Just Tell Me (The Justice Series) (10 page)

As she tried to sit up in bed
her chest still burned in pain and she adjusted her eyes in the half light, Daniel was asleep on the chair next to her.  Daniel!  She stared at him, he was so beautiful, she could see his stubble on his tanned face and his short dark hair was ruffled.  Slumped in the hospital chair, his head was resting on a pillow and she lay and watched him. She could spend a lifetime watching his face but why was he here?  How did he know where to find her?  Did he know about the baby? A hundred questions flew through her head.  As though he could sense her watching him he opened his eyes and she smiled despite her pain.

“Hi” sh
e whispered as their eyes met. She felt shy again under his gaze and he just smiled at her, his face was full of concern.

“How are you feeling?”
She couldn’t answer his question as the tears fell involuntarily again.  How was she feeling?  Like she had been run over by a truck and a combination of emotions, her head was a mess. She shuffled over the other side of the bed; each movement caused her ribs to contract in pain and he climbed in next to her and held her close. She laid her head on his chest and ran her hand over his stomach, even through her blocked nose she could smell his familiar scent and he kissed her forehead tenderly as he stroked her hair.  She needed him so much, she had to tell him what had happened but he spoke before she could articulate the words.

“I’m so sorry
, I feel responsible for what happened but I had to come and find you Nicole” he whispered “I couldn’t spend another day away from you, I needed answers, I needed to see you”.  He looked down at her, his eyes searched hers.

“I
t’s not your fault, I can’t believe you came all the way down here for me but I’m so glad you are here” She held him close and felt safe, complete. Her body was sore but she forgot the pain and they lay together he told her the events from the day before and filled her in on Andrews situation. After Daniel had been questioned by the police and they let him go, he returned to the flat and waited for Andrew to return.  When he finally appeared Daniel was ready and had called the police, after he had been suitably restrained, more suitable than was probably necessary. She smiled at his description and hoped it had hurt him. 

The morning light filtered through the windows and the sound of the nurses getting ready to do their rounds became louder through the curtains as the day awoke.  Nicole wanted this moment to last forever; the feeling of love
between them was unspeakable, no more words were needed. She felt safe in his arms and never wanted to let go of him again as he held her tenderly.  The nurse threw the curtains open and stared at them on the bed.

“Mr
MacIntyre! We only let you stay if you promised to stay out of that bed” Daniel groaned like a petulant teenager and reluctantly climbed out, he smiled at the nurse and she shook her head at him. She couldn’t be angry at Daniel MacIntyre, it was the highlight of the night having him on their shift and the ward was full of gossip about his mystery woman. She reached over for Nicole’s chart and checked her vital signs.

“W
ell it seems like you are ok Nicole, just bruised and that rib is going to take a while to heal, you were lucky it didn’t puncture a lung, sounds like you had a lucky rescue” She paused and looked at Daniel, her face was serious for a moment as she looked at him “You will have to give her some space” he nodded and the nurse glanced back at Nicole “The police want to interview you later, and the doctor will want to see you and then I think you should be discharged”. She left them alone as Nicole registered the words, waiting for her to mention the pregnancy but unaware that it was kept strictly confidential in situations like hers.

“Daniel
MacIntyre?  Oh God. That name, Libby was talking about this the other night” she looked at him as it fell into place “Not as in THE Daniel MacIntyre? Millionaire playboy? Britain’s Most Eligible Bachelor?” she remembered Libby’s description as she repeated her friend’s words and desperately wanted him to laugh and deny it.  Her head cleared and she had questions,
what the hell was he doing here?

Daniel shrugged his shoulders “A
nd knight in shining armour?  Can you add that to my list of attributes?”  His face was shadowed with stubble and his blue eyes shone as he looked at her, his hand ran over his hair subconsciously as he sat back down on the chair.  “Don’t believe everything you read in the papers Nicole, I’m still that guy you met on a train” He felt disappointed that his identity had been blown like that but it was out now.  “And you are Nicole Emily Shaw, aged 28, birthday 26
th
August so that makes you a Virgo and it’s your birthday next week, any plans?”

