I knew it was just a fantasy. I wondered what Mom would think if she could see me now. She’d always been so convinced that I’d never really amount to anything because I was so attached to the bar. She might have been right, except that now I had three fabulous, rich, intelligent men who wanted me. Not only that, but they wanted me enough to share me. I realized that her opinion of me was something I didn’t remember before.

“Dec! I just had a memory, and I didn’t zone out,” I exclaimed excitedly.

Declan scooped me up in his arms and twirled me around the kitchen. “That’s amazing! I knew you could do it.” He set me on my feet and pressed his lips to mine gently. I wrapped my arms around his neck and deepened the kiss. I wanted to drag him back to the bedroom, but I heard the door and knew Eli and Vik were here.

I pulled away from him and ran for the door. “Wait! You don’t know who it is,” he called after me. I heard his footsteps chasing after me toward the door.

“It’s the rest of my guys. I know it,” I said over my shoulder as I threw the door open. Eli had just raised his hand to knock. “Get in here. I missed you guys.” I dragged Eli in first, grabbed Vik’s arm, and pulled him inside the condo. I kissed Vik, then Eli, before turning back to Declan with a smirk. “See, I knew who it was.”

“Come in; make yourselves comfortable. Delilah wants to go shopping today. I figured we had some things to talk about first.” Dec gestured toward the living room. I watched as my three guys walked to the couch with purpose. Maybe we could postpone shopping and stay in for a while. I couldn’t help but imagine being with all of them at once. What would that even be like? I must have been lost in my thoughts because Vik waved his hand in front of my face to get my attention.

“Myshka? Would you like to open your gift now?” He asked as I finally returned to the present moment and sat next to him on the couch.

“You got me a gift? Why?” I asked, then realized that I sounded pretty rude. “Of course, I’ll open it now. Thank you!” I took the bag he handed me and carefully pulled out a box. I stared at it, trying to make sense of what had just happened. The package I held had a brand-new phone in it. I tore into the box and pulled out the fully set up phone. It was top of the line and appeared to have everything from my previous life already loaded onto it. I scrolled through the contacts. Uncle Vinny was missing, but Declan was already listed. I didn’t recognize most of the names besides my guys, but it felt good to connect to the past. “Thank you. This was so thoughtful. How did you get everything transferred? Did you have my old phone?”

Eli grinned sheepishly. “I guess you don’t remember everything. Your phone was lost—destroyed actually—when you were kidnapped. I’m pretty good with technology, though, and was able to get your data back for you.” He ran a hand through his hair, and a memory hit me again. In it, Eli was missing the hand that had just combed through his blond waves.

I must have looked confused because suddenly, I had three hunks staring at me like I was going to explode. “Are you okay, mo chroí?” Declan asked quietly. I nodded, then turned to Eli.

“Can I ask you guys about some of these memory flashes? Is that okay? I don’t know what’s imagination and what’s real right now.” Vik put an arm around me as I spoke, and Declan took a seat on the floor next to my feet. Eli sat down on the other side of me.

“You can ask us anything, at any time, no matter how ridiculous you think the question is. Nothing is out of bounds, love.” Eli assured me, placing the hand in question on my knee. It was definitely real, so the memory had to be wrong.

“I keep seeing things. Weird things.” I paused, feeling stupid.