Chapter Twenty-Six
“Idon’t need another magazine, Raina.”
Raina stood at the foot of the bed wringing her hands. “Maybe some water? Or some lunch?”
They’d left the hospital a week ago under the cover of night. It had seemed ridiculous to go through such measures to keep it secret but Raina had insisted it was necessary. The story of the Moreno family’s only son rising from the dead was too good for the media to ignore.
Sam, Raina’s chief of security, had arranged an elaborate ruse involving several models hired to impersonate them in order to get her out of the hospital undetected. She hadn’t had the energy to care back then. They’d gotten her home without microphones and cameras in her face and that was all she’d wanted.
Well, that wasn’t all she wanted. But the other thing she wanted hadn’t called in a week.
“What about a movie? Or we can see what’s on TV?”
It had been years since she’d seen her sister plain-faced, but Raina hadn’t left her side for the past few days. It was kind of sweet, actually. In the beginning she’d been so tired she hadn’t been good for much else besides sleeping. But the last few days they’d talked. A lot. She’d had the chance to apologize for some of the things she’d said and Raina had apologized for trying to run her life. They were on the right track for the first time in months.
But now her sister’s hovering was getting on her nerves.
“I don’t want magazines or food or anything. I’m tired.” Ridley knew she was being rude but she couldn’t take it anymore.
“Okay. I’ll let you sleep.” Raina kissed her forehead and left, pulling the door closed behind her.
Ridley sighed and looked out the window, the late afternoon sunlight like a beacon drawing her attention outside. Since leaving the hospital she’d been pampered and coddled, slept what felt like a million hours, and taken more pain medication than she was sure was safe.
What she hadn’t done was call Jackson.
Raina had told her about his visit when she’d been asleep at the hospital. It didn’t make her feel good to imagine him hurting but damn it, he’d hurt her. Tears welled in her eyes again and she gritted her teeth. Crying wouldn’t erase the humiliation of being pushed out the door. Of being accused of being a thief. As much as she’d tried to understand things from his perspective, part of her couldn’t let go of the fact that he simply hadn’t believed her. He’d honestly thought she’d just been after his money.
But now a week had gone by and she had to wonder if her pride was worth this misery. He’d hurt her more than she knew it was possible to be hurt, but she couldn’t deny that she loved him. So, who was she really punishing? Jackson or herself?
“Maybe I should just go over there.”
She pushed the covers back and sat up gingerly. The doctors had said she was a lucky girl because the bullet hadn’t hit her lungs. Intellectually, she understood that she was fortunate not to be dead. But every move she made exhausted her, the skin around her wound still burned like crazy, and she could barely shower without help. She didn’t feel lucky yet.
She just felt miserable.
“Raina,” she called. She cursed as her energy flagged and she sagged back against the pillows. How was she supposed to go track Jackson down and fuss at him when she could barely sit up without needing a nap?
A door slammed downstairs. Then she heard the sound of voices. They hadn’t had many visitors over the last week since Raina didn’t want anyone to know they were here. One of the voices was unmistakably male.
Who is that?
Maybe it was one of the security guys? The voices got louder as they came toward the stairs. The closer they got, the more familiar they sounded.
“Is that Jackson?”
A rush of elation gave her the energy to sit up again. He was here. He’d finally come to see her. She was still kind of mad at him but every part of her was suddenly overjoyed, too. A week ago, she’d been standing in this very room with a gun to her head, wondering if it would be the last time she saw his face. Now he was downstairs and she wasn’t waiting another minute. Ridley put her legs over the side of the bed and stood up gingerly.
Then she took her first shaky step.
* * *
“Raina! Open the door!”
Raina sat in her living room and blithely turned the pages of a magazine. The sound of yelling outside ceased for a few minutes before resuming.
“I’m not leaving until you talk to me. You know I’ll make a scene.”
“Ugh! He is so irritating.” Raina groaned and slammed the magazine down on the couch next to her. Sam had offered to delay his own vacation and stay if she needed him. She hadn’t wanted to ruin his fun when she didn’t plan on doing much other than keeping her sister company while she recuperated.
The guards he’d posted to watch her house from outside had seemed like more than enough, but they were trained to prevent anyone from coming in. They couldn’t do anything about someone who was bothering her from the street.
It was petty, but now she kind of wished she’d asked Sam to stay. He was creative. He’d have found a way to take care of the extremely annoying pest outside her window.
“Okay, Raina. If you don’t open the door I’m going to video this and put it online.”
She marched over to the front door and snatched it open. “What the hell do you want?”
“I just want to talk.” He motioned to the guards standing between them. “Can you call off the goon squad?”
She nodded. The guards moved aside. Nick shook his head as he walked by them. As soon as he crossed the threshold, she slammed the door. “I don’t know why you’re here. I have nothing to say to you.”
Nick stood in the middle of her living room and stared at her couch. They’d done some pretty inventive things on that couch. Raina blushed. It shouldn’t embarrass her but somehow it did. She’d been someone totally different that night, and as much trouble as it had caused her, she couldn’t find it in her to regret it.
“How is Ridley doing?” Nick asked. He looked faintly guilty.