Page 26 of Twisted Embrace

For now.

“It will be alright, Joy. I can and will protect you.”

I lifted my head, wiping both eyes. “As I asked you before. Who will protect me from you?” As I rose from the bed, I noticed the heavy rise and fall of his chest as well as his furrowed brow. He had no idea how to control or deal with me. I wanted to scream out ‘too bad’ but I didn’t have the energy at this point.

Turning, I concentrated on shoving the clothing into every crevice, fighting with the zipper all over again. When he placed his hands on mine, stopping me from destroying the bag with my impatience, a short but ragged moan slipped past my lips.

“Don’t. Let me do this.”

His voice was deep, resonating in the darkest portions of my brain. I backed away, holding my arms, watching him without blinking as he gently tugged the zipper around the bag. I wanted to laugh. He seemed to be good at everything he did, everything he touched. How ridiculous. Maybe I was in some kind of shock. A part of me prayed to God I’d remain that way. If not, I’d lose my mind to the madness.

“Time to go.” He made the statement as if I was resigned to obeying his orders. At this point, I had no other choice.

But I would find a way to distance myself from him.

So help me God.

* * *

Hospitals.

I hated everything about them. The smells. The stark environment. The understanding that people died every minute or every second. My stomach churned at the thought. I’d watched my mother go through a horrific experience, her pneumonia almost taking her life. I’d spent hours, days by her bedside, reading to her as she slipped in and out of consciousness, praying her lungs would work again and she could live.

Or was she even my mother?

The woman who’d raised me lovingly had remained at the hospital during my illness as well, almost never leaving my side. She’d turned the room into a special place with stuffed animals and balloons, cards from all our friends. She’d kept my spirits up when I could barely stand to open my eyes or was sobbing uncontrollably because I had to have another painful test. She’d been my rock.

She’d read me stories like I’d done with her, creating worlds where knights in shining armor had rescued the damsel in distress. She’d been there through every boo-boo, wiping away my tears and telling me everything was going to be okay. She’d even allowed the fickle kid to choose funky colors for the walls in her bedroom, painting them herself even though the previous color had been in fashion only two months before.

She’d counseled me when I knew I loved a boy so much I’d spent the rest of my life with him. I’d only been twelve. And she’d been cheering me on when I graduated the top of my class, insisting I could do anything I wanted in my life.

But it was the time spent in the hospital where I’d gotten closer to her, becoming her protector when up to that point she’d been mine.

Now I challenged everything about my life, including the man who claimed he would protect me against all odds. Against men trying to kill or sell me. It was as surreal as the reason I stood by his side in the cold elevator. My best friend. The girl I’d truly thought of as a sister could lose the one thing she wanted the most. Lucia had confided in me that she’d thought she couldn’t have children. It had been a fear, not reality, but she’d believed it with all her heart.

I understood her angst all too well.

Two of Enzo’s men were standing in the dense space of the elevator, keeping watch like vultures. They’d said nothing, which added to the extreme tension.

As the elevator doors opened, my muscles tensed, anger furrowing inside like rocket fuel. Enzo pressed his hand on the small of my back, all but pushing me onto the floor in front of the nurse’s station.

I’d spent a lot of time in hospitals as a child and everything was exactly as I remembered from all those years ago. People rushing by. A crash cart with nurses headed to someone in crisis. While the walls behind the station had been painted a soft melon, the soothing color couldn’t hide the reason people were here.

Sickness.

And death.

“Lucia DeLuca. Where is she?” Enzo asked the nurse at the desk, although I knew his tone well enough to realize it was a demand.

The pretty blonde glanced from me back to Enzo, a trickle of fear appearing in her eyes. She obviously knew who he was as well as his reputation.

“She’s in room four-thirty-two, but she can’t have visitors,” the nurse said meekly.

“Like hell she can’t. We’ll only be a few minutes,” Enzo told her, already heading in the direction of the room.

“Sir. Wait. You can’t do that.”

The nurse remained where she was, her voice fading as we both took long strides down the corridor. Perhaps she was smart enough to know better than to try to stop him. I could barely keep up, his long legs covering extended territory. When he found the room, he stopped short, bristling as I’d seen him do so many times.

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