Forget Me Not (Remember Me Series) (8 page)

Burying my face in my hands I contemplated going for another cup of coffee, the stuff was more like tar but at least it was something to do. Hospital was the worst place on earth to end up. I’d always hoped that when my time came it wouldn’t involve lying in a hospital bed.

The sound of shoes hitting the vinyl flooring drew my attention upwards. Will strode towards me, a look of distaste and something I couldn’t quite put my finger on, etched across his features. He stopped in front of me and I waited for him to speak. He was probably going to tell me that I had to leave, that I wasn’t welcome there… But I didn’t care what any of them thought. Thomas would want me there and if I got the opportunity then I was going in to see him. No one knew if he would make it and I wasn’t going to take any chances or miss any opportunities.

“No one is happy about you being here.” 

Will finally spoke, confirming my suspicions. I smiled up at him, but it wasn’t a friendly look.

“And I suppose you’re here to tell me to get lost? Sorry to disappoint you but I ain’t going anywhere.”

“No I’m not here to tell you anything of the sort.”

It wasn’t the answer I’d expected and he caught me off guard. But I wasn’t going to let him know that.

“Oh? Well if you don’t mind then, I’d rather not have the company.”

Will let out a frustrated sigh and scrubbed his hand across his jaw.

“Do you really have to be like this? Do you have to be an asshole?”

I shrugged and went back to staring at my shoes. I didn’t want to talk to him, he pissed me off. He was a goodie goodie and I couldn’t stand it. Perhaps a part of me was a little jealous. There was a time when I had been good… There was a time when I had believed in black and white, right and wrong. Now my life was nothing but one big grey blur and it all revolved around Bella.

“We need to talk, Aidan.”

Something in the tone of his voice made me look at him. It was the same something I had seen in his face as he walked down the hall. But I couldn’t read him, I had no idea what it meant and why it had to do with me.

“Do we?”

“I’d say so. I know you’re looking for Thomas’ half brother. Christopher St James.”

To say I was surprised would be an understatement. I could feel my mouth hanging open. I knew it was open, I knew I probably looked like some slack jawed idiot but I didn’t care. How the hell did he know I was looking for Christopher? What did he know? What had Thomas told him?

“What do you know?”

“I know where to find him. But you have to let me help.”

I shook my head.

“No way. You tell me and I deal with this bastard on my own. I’m not letting anyone else get involved.”

“You don’t have a choice. If you don’t let me in, then I’m not telling you anything… I know how much this means to you, and if I were you, I’d take my offer.”

I stood, squaring up against him. I jabbed my index finger in against his chest, enunciating each word.

“You don’t know anything, the simple fact that you are standing here trying to persuade me to let you help me, shows how little you truly know. If you knew anything at all you’d tell me what I need to know and let me get on with it.”

“I know he took your girlfriend. I know that’s why you’ve been helping Thomas. I have a stake in that company and I’m not willing to let Christopher run it into the ground from underneath me.”

My anger boiled over and I grabbed him by the front of his shirt, balling my hands into fists, I tugged him in closer to my body. Our faces practically touched as I gritted the words out between my teeth.

“I don’t care about your godforsaken company. I don’t care if it crashes and burns and you’re left with nothing. All I care about is the woman I love. All I care about is getting her back, holding her in my arms and hoping that he hasn’t done too much damage.”

Will’s face was perfectly calm as he pushed me away.

“You’re not the only one with someone you love in danger because of Christopher.”

“Stacey will be fine. He’s not going to bother with her, not now that Thomas is in hospital in a coma.”

“I’m not talking about my sister. I’m talking about the woman I came back for. She works for the company that Christopher has been stealing the money from.”

“So?”

Will sighed and sat down on the bench seats. He dropped his head into his hands and I watched as he seemed to take a few minutes to gather his thoughts. When he finally looked back up at me he looked older, more serious and far more capable of dealing with Christopher than he had earlier.

