Page 59 of Playing the Game
I groan. “No. I need your help, but don’t touch me or this situation will only get worse.”
“Okay, just give me directions.”
Great, another thing to spur on my fantasies—giving Dori commands.
“I need two minutes to get this under control.” I try to think about anything other than showering or having sex with Dori.
“Anything you need.” Dori glances at the therapist and flashes her a smile.
I move to get more comfortable, and misery squeezes my chest. That does it.
I’m back to normal in seconds. “I’m going to try to get out of this gown. Help me if it doesn’t go well.”
“I’m not going anywhere. Just tell me what to do.” She glances around the space I’m in, and her gaze stops near my feet. Her head is down in a submissive position. “Should I get on my knees?”
I groan. “Can you please stop saying things like that?”
She rolls her lips between her teeth and nods. Finally, I can get on with the task at hand.
We spend the next twenty minutes getting me showered and into a new hospital gown. Not only is the experience excruciating, but it takes every ounce of energy I have.
I pull my clean hospital sheets up to my waist as I rest back against the raised head portion of the bed. “Now that we’re settled, I think we need to have the conversation you wanted to have.”
She pulls a chair closer to the bed and sits. “Yeah. I think it’s time.”
“I can only think of one thing you want to talk to me about.”
“Which is what?”
“Where you stand with Hunter and how that affects us.”
She adjusts my blankets so they’re higher on my chest. “He’s been away on business this week.”
“I figured it was something like that, but that’s not the question. You’ve been here around the clock since I got shot. He must know that since you haven’t gone to work.”
“Um...about that.”
I find her troubled gaze, and my anxiety ramps up. “What?”
“He knows I’ve been here, and he understands.” She gets to her feet and paces along the side of my bed. “I ended it with him the day you woke up, but he keeps reaching out.”
“That’s not surprising.” I huff a laugh. “It will only get worse once you go back to work after your vacation time is up.”
She stops and stares at me. “He thinks his mom is after me for some reason.”
“What does she have to do with all this?”
“It’s a long story, but she’s been following Hunter and using Ava to get him.”
“So that’s where the betting chip came from.”
Dori’s brows draw down. “What betting chip?”
“Ava gave me a chip to give to Hunter. When I did, he looked as if I had murdered someone he cared about. Then he warned me that Ava was working with someone and told me to watch my back. I thought it might be his mom, but I couldn’t put my finger on it.”
Dori’s eyes swim with different emotions. “What do you know about his mom?”
“Only that she’s married to a billionaire with ties to a crime organization.”