“You read my chart. Stop changi
ng the subject Daniel, oh God. Why are you here with me? This is freaking me out!”

“Why did you agree to marry Andrew in the hotel?”

“You’re evading my questions, stop it!  I didn’t agree to anything.  I ended it, it was over months ago anyway”

“And you don’t share a bed with him, yes I sa
w that when I went to your flat I saw your room, the red dressing gown on the bed” he smiled “I brought you some clean clothes by the way” he pulled out a bag and she recognised some of her wardrobe, her handbag and phone were on the floor. “Good CD collection too” He smiled at her again and she couldn’t be mad with him. 

“
Oh God what was I thinking?  I was so stupid Daniel, I shouldn’t have stayed with him that night in the hotel”  The way he looked at her stopped her momentarily as his face clouded “I meant in the bar, he didn’t stay in my hotel room”. 

“I wanted to kill him Nicole, the thought of him touching you” he shook his head “I’ve never felt such anger in my life, I’ve never even been in a fight until today” he took her hand. “
Thank God I came down, I feel responsible sending that text, I’m sorry, I can make it all go away.  I want you to promise me one thing right now?” she looked at their hands, entwined. The connection they shared was strong, she could sense his meaning.

“You know I can’t” she knew he was going to tell her not to see Andrew again, but how could she? “You mean Andrew, the flat?
How can I?” 

He pulled out a piece of paper from his jacket pocket and
she looked at it incredulously. “I can’t take this” she looked at the cheque he had written “It’s too much Daniel, you hardly know me”. 

He kissed her hand.  “Please just take it, whatever happens between us I just want to know you are safe, I feel so….” 

The nurse reappeared, interrupting him “I’m sorry but Nicole, the police are here” there was a uniformed officer and a woman in a suit stood behind her.  Daniel reluctantly stood up, his eyes didn’t leave Nicole’s, he didn’t want to leave her, and they had so much to talk about. She watched him take his jacket and walk away from the hospital bed as the police took her statement. 

An hour later, Nicole lay back in
the bed and closed her eyes, the statement had been submitted. Daniel was in her life again, but not the person she thought he was.  Could she live up to being the girlfriend of someone like him? Why did he want her so much when he could have any woman? She stepped out of bed and winced at the pain. It was only when she looked at herself in the hospital toilet that she realised what a mess Andrew had made of her face, swollen and covered in spatters of dried blood. And yet Daniel had still looked at her like she was the most beautiful woman in the world, her heart soared and she yearned to see him again. She had so much to tell him, but now she saw him differently, the millionaire playboy. She smiled bitterly and thought of her friend’s reaction when she told them. Could she really keep his interest?  What was he going to say to her before he left? That he felt sorry for her probably, she was a project to Daniel. Someone to fix. That was all. Her mind flew through a hundred scenarios, none of them positive.

S
he pulled out the clothes he had packed for her and gingerly got dressed.  Her parents,
oh shit
she needed to tell them and shame washed through her body as she thought of what she would say. Would they want her to live with them again after all these years? She didn’t know what the future held for her and Daniel, nothing probably but she needed her independence, so much to sort out. She texted her mum to tell her she was at the hospital and could she come? The response was instant.

Nicole
googled Daniel MacIntyre on her Blackberry and time passed as she read about him, as the images loaded up on the small screen and she was appalled by what she saw. It would appear he was a regular in the gossip magazines for one reason; the page was full of photos of him with gorgeous women. 
My God who’s that?
  She clicked on a photo and saw Daniel with his arms round a Hollywood A lister, she turned away from her phone for a moment and stared at the blue curtain, she was still confused. The Daniel she had spent time with was completely different from the man she saw in the photographs; she searched on Google for articles on Daniel MacIntyre and couldn’t believe he even had his own page on Wikipedia. Nicole read more about him, more factual this time, about his property and hospitality empire and his family estate. 

