Three and a Half Weeks (28 page)

Stroking her hair, he tells her to calm down, that she’s all right but the weeping is as unstoppable as a storm-swollen river, so he just holds her until she’s spent. “Better?” he asks when she begins to quiet.

“Yes, so much better. Ian… I’m not even sure what happened to me.”

His brows arch in surprise. “What do you mean, Ella?”

“It was horrible but… when I woke up, when Daniel woke me up… I was dressed and in a different room. I’m not sure what was dream and what was reality. I’m so confused.”

“In all likelihood, you were drugged, Ella.”

She nods, tightening her embrace.

“Can you tell me what you remember?”

“I went to Lucien’s loft for the editing conference. Lucien was there… and there were two other men, Michael and Nico. We discussed the film for about an hour, looked at some footage and…”

“Did you eat or drink anything, Ella?”

“Um, yes. I had orange juice… and I think… yes, I had a cookie, too.”

“Okay,” he prods gently, “what next?”

She shakes her head, eyebrows furrowing in confusion. “I don’t know. I thought I was in a black room and I was strapped down to a bed in my underwear and…” she looks up, sheepishly. “I don’t know if this actually happened or not.”

Ian knows his expression must be one of utter disbelief but he can’t help it. Was Ella remembering what actually happened, or was it a dream or hallucination triggered by a drug? He couldn’t be sure right now either.

He clears his throat. “Ella. Did you check out of your hotel?”

“Yes.”

“You did?”

“Yes,” she whispered softly, “I missed you so much, so I decided to fly home right after the editing conference. I booked an early evening flight to Portland.”

“What did you do with your luggage?”

She furrows her brow. “I thought I left it in the lobby of the hotel… with their permission… but Lucien told me it was in a storage locker…”

“I see. Okay. Tell me what you remember, regardless of whether or not you’re sure if it really happened. Just tell me quickly so we can move on from there.”

So it all comes out in a torrent; she tells him everything, trying to avoid seeing the muscles in his face pull taut with every sordid detail. “But when Daniel woke me up, I was fully dressed and in a different room. I asked Daniel about the black room but he looked confused.”

“Okay. I’m going to go have a talk with Monsieur Phillips and get to the bottom of this fiasco. In the mean—”

“Please don’t, Ian. If it did happen then he’s crazy... and if it didn’t, then maybe I am. Either way, I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“You’re not crazy, Ella. He did something to you, even if it was simply slipping you some drugs. You didn’t just fall into Alice’s
rabbit hole.”

“Don’t leave me,” she clutches at him. “Ian, there’s something I have to tell you. I promised myself if I ever saw you again, I’d say it.”

“I have something to tell you, too. Ella. But I need to go talk to Daniel first. He’s been up all night because of us and I don’t want to keep him waiting any longer. Can our conversation hold for just five more minutes, baby?”

“Yes, of course. Five more minutes,” she repeats like a mantra and then kisses him sweetly. Ian nearly begins to weep—with relief, with passion for her, with
love. He loves Ella so fucking much.

Entering the large state-of-the-art kitchen, Ian finds Daniel sitting at the table, two steaming espressos waiting. “Espresso?”

Daniel laughs. “I figured neither of us is going to sleep anytime soon so what the hell. I have to go into the office in a couple of hours.”

“I’m sorry about this huge imposition. If you would bring me up to speed on Phillips, I’ll take Ella and get out of your hair. I’m not in the habit of asking so much of people I’ve just met.”

“Ah, but you do of people you know a while? I’ll bear that in mind before I get to know you any better, Ian.”

Ian manages to muster a chuckle. “So what happened when you got back to his apartment?”

Daniel sips his espresso and then shakes his head. “Not much. The man denied any wrongdoing. Said Ella started feeling ill so he put her in his guestroom to rest. What we found didn’t contradict anything he said.”

“Ella’s story was wildly at odds with that innocent account,” Ian says, raking his hands through his hair. “But she admits she’s not sure if what she remembers is real or dream. It could be that she was drugged and hallucinated as a result. But why would he drug her and then do nothing?”

“Didn’t you say he checked her out of her hotel?”

Ian shakes his head. “Turns out she herself did it. But, honestly, I’ve always felt this guy was a sleaze; there was something about him… Didn’t you say you felt he was dangerous?”

