Page 13 of Desolation
I can’t help the growl that slips out when I see her injuries as I’m reaching to touch her on the shoulder. She instantly wakes up thrashing as if she was having a bad dream. Grabbing a shampoo bottle she chucks it at me as she starts screaming.
Holding my hands out and turning around quickly I say, “El, it’s just me. You fell asleep and I was going to wake you. I swear I wasn’t creeping on you.”
She stops screaming.
“Listen, I’m sorry I scared you. When I walked in and saw your bruises it pissed me off all over again,” I say. Trying to be calm. Walking over I grab the robe and hold it out behind me. “Were you able to wash up before you fell asleep?”
“I haven’t washed my hair yet, but it will be fine. I’m not supposed to get my face wet anyway so it can wait another day. I’m sorry I freaked out, but waking up in a bathtub with someone reaching out a hand while you are naked isn’t conducive to happy waking,” she says angrily.
She yanks the robe out of my hands, and I hear rustling as she puts it on. Once I hear her moving around gathering her things I turn around. “Here let me get that for you, El. There are some comfy clothes out in the room for you now. I ordered some stuff for you. I’m pretty sure I got the right sizes. Everything is on the bed. I’m going to go talk to my dad and see if Reba has returned and bring you something to eat,” I say, gathering her old clothes and putting them in the laundry hamper. I’m not sure if she is going to still want them, but I’m not going to take the choice away from her by throwing them away.
“Wait, how do you even know my sizes? You know what, never mind, I temporarily forgot about the eight years of stalking for a minute,” she says rolling her eyes.
Okay, well I had that coming I guess. But she’s not wrong. Itishow I know her sizes. It’s also why this room looks the way it does. I designed it for her. Thankfully my dad just acted like it was a guest bedroom last night. What she doesn’t know is that inside her closet is a connecting door to my suite right next door. But I don’t think right now is a good time to tell her that.
Leaving her behind in the bathroom, I head out and down to my dad who is in his office downstairs.
Knocking on the door, I wait till he calls me in there before stepping inside and closing the door quietly behind me. Dad is on the phone and it sounds like he is talking to Evan, our current lawyer and my boss.
“Yes, I understand. Just bring the documents over as soon as you get them done. Okay, thank you, Evan. Goodbye.” Hanging up the phone, he looks over at me and sighs. “Evan is working on an order of protection for Elodie to sign if she wants to. He is also bringing his assistant, Gwen, with him so she can get pictures of Elodie’s injuries. That will at least take care of the immediate problem. I want her to do everything above board first and then we can go from there later. But I want her to have a paper trail for her own protection.”
“Thanks Dad. I’m not sure what she’s decided to do yet but hopefully that will be the avenue she wants to take. I scared her. She fell asleep in the tub and I had to go wake her. You’re going to want to tell Evan to have Gwen get pictures of her whole body,”I say. I’m glad Evan is bringing Gwen. She’s very soft spoken and sweet and I think her and Elodie could actually be friends.
She could definitely use one of those in her life. I’ve never seen someone with so few people in her life she could trust.
Hands fisted at my sides I start pacing angrily.
“Drake, you’ll have to get yourself under control. We have to be very careful. The fact that Dominic himself is the one selling the drugs to her parents makes me think something is very wrong here,” my dad says between gritted teeth.
Dropping down into the chair, I let out a breath.
“I’ve got Marco looking into it but we need to keep her hidden for now because it can’t be anything good. In fact, I think I may already know the answer, I just need Marco to confirm,” he says grimly.
Getting a sick feeling in my stomach, I look at my dad in alarm. “You don’t think….?”
He nods. “I think it’s very possible. Why else would he be the one dealing directly with them? Nothing else makes sense.”
Now it’s inevitable. I will kill her parents myself. They sold their own daughter to the mafia for drugs.
CHAPTER 10
ELODIE
The last twenty-four hours have been one of the shittiest days I have ever had. But I find myself feeling strangely comforted by the fact that Drake has always been silently looking out for me all these years. Is it a little insane? Yes. But at the same time, I’ve never had anyone in my life who cared about me like that.
Heading into the bedroom, I see so many boxes of stuff. Holy shit, when he said he got me a few things I thought he meant just a few things. This looks like a whole new wardrobe.And a lot of other stuff too. This must’ve cost a fortune. There’s no way I’ll ever be able to pay him back for all of this.
Resolving myself to only use a few things, I find a pair of leggings and a soft sweatshirt. Pulling on some underwear, I forgo a bra. There’s just no way I’m wearing one right now with my body feeling like this. Besides, it’s not like I’m going anywhere anyway.
Looking for a pair of socks, I see the teddy bear slippers and giggle to myself. His feelings will probably be hurt if I don’t wear them at least, so I grab them too. Once I’m dressed, I look around trying to figure out where to put the boxes when there’s a soft knock at the door.
“El,” Drake says, “are you dressed? Can I come in?”
Walking over I open the door. “Hey. Thanks for all the stuff.”
Shutting the door behind him, he walks over and looks me up and down. I still see the shock from how I look, but is there also something else there? Desire maybe? How can he feel that way when I look like this?
My body gets warm and I feel my nipples tighten. Shit, maybe I should’ve worn a bra.