She looked at his professional photo on the webpage, it must have been taken a while before they met.  He looked a little youn
ger and his hair was shorter, his face was sincere and serious but she just stared at his beautiful face, his intense blue eyes and his slightly pointed nose. As she continued reading, the doctor peered round the curtain.

“Miss Shaw” She put her phone down and the doctor introduced himself.  “You have been lucky, I understand you are pressing charges against your attacker?” she nodded, the tears threatened an
d he looked through her notes “We ran your bloods before we medicated you, and we will need to see you in another couple of weeks, how many weeks pregnant are you?” Nicole stared at him, the baby.

“Will I be OK, I mean what about the baby?” she felt the tears roll down her cheeks, it felt like a lifetime ago when she had fled from that clinic, yet it was only yesterday
morning. She had been so close to going through with it, but when the nurse scanned her stomach she knew, there was no way she could lose this life and all previous reasoning had left her.

The doctor
looked at her, his kindly face sympathetic “With any pregnancy we cant say what will happen Miss Shaw, you need to rest for the next few days, if you have any bleeding you must come back” she nodded her head as he continued “And one word of advice.  Whoever attacked you, stay away from them.” 

Nicole sat on
the bed alone, the cheque from Daniel was crumpled and she just stared at it for what seemed a lifetime.  Her mind was reeling, the universe had just tilted as she thought how close she had been from making the wrong choices. Her head was in pieces, she couldn’t think about anything right now. She had already made her decision about keeping this baby but Daniel MacIntyre? How could she tell him now she was pregnant? Her head pounded with confusion and she felt exhausted, she couldn’t face telling him, ever. She vaguely heard her parents as they rushed through the ward to find their daughter and the shock in their faces when they saw her face brought her back to her senses. 

Her decisions were made.
She knew she had to get away from this hospital and she discharged herself, her heart shattered into a thousand pieces as she watched the world pass her by in the back of her dad’s car. The Manchester sky was dark with thunderous rain, matching her feelings. The right thing to do, for everyone, she told herself over and over again. It was finished, a fresh start. Alone.

Cha
pter 8

September

Daniel woke up with a start.
Where the hell I am?
  His head was pounding and his mouth was dry.  His eyes adjusted to his surroundings, he was in a hotel room, not one of his by the look of the cheap decor.  He rolled over to the sleeping body next to him, a mass of blonde hair spread over the pillow and the night before hit him.  He was back in London, had met up with some old college friends and headed to a private members club.  There were women, lots of women he remembered the blonde girl hitting on him early in the night.  He found his clothes and got dressed in the half light, quietly closing the hotel room behind him so as to not wake the girl.   Memories of the previous night started to filter back to him as he made his way to the lift.  He remembered drinking shots and, oh God he even had some cocaine on the polished marble sinks in the private club toilets.  The drug gave him a lift and the party carried on into the early hours, champagne was flowing and the blonde girl was following him around like a lost puppy. 

He
inwardly cringed as he remembered the half hearted attempt at sex in her hotel room.  It wasn’t even sex, he didn’t even get an erection then he must have passed out.  He fleetingly wondered if he was going to have to add erectile dysfunction to his list of non-attributes but pushed the thought away.  He put this down to the cocktail of drink and drugs and he left the hotel and found a taxi back to his apartment in the city.

The city apartment was on the second floor of a converted warehouse near
Soho and he loved it, he let himself in the ground floor hallway and made his way up the two sets of iron staircases to his front door.  The apartment was large and airy, its walls were exposed brick and a spiral staircase led to the master bedroom, a little terrace led off the bedroom.  A small outdoor space overlooking the back of restaurants, but a gem in the overcrowded city. 

