To Save Sir (Doms of Decadence 7)

It was the most bizarre thing she’d ever experienced. Apparently, she’d fallen asleep on the flight to the states and when she’d awoken, she had very little memory of the previous eight days.

She could recall getting up that morning, going to the temporary clinic that had been erected on the outskirts of the village. She could even remember treating people. Then nothing.

She couldn’t remember anything more. Lacey had told her she had to be patient. That often memories would just return suddenly and fully, whether from a trigger or through therapy. That she shouldn’t despair or stress about her lack of memory.

But she was over this. She had to know. It felt like not knowing, not remembering, was just making her more fearful. She looked around as she walked through the building that housed Black-Gray Investigations, hoping to spot Curt. She felt a little silly. He probably wasn’t even here.

He’s not avoiding me.

Except she couldn’t help feel he was. He’d visited her a couple of times in the hospital. But once she’d been discharged all she’d received from him were a couple of texts. He couldn’t even be bothered to call her.

He was probably busy.

Too busy to pick up the phone for five minutes and check on her? Maybe he just didn’t care.

After she’d been cleared to leave the hospital, her parents had insisted she move back in with them. She hadn’t put up an argument. She might not be able to remember what happened to her, but she’d been told the basics. And the thought of being on her own was terrifying.

Terrifying enough to make staying with her parents seem like a good idea. It hadn’t taken her long to see that was a mistake. Her mother fussed over her to the point of smothering her. Daddy acted like she was fragile. An invalid.

Her mother had even hired a nurse to take care of her. Reasoning with her hadn’t had any affect; Jenna should have known it wouldn’t. Normally, Daddy would come to her rescue, but he’d practically locked himself in his study, claiming he had to work. She got the feeling that was just an excuse. As though he couldn’t face her. After a few weeks of butting heads with her mother, which meant weeks of Jenna giving in to her demands, she’d finally told her mother to get rid of the nurse or she was leaving.

The nurse was gone the next day.

But Jenna was still stuck living with her parents. She wondered how she was ever going to get away from their good intentions.

“Hey, Jenna, how are you doing?”

She turned towards the cheerful voice with a smile. “I’m good, how are you?”

Cady looked a bit tired. There were dark circles under her eyes, and her skin was pale. Jenna wasn’t sure what was going on with the other woman, and she didn’t know her well enough to ask. She’d met her several times because of her therapy sessions with Lacey. Cady was married to Hunter Black, one of the owners of Black-Gray Investigations. He was one of the most intimidating men she’d ever met. Large and gruff and a little scary even though he’d never been anything but polite to her.

“All good,” Cady replied. “Did you just have a session with Lacey?”

“Yeah.” She bit her lip. “I’m still having trouble remembering things.”

“Don’t worry, it’ll come.”

“That’s what Lacey tells me. Do you know if Curt’s around?” She tried to keep her voice casual, but from the knowing look on Cady’s face she hadn’t quite managed that.

“He’s away on a job. He should be back next week. Do you have his cell number?”

“Oh, yeah.” She flicked a hand out. “It’s nothing important. I might catch up with him next week. Bye.”

She walked away before the other woman could question her further. Nerves danced through her stomach. She took a deep breath then let it out slowly as she stepped outside onto the pavement. Her father had wanted her to have a bodyguard. Jenna didn’t like confrontation much but when she felt strongly about something she could be stubborn as hell.

And she was damned sure she didn’t want some stranger following her around. She already felt like so much had been taken from her she didn’t need to have her privacy intruded on as well.

But she’d compromised and agreed to a driver. Hans was more than just a driver, she knew that. She saw the way he watched their surroundings. He was always on guard, his gaze always roaming, and he was built like brick shithouse. No, he was no ordinary chauffeur, but so long as he didn’t try to follow her everywhere, she’d put up with him. Because she still didn’t feel safe. Not like she once had. She wondered if she ever would.

***

“Hey, Curt. How’s it going?”

Curt looked up from his laptop as Cady walked into the office. He saved the report he’d been working on and turned to her with a smile. Petite and delicate looking, he knew her outer appearance hid a hard-as-nails attitude and a strong personality. She had to be strong to deal with Hunter.

“Am I interrupting?”

He snorted. “It’s a welcome interruption, believe me. I hate report writing.”