King's Ransom (Man on a Mission 2)

At the tail end of that last sentence Sabrina suddenly caught her breath and pressed her fingers to her side. Juliana reached over and placed a comforting hand over her friend’s hand. “Bree, what is it?”

Sabrina made a sound of pain and her eyes squeezed shut. “It’s nothing...just a twinge,” she said at last.

Juliana knew it wasn’t just a twinge. It was the cancer. But she was torn. If she told Sabrina she knew the truth, knew about the cancer and the pregnancy, Sabrina would know Dirk had told her. And she didn’t want to betray Dirk’s trust. “Do you have something you can take for it? Aspirin? Ibuprofen?”

“Aspir— Oh!” She whimpered in a little voice, “It hurts.”

“Aspirin? Is it in the bathroom? Tell me where it is, Bree, and I’ll get it for you.”

“Bathroom.”

Juliana flew into the adjoining bathroom and scrabbled through toiletry and makeup bags until she found a bottle of aspirin. She ran water into a glass, rinsing it out before filling it halfway, and flew back into the sitting room. She put the glass in Sabrina’s hand, then fumbled with the bottle until she got the childproof cap off, and shook several tablets into her hand.

“How many? Two? Three?”

“Two.”

“Stick out your tongue.” Bree did so, and Juliana deposited two tablets there. “Sip the water,” she ordered, “and chew the tablets but don’t swallow. Put them under your tongue for as long as you can—they’ll be absorbed faster that way.” When Sabrina was done, Juliana took the glass from her hand and set it on the side table. Then she knelt in front of her friend, clasping her hands. “Can I do anything else?”

“Dirk,” Sabrina whispered. “I just want Dirk.”

Juliana sprang to her feet and whirled toward the door, but just before she reached it the door burst inward and suddenly Dirk was there. His face was white with repressed anger, but before Juliana could say anything he took everything in with one comprehensive glance, and his anger was replaced with concern.

“Bree...” He was at his wife’s side in an instant.

“Dirk...” She reached up to him, her lips pressed tightly together to hold in the pain. He swept her into his arms and swiftly carried her to their bedroom.

Juliana stood rooted where she was, not sure if she should wait or leave the two of them alone. Wishing there was something she could do. Soft, deep murmurs from the bedroom told her Dirk was comforting his wife, and she turned to go. But then Dirk came back into the sitting room, softly shutting the door to the bedroom.

“Don’t go yet,” he told her. “Bree’s resting now. What happened?”

She shook her head. “I really don’t know. We were talking, and then...all of a sudden, she got this sharp pain.”

“Did you tell her you know?”

Juliana shook her head. “I just got her some aspirin. I felt so helpless. God, it’s just not fair. Bree doesn’t deserve this.”

Dirk’s mouth twitched into a travesty of a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “No. She doesn’t. At least I had the chance to tell her I finally understand what she’s going through right now, before we were interrupted.”

“I’m so sorry about that,” Juliana said. “I didn’t think Andre would really...” She trailed off. She glanced at Dirk uncertainly. “What did he ask—”

“What did he ask me? Don’t you mean what did he accuse me of?”

She cast him a wounded look before turning away. “I’m sorry,” she said again. “I told him it wasn’t true. I guess he didn’t believe me.”

“He’s very possessive of you,” Dirk agreed. “So...are you going to tell me why?”

“He has no right to be possessive,” she said, still with her back turned. “Maybe eleven years ago, but not now.”

Dirk considered her statement, then shook his head as if something didn’t make sense. “According to him, you left him.”

“That’s a lie!” Juliana whirled around, anger rising to the top. “He—” She cut off the rest of her sentence, unwilling to admit—even to Dirk—the scars Andre had left on her heart. It had been hard enough confessing to Sabrina the few things she’d shared with her. She couldn’t tell Dirk what she couldn’t bring herself to tell Sabrina, what she’d never told anyone.

Dirk looked as if he were going to say something, but then thought better of it. He reached out one hand, tucking behind her ear a strand of hair that had fallen down. “He believes it, babe. I don’t know what your history is with him, but I can tell you this. He believes you deserted him. Despite that, he’s determined to win you back.”