“She’s in charge of the accounts. Thomas set up a fake merger in an attempt to have her go over everything. She’s brilliant at what she does, and if anyone was going to find out where Christopher was leaking the money then Paige would.”

I dropped into the seat beside him. I could hear the admiration in his voice, but that wasn’t what drew all the anger from me. It was the glimmer of love for her that flickered in his eyes as he spoke about her. She meant something to him, she was important and he would do anything to keep her safe. It also meant that if I didn’t let him help he would be a giant pain in my ass… He may even become a liability if I didn’t let him get his hands dirty.

“Let me guess, she found something?”

I couldn’t keep the tiredness from my voice and I was tired. Tired of always playing second fiddle to these rich pricks who thought they knew better than me. Tired of always being held to ransom on something, and all because they were the ones with the money and the connections. I just wanted Bella back and there was always something standing in my way.

“No one has questioned her on it yet.”

“What? Why the hell not? Surely if you’re so worried about her you’d have gone to her the minute you found out?”

“No one has questioned her because I’ve only just found out about Thomas’ plans. I was looking for her and I’ve only just found out that Thomas had her working for him. He left a letter for me, explaining everything. An incase anything happened to him type of insurance. He knew involving her would drag me into it… Hell he knew I was looking for her and he kept her working for the company, a secret…”

“So what are you going to do?”

“I know she’s at the office late tonight, so I’m headed down there now to talk to her.”

I nodded, it made sense. Everything he had said to me so far made sense. I’d always known Thomas had a devious side to him. I’d always known he was capable of being nasty… The simple fact he had kept Christopher’s whereabouts from me was proof enough.

“So, do we have a deal?”

Will turned to me, an earnest expression on his face. How could I say no? He wanted to do the one thing I had failed to do. He wanted to keep the woman he loved safe, I couldn’t deny him the opportunity. And if I got the chance then I would use it all to my advantage. I would do whatever it took, no matter the cost.

“You have a deal.”

I reached out to him and we shook hands. As we shook I couldn’t help but wonder did he know that he had just made a deal with a monster? After all, only a monster could have let someone like Bella go.

CHAPTER EIGHT

Bella

I spotted the new girl the moment she entered the room. She had that terrified look that every new girl had. I didn’t make a sound as she burst in through the double doors, it was almost as though I’d been waiting for her all this time. There was something about her that told me she was important

I dismissed the thought the second it entered my head. I’d learned my lesson a long time ago, no one here was important. We were simply toys, existing at Christopher’s discretion. If he wanted us dead then we wouldn’t live very long.

I winced as the guards raced in after her, using brute force to drive her to her knees. I’d asked them in the past why they felt the need to be so aggressive. Why was it necessary to always use such force? The simple answer seemed to be that they needed someone to take their frustrations out on, the girls were an easy target. Christopher enjoyed pain far too much, it didn’t really matter to him who was suffering, male or female, just as long as they were screaming.

I’d learned to scream a long time ago, survival demanded it. At first I’d thought I was being weak, that I was showing him my vulnerability. But then I realised there was strength in knowing when to give in. I wanted to live, I wanted to survive and if that meant letting Christopher believe that he had gotten to me, that he had broken me, then I could do that.

I watched as she struggled and fought against the guards. I watched as Terrence tried to intimidate her. He was a nasty piece of work, almost as bad as Christopher. I had often wondered that if Terence hadn’t found a position with Christopher would he have struck out on his own.

The moment Christopher entered the room I felt his presence like a prickle of heat across the back of my neck. I hated having to be near to him. I hated what he had forced me to become. Training to be a nurse had been a means to an end, I had wanted to please my family but it didn’t change the fact that I liked helping people. Christopher had taken that and twisted it almost beyond recognition. Forcing me to watch as he tortured others was his way of punishing me. Punishing me for reminding him of someone he couldn’t have.

