“I need some time to prepare it all,” Leilani says. “I’ll come to you as soon as Waylen is in full recovery.”
“You’re just trying to delay it,” Andrew complains.
“No, I’m not,” Leilani says irritably. “Any delay is bad for Charles. I promised you six months, and you’re going to get six months, but we have to do this right.”
“You know, I’ve never been so patient with anyone else,” Andrew mutters.
“I know,” Leilani says gently.
“If I find out that Waylen has woken up, but you haven’t come to meet me, the deal is off,” Andrew says.
“I see,” Leilani says. “How do you want me to meet you?”
“I’ll send someone to pick you up.”
“Don’t forget what you promised me,” Leilani says. “Six months, and you’ll give it back.”
“I’m a man of my word,” Andrew says with a wink.
Leilani nods and heads toward Waylen’s private room. She jogs down the hallways until she gets to his room. There are several nurses waiting by the door in case of emergency, and a doctor stands nearby. Though the room is huge, it seems crowded with bodyguards.
Waylen is lying in bed, and his eyes are closed. Most of his body is covered in white gauze, and his face looks almost as pale as the gauze. Leilani feels tears fill her eyes. She can’t bear to see him suffering so badly. Robert places a comforting hand on her arm and tries to lead her out of the room.
“Mr. Bamford is fine, but you need to rest,” Robert says. “You’re probably still in shock. Should I call a doctor to look at you?”
“No, I want to stay here,” Leilani says. “I’m fine, but I need to be here when he wakes up.”
“It might be a while before he wakes up,” Robert says. “He lost a lot of blood and they gave him a lot of anesthetics. You need to go home and rest. You’re pregnant and you need to think about the baby, too. Just think how angry Mr. Bamford will be if something happened to you or the child after he risked his life to save you from that bomb.”
Robert’s words fill her with guilt, but she shakes her head stubbornly. Even if Waylen is unconscious, she wants every second she can get with him. Robert shrugs and pulls up a chair for her to sit in. Leilani sits down, gratefully, and Robert’s phone begins to ring. He crosses the room and answers it. As he speaks, he shoots worried looks at Leilani. Finally, he crosses the room and offers her the phone.
“Mrs. Bamford, Mr. Francis Bamford wants to speak to you,” Robert says.
Leilani feels her blood run cold. If Francis Bamford has already heard about the bomb, he’ll be furious. She knows he warned Waylen to stop risking his life for her. Leilani wipes the sweat from her palm on the skirt of her ruined dress and takes the phone. She presses it to her ear and walks into the hall for some privacy.
She walks all the way to the end of the hallway before saying, “I’m sorry for the wait, Mr. Bamford.”
“I heard that Waylen risked his life for you again,” Francis says.
“It’s true,” Leilani says.
She can feel his anger even through the telephone. The rage in his voice is barely controlled, and she half expects him to start screaming curses at her. Leilani takes a deep breath to calm herself.
“What do you think I should do about it?” Francis asks. “I can’t have you around him anymore. It’s too dangerous.”
“You can do whatever you like,” Leilani says quietly.
There’s a long pause, and then Francis says, “You know, Andrew called me earlier. You were right to choose to leave Waylen, but you must leave the child to our family. The child is a Bamford, whether you