Chapter 4
Sienna
The next morning, I wake to a cheery teen in a striped outfit placing a dozen red roses on my windowsill. “Seems you have an admirer. Aren’t they beautiful?”
A single yellow rose in the center makes my heart thud so hard my ears ring.It can’t be.
“No card?” I ask innocently.
She looks around the blooms, thorns, and ferns, and shakes her head. “Sorry, no.”
Either Peter’s alive or this is someone’s idea of a sick joke. He used to tell me the blond one in the middle was me, pure and lovely.
Asshole.I wonder how many other fair-haired women heard that phony shit?
This time, when his voice sounds in my head, I remember when I heard it. I had just got home from a gig, maybe three in the morning and yet I was wide awake. I thought the comforting sounds of a brook might help me to relax. So, I clicked on the URL I made for Dr. Edelstein and put on my headphones. According to her research, random sounds shut down an over-active brain and allow people to fall asleep sooner.
I was almost asleep when the birds and crickets in the forest were replaced by two angry men.
“What the hell are we doing here, Peter? Damn it. I told you to stay clear until we got the money. You’ll screw everything up.”
“You think I don’t know what you’re up to? You fuck me over, you’re dead. Got it?”
“Screw you. Without me, you don’t get a red cent.”
Oh my God. Itistrue. Peter didn’t die in the plane crash. Well hell, they never found his body so why am I so surprised? I remember I Googled ‘what-happens-if-your-spouse-comes-back-to-life.’
The internet is full of helpful advice. If Peter is legally dead, then I’m not legally married, even if he shows up on my doorstep with our marriage certificate.
After, I called Dahlyla, but why?
Maybe, it was because all those millions were going to be used for no good. Dahlyla once told me the kind of bad stuff Peter was into. When I married him, I thought he was some kind of Wall Street genius. My God, the things that came forth after the police started investigating his death made my blood boil.
I want revenge for all the lies, for fucking his longtime girlfriend on our wedding night, for marrying me for God knows why and for a hundred thousand stupid tears when I learned what a weasel he was.
However, calling Dahlyla was probably stupid on my part. She can be real nosy. What if she told someone about my microphones? I need to see if the sound is still streaming, and fast.
“Breakfast?” The hospital worker breaks my thoughts, smiles brightly, and wheels this u-shaped table over my lap. When she places the tray in front of me, I lift the lid, gag, and sigh.
“Thank you.” I hate eggs, don’t eat toast, and loathe hash browns. Thank God there’s coffee but when I notice it’s decaf, I’ve had enough. “Bodyguard!”
The huge man peers in, “Everything okay in here?”
I motion him over with a wave of my hand. “Hell no. I think someone’s trying to kill me. Look at this.”
Me and him chatted a bit during the night so he knows I’m kidding when I hold up my plate. Even so, his eyes dart about the empty room before resting on my breakfast tray.
I point and hold my nose. “See? The coffee? It’s decaf.”
Shaking his head and chuckling, he exits and calls for my liar, I mean lawyer. “She’s all yours, Quinn.”
My heart beats rapidly as I pinch my cheeks and comb my hair with my fingers. My lawyer’s been gone for most of the evening and even though the hot bodyguard said no, I wondered if I’d scared my suit off for good.
“Good morning, gorgeous.” Mr. Sexiness changed his clothes and smells like leather and something completely male. His attire today is navy, his white shirt starched, and his tie, bright red. His face seems determined as he pulls up a chair next to my bed.
In one hand he holds two extra-large coffee cups in a takeout tray. They have the blessed words, Dunkin’ Donuts, written in orange on the side. He holds it under my nose, then takes it away.
“Pretty please? I’ll beg if I must.” I grin at his antics and he gives me a chocolate-melting smile.