Daniel nods tiredly. “Yes. I definitely sensed something amiss there… but honestly it could be danger in the predatory-male sense, and not anything too much worse, Ian. I haven’t been around him enough to get a clear bead on the guy.”

“So what became of Monsieur Phillips?”

“After we interrogated him… and trust me, we ensured that it was not a pleasant experience for him… we released him and left him alone in his apartment. I could have kept him there but I rightly assumed you’d want to attend to Ella and I had to pull my guys out of there or send in reinforcements. We could easily catch up with him again if you require it.”

“No, I’ll take it from here. Right now I’ll take Ella and check into a hotel to sleep for a while. When my pilot is ready to leave, we’ll head back to Portland and the mess I left there.”

“Forget the hotel. Stay here. Olivia was going to skip her classes to stay with Ella in the morning but since you’re here, she’ll go to school. I’m leaving soon, too. You’ll have the house to yourselves for most of the day. It’s ridiculous for you to get Ella up only to go to a hotel. Seriously.”

“I am exhausted. Okay, thank you, Daniel. I regret you have to go to work without getting any sleep.”

“No problem. I have an early-morning meeting I can’t miss and then I’ll sack out for a few hours in my office. There’s a very comfortable couch in there.”

Ian rises to his feet. “I’ll leave you to start your day, in that case. I’m crashing from the adrenaline surge of the past few hours so I’ll accept your gracious offer and get some sleep. If anything more comes out of this situation, I’ll be sure to let you know. Thank you and in the event that I don’t have the pleasure of meeting your fiancée, please tell her of our gratitude, both mine and Ella’s.”

Daniel nods. “I certainly will. Pleasant dreams.”

By the time he returns to Ella, she’s in a deep sleep once again and Ian doesn’t have the heart to wake her. They could have their talk in the morning… or afternoon or whatever time they finally wake up. Quickly brushing his teeth in the en-suite bath, he strips off his clothes and gets into the bed behind Ella, spooning her from behind and saying a silent prayer
of thanks that all ended well. When he’s finished, he lies in the quiet room, listening to Ella breathing, his hand on her chest as it ebbs and flows with her respiration, and whispers into her ear. “I love you, Ella.”

It’s nearly one o’clock in the afternoon when I open my eyes. Physically I feel bizarrely well but my mind is swimming with anxious thoughts. The night with Lucien and all his sinister words seems far away now and based on how Daniel found me, might not have happened the way I remember it. And now I am left wondering if it happened at all.

Next to me lay a sleeping Ian, his face so boyish and serene in slumber it’s almost irresistible. I don’t think I’ll ever get enough of watching him sleep unless he begins to snore or drool—though sex gods like him don’t generally have icky tendencies like those, do they?

Last night I wanted to tell him I love him but he had to speak to Daniel and I fell asleep while he was gone. I intend to remedy that negligence as soon as he opens his pretty eyes. I refuse to waste any more time playing games. If I learned anything from my experience with Lucien, it was that.

Lucien fucking Phillips: the new demon around my neck. It would be far easier if my memories were real and I could just cast him off as a sicko fuck whom I will never see again. But what if they were hallucinations? For my whole life, I’ve always reacted badly to drugs—even cold medicine makes me hallucinate. Not like yesterday, but still. If someone did slip me a drug, it’s not impossible that everything that followed was in my mind only.

But the fact remains that he would have still been evil enough to drug me. Why? As far as I could tell, he didn’t rape me. In my memories slash hallucinations, he did take liberties, even violated me through unwanted touching. Still, is that reason enough to drug someone? I need to know what really happened. Leaning back on the bed, I close my eyes to think about what I should do next when I feel the bed shift.

“Good afternoon, beautiful.”

“Ian.”

Concern shades his eyes. “How are you feeling?”

I smile. “I feel quite good, considering. How do you feel?”

“I’ve been better. But I am overwhelmed with relief that you’re okay. Ella…”

“Yes?”

“Scott will be flying us back to Portland later today. But before I go, I need to deal with Phillips. I don’t want any argument from you; I promise I’ll be careful. I want you to stay here in Daniel’s house and wait for me. Will you do that?”

“Please let it go for now, Ian. It’s not like we can have him arrested if there’s no proof. I suppose I can go to the hospital and have my blood tested for drugs but even so, it’s still just a matter of his word against mine. And there’s no evidence of any crime. Why prolong the misery?” Before he can even answer, I plunge on. I don’t want to be sidetracked from saying what I want to say to him. Nor do I want to have time to chicken out.

