Page 15 of Haze's Jewel

Then there’s the sound of a loud crash, like someone turned over a table or a cart and multiple items clamored to the floor.

Anna jumps to her feet. “Mom, what’s going on? Talk to me.”

“It’s nothing. One of the nurses flipped over a lunch cart.” The older woman’s voice sounds a bit more certain than before, but I can tell that Anna is struggling to believe her.

“Are you alone. Who’s there with you right now?”

“It’s just me and the nurse cleaning up the mess. Like I said, don’t worry about me. You have enough on your plate right now with your own recovery.”

“Alright, if you’re sure.” The reluctance in her voice tears at my heart. Having both Anna and her mother recovering from medical problems at the same time, must be really difficult for them to properly support each other.

The woman’s voice stammers, “Your stepbrother wanted me to tell you, it’s time to come home. He said that your fiancé misses you.”

“What is going on? Is Greg there with you right now? Why is he there? Tell the nurses to make him leave if he’s being a nuisance,” Anna says, looking distraught.

“He’s gone now. I told him that I would tell you. We both know what the plan is. Stick to the plan.”

There are some muffled voices and her mother states, “The doctor is here to see me. I’ve got to go, sweetheart. Take care of yourself.”

“I will, Mom. If you need anything at all just let me know.”

The line went dead, making Anna frown.

“Do you think something untoward is going on with your mother? We can go and check it out if you like.”

“I’m sure she’s fine. My stepbrother is a complete ass but even he can’t do anything to her while she’s in rehab. There are cameras in her room so the nurses can monitor her at all times and too many eyewitnesses. He’s probably just being an annoying prick, like always. Ever since my father died, my stepbrother thinks he’s in charge of everything related to my family, even though my mom is nothing to do with him.”

I give her the drink I got for her and accept her words at face value. She would know her own family dynamics better than me. “He sounds like a bit of a nightmare.”

“He is,” she agrees. “But we’re used to dealing with him.”

I pull her into a brief hug before asking, “Are you okay? I know that you’re probably still upset about your father’s death in addition to being worried about your mom.”

She nods, clinging to me tighter before pulling back. “Yeah, I’m probably just being oversensitive.” Taking a sip of her drink, she asks, “You ready to give it up for the day? I know this little outing can’t be all that interesting for you.”

I glance up at her lovely new hairstyle and give her a lopsided smile. “I don’t know about that. Today has made me realize that watching a beautiful woman make herself even more beautiful might be my new favorite hobby.”

She flashes me the prettiest grin ever, and my heart beats a little faster. Everything about Anna draws me in, makes me want to make her mine. Rather than angsting about that, I ask, “Are you ready to grab some new clothes?”

She nods, seemingly content with my company and this outing designed to get her back to feeling like her old self once more. Now that she’s given into my gentle pressure, she’s not questioning every move we make. Truth be told, I not only like having a woman depend on me, I love that it’s Anna in particular.

We go in three different stores. I can’t decide if they’re actual boutiques or not because I’m unclear on what that entails, to me a clothes store is a clothes store, but what do I know? I do pay attention to the sizes she picks though, because I might want to buy her something nice one day as a surprise. No sooner does that thought pop into my head than I start daydreaming about doing exactly that. Maybe planning a romantic evening for us—because somewhere during today’s outing I have decided that I want to be with her. I’m pretty sure she likes me back, but whether we are on the same page romantically remains to be seen.

Eventually, we leave the mall with so many bags, that I feel like a baggage clerk carrying them all. Anna is happier than I’ve ever seen her. She’s practically floating as we walk towards the parking lot. Pride surges in my chest that I’ve done this, made the woman I’m enamored with happy, lifted her burdens for the day and made sure she has the things every woman needs to be happy. I think briefly about stopping at a jewelry store to buy her some earrings, but I somehow manage to stop myself, because I don’t want to spoil our perfect day by going overboard. Anna has been a good sport about accepting my kindness, and I don’t want to mess that up.

On the way home, she talks about how great her hair turned out and how much she likes her new clothing. And she thanks me profusely for making today happen for her. I would do it a thousand times over, every week if she’d let me. I know she won’t though, because my Anna is an independent woman who clearly likes to work and provide for herself. Something about that makes me sad. This sweet, beautiful woman deserves to be coddled, protected, and spoiled. She hasn’t said much about her ex-fiancé, but what she has said, makes me fume. Thinking about that man not treating her right, makes me want to beat his sorry ass. Damn it, even the thought of her being with someone else is setting me off! Yeah, that’s me, getting possessive again. Damn, I need to rein that shit in.

Chapter 7

Annalese

I lounge back on the sofa with my arm propped up on a pillow. All the shopping yesterday took a toll on me. I’ve been here for three days, and my cast is making the skin underneath itch like crazy. I promised my doctor I wouldn’t scratch but it’s turning out to be a difficult promise to keep. I’ve got my cell phone in my good hand scrolling through all the reasons sticking a pencil down my cast to scratch this never-ending itch is a bad idea. It says if I break the skin, it creates the perfect environment for a staph infection and shows images of casts oozing green puss. I click away from that sight, convinced that I can tough it out after all.

As I surf my newly created social media account, I try to get used to my new name. Anna Lee Bryan. It rhymes with my real name, which is Annalese Ryan. I’d chosen the name when I first arrived in Las Salinas, this alias has the advantage of people calling me Anna, which has always been my nickname growing up. That means I’m not trying to remember to respond to a strange name all the time. I don’t really have an ID or anything, so that’s why I was looking for jobs that pay under the table like the one at the Savage Legion’s clubhouse. Not that finding one worked out for me—before my accident I was still living off the last of my savings and staying in a crappy motel room which I could barely afford.

Dropping my phone into my lap, I turn my new situation over in my mind. Trying to stay off my ex’s and sociopathic stepbrother’s radar is the smartest thing I’ve ever done. My father was the one thing standing between me and them embracing their worst instincts. It took me far too long to realize the danger I was in. Once my father passed, things got ugly fast.

Being rescued by a good man like Haze was a stroke of luck. He somehow got my rehab paid for me through a charity and there is zero chance of the dynamic duo from my past finding me at his tattoo shop. This is the last place either of them would show up. They’re both too addicted to living like billionaires with their custom-made suits and fancy sports cars to even think of coming into a town like this.

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