It had been
designed as a duplex open plan layout; you could watch someone cook breakfast while laid in bed. Daniel only knew this as he could see the kitchen from his bed, he had never had a woman back here, or anyone to cook him breakfast.  Just a few of his close friends had been and his parents, on their rare occasion to the capital.  His mother didn’t care for the exposed brick work and industrial feel, it made her feel grubby she said and quickly returned to their suite at the Ritz.  Daniel stripped his clothes off and went upstairs to the bathroom, ran a hot bath and poured some Molton Brown bath oil into the running water.  He put his iPod on the chill out playlist and pressed play, gently lowered himself into the just too hot cast iron bath and let the sounds of Coldplay sing a lullaby in the background. 

His eyes closed as he tried to clean away the less than perfect memories from the night before, he really needed to get his act together.  He had let things slip, he thought guilty to himself.  He was nearly 33
, he couldn’t sustain this playboy lifestyle forever, he didn’t want to be one of those 40 something guys who had suffered too many late nights and whose looks had faded.  He looked down at his stomach.  His abs were still there thanks to many nights working out at the gym and years of country life, although he couldn’t remember when he last worked out or spent time on the farms.  A little belly was developing and he grabbed it and it wobbled in his hands, his arms were still lean and muscular, but how long before he just became chubby and flabby when it all came catching up with him?  He hated the downer that came from cocaine, part of this paranoia was from the chemicals leaving his body, but he also thought there was some truth in his inner voice.  He would clean up his act, he decided, he would make an effort to find someone who he could see a future with and stop sleeping with any attractive woman that came his way. 

I need to find another Nicole
. His voice in his head whispered and suggested this to him maliciously, and he plunged even further into self pity.  He wished he could feel how he had that night again, out for dinner with such a beautiful woman, who captivated his mind as much as his body. Waking up with her. Holding her. She didn’t know who he was and how much money he had, and the way he felt when he fell asleep with her that night.  How he felt when she walked towards him in the red dressing gown and his heart ached, the way she had looked at him, he didn’t think anyone would ever ignite that feeling in him again and he hoped she was safe.  The money had cleared into Andrew’s bank account after he had received scanned confirmation that her name was removed from the deeds and the mortgage.  Even though she had told him she didn’t want to see him again he had to free her, he loved her unconditionally. 

Daniel decided his iPod was ganging up on him as Coldplay changed to Depeche Mode.
He scowled at it and seriously decided to think about changing the device, convinced not for the first time it was an entity inside the machine, mocking him with its seemingly sadistic shuffle choice.  It was just out of reach to turn it off as the words sang out, echoing into the vast expanse of empty apartment.  Daniel closed his eyes and let his arms rest over the sides of the tub as the music mocked him even further, he had seen her at her best and her worst, and he never even took her home.

His soul had been healed with Nicole and the
tears rolled down his cheeks, just for that time he didn’t feel lost anymore and he missed her so much it hurt.  He yearned to contact her, to ask her why she had run away like that but the note she had left him when he had returned to the hospital explained as much as he could understand.  Her words still burnt him, he couldn’t understand why and he kept the note she had left him in the hospital. 

Daniel. 

I’m sorry this will never work out, we come from different worlds.  Thank you for saving my life in more than one way.  I can’t accept your money.
 
You will be in my heart forever.  Take care and promise not to try and contact me.

Nicole.
 
 

Daniel
woke the next day feeling refreshed and spent the rest of the weekend in his apartment. He read the Sunday papers, drank some coffee and later in the day he wandered out onto the streets of Soho. The air was thick with the smell of Chinese cooking and smoke drifting from the gangs of people standing outside bars. He wanted to cook in his apartment and he returned with a big bag of produce from the Chinese supermarket.  He opened the windows and chose his own music, not in the mood for more mocking, a mix of classic songs from the late 90s. 

He danced around his kitchen as he cooked a
stir fry of chicken and ginger and for the first time in ages he felt better, he would make that change to his life, his resolve was strong he didn’t even want a drink, he wanted a drastic change. Later that night, sitting at his old table in his city apartment he checked his emails. He read one that would give him a chance to change his life and maybe send a message to Nicole at the same time, he smiled childishly. His pride bristled and he didn’t want to just let her go like this. He wanted to show her he wasn’t who she thought he was and he couldn’t just forget he had never met her.