“Before we get involved in another argument, there’s something I have to say to you, Ian.”

Worry flits across his face but he
manages to compose his face quickly into a blank expression as only he can do so quickly and so well. “You have my complete attention.”

I slide down so my face is level with his, as he is still lying down. Cradling his face in both hands, I peer into his eyes. “I need to tell you something I should have told you a while ago, as soon as I realized it was true.” My heart is smashing against my ribcage, terrified he might reject me when I say the words aloud. Only when I remember how I felt when I thought I might not ever see him again do I also remember my courage.

“Ian, I love you.” As soon as I say the words I look away; I can’t bring myself to look into his eyes after seeing the initial shock that flashed through them. But I bravely forge ahead, my eyes trained on my hand that’s currently twisting and torturing the bedsheet. “What I mean to say… is that I’ve fallen in love with you. I want to be clear.”

Silence. I’m still looking down so I have no idea what’s happening with him but I just can’t look up. Suddenly he takes my hand and brings it to his lips. Does that mean he’s not freaking out
, or he is and kissing my hand is better than having to say something? The room is so silent but for the rustling of the sheet I’m crumpling with my fist.

“Ella? Look at me.”

Finally I drag my eyes up to his: he doesn’t look upset but I can’t be sure. I wait as he gathers his thoughts to speak, my heart continuing the mad beating.

“I love you, too, Ella. I’m v
ery much in love with you. And I want to take care of you so you never come into harm’s way again. I couldn’t bear anything happening to you. You mean the world to me; you’re the light and the music.” He kisses my hand again and then leans in to kiss my lips. When he deepens the kiss, I whisper against his beautiful, sensuous lips, “I didn’t brush my teeth yet” and he tosses his head back and laughs. What a beautiful sound is Ian Blackmon’s spontaneous laughter and my heart is light again after the darkness of the night.

I hear a knock at the front door and then Daniel enters the hall. Ian and I are in the kitchen doorway, just off the foyer. For a moment, I’m taken aback for I’d forgotten just how handsome Daniel is. I promptly collect myself for I need to express my gratitude to him but I feel so strange: the man went so far out of his way for me and I don’t know him at all.

“Daniel,” I begin to say, “I can’t thank you enough for your help last night. I feel ridiculous that it came to that… and frankly I’m still confused as to how it did. Regardless, what you did was extraordinary.”

The beautiful man smiles at me, his eyes warm for the first time since I met him. “I’m just glad I was able to help. I trust you’re feeling well?”

I nod. “Very well. Would it be alright if I take a shower?”

“Of course, please make yourself at home. Everything you need is in the closet in the bathroom.”

“Okay. Thank you.”

As I exit the room, I hear Daniel ask Ian if he might speak to him for a moment. I’m conflicted: I want to stay and eavesdrop, but I need to shower and dress and I don’t want to be caught listening. Maybe I can just stay for a few words…

Daniel begins the conversation. “I have a bit more news, Ian.”

“Oh?”

“I sent more men over to Phillips’ apartment today to see what’s up.”

There’s a silent pause. Then Ian responds. “Really? Daniel, may I ask why you’re going out of your way for us, to such an extent? Forgive me, but you didn’t initially strike me as the selfless type. I hope that doesn’t sound ungrateful for that’s not my intent—I’m just curious.”

Another pause ensues. They must be sizing each other up. Two enormously powerful alpha males together in
the same room makes for fascinating theatre and I wholeheartedly wish I could sidle back in there, unnoticed, to watch the show.

A throat clears. “No, I suppose selfless is not among the words I’d use to describe myself. Still, I try to live up to the ideal my Olivia sets for me. She’s such a pure soul and I know I don’t deserve her. Before I met her, I lived a sort of bacch
analian existence and I wasn’t a very kind person to others—too absorbed with self-gratification to take stock of those around me. I have much atoning to do to be worthy of my beautiful girl. Consider this a stop on the road.”

There’s no immediate response from Ian and I really can’t loiter any longer, not safely, so I make my way upstairs, back to the room where we slept to take a shower. I’ll have to put on the same clothes I wore yesterday because my luggage is still at the hotel.