But what was worse, there were times when I watched him with some of the other girls and I felt lucky. Lucky that I wasn’t the victim strapped across the horse. And the guilt was almost too much. I didn’t want to feel that way. I didn’t want to watch them crying and pleading with him to stop, and feel happy that I wasn’t in their place. I’d always thought of myself as a good person, until I met Christopher. He had shown me what truly lay inside me. He’d shown me the cruel selfish bitch that existed within me and I hated him for it. I hated him for everything he had done to me and the others.

My feelings were beginning to build to a crescendo. How much more could I take? Survival was one thing, but survival at what cost?

Terence lay in a crumpled heap at Christopher’s feet and it took me a few seconds to register what had happened. I’d been so caught up in my own thoughts I hadn’t noticed him beating the other man to a bloody pulp.

“Bella, will take you to be prepared now. I want her ready for my private chambers. You have one hour.”

Christopher’s voice was the usual barking tone, but his features were flushed. Beating Terrence down had excited him. A cold curl of despair crept through my gut as I stared at the girl he had called Paige on the floor. He was worked up and he seemed to have a particular interest in her… What he had done to Terrence that was simply a starter, something to whet his appetite. But what he would do to her. Images danced through my head and I squeezed my eyes shut in an attempt to shake them. How much more could I simply stand by and watch? The feeling in my gut told me it wouldn’t be long before I did something stupid, before I did something that would get me killed. It didn’t frighten me, instead it left me feeling oddly calm.

I moved ahead of the guards and Paige, guiding the small group down the hall to one of the bathing chambers. Pushing open the doors, the smell of perfumes and soap tickled my nose. Steam curled in the air from the large sunken bath in the centre of the room. I turned in time to watch Paige cowering in the corner. I wouldn’t get her cleaned up with the guards standing and watching us. She was far too new to all of this and she wouldn’t understand.

I moved towards one of the guards and stood on tip toe. Michael dipped his head, allowing me to press my lips to his ear.

“Can you wait outside? She’s not going to cooperate with me, if you guys are watching and I’d rather not get punished because she’s not ready on time.”

I smiled up at him and he nodded, he gestured to the other guard and they both moved past me and out through the double doors. Michael had always been the kindest guard. He always did his job, just enough cruelty to scrape by Christopher. But if he had a choice he always chose to be gentle. Considering how vicious Christopher was I’d always admired that part of Michael, it was a risk but it was one he was willing to take.

Turning back to Paige I approached her slowly, my hands raised in front of me in an attempt to show her that I meant her no harm. The last thing I wanted to do was spook her. She was a fighter and I had no doubt that she would fight me if she thought it meant her freedom.

“I’m not here to hurt you… I’m a prisoner, like you… I’m Bella and you must be Paige.”

I crouched down beside her.

“I need to get out of here.” 

Paige’s voice was filled with fear and pain. One look at her arm explained at least where some of the pain was coming from. A long gash ran along the inside of her arm, from wrist to elbow. It had been stitched once but they had split during the struggle.

“I know you think you do, but women here only get out one way… When another man buys you… And that can either be a blessing or a curse.”

She shook her head at me and I watched the tears she was trying to force down cloud her eyes.

“He’s waiting for me… I belong to another… I don’t belong here…” She hiccuped through her tears and stifled the sound with her hand. “Chris took me because of his vendetta with Will… He wants me dead, he plans to kill me, I know he does… I have to get out of here, I have to get back to Will.”

I took her hand gently in mine and guided her over to the benches that lined the far wall. Pulling the suture kit I had hidden beneath the bench I began to tend to the wound on her arm. It wasn’t the first time I’d been forced to stitch up one of the girls and it was easier to keep the medical kit somewhere to hand. Asking Chris for anything was an ordeal, sometimes he allowed it, other times his cruelty got the better of him and he wanted the girls to suffer.

“Where did you learn to do that?” Paige asked, her curiosity about me getting the better of her.

I smiled at her as I answered. It was one of the only things I could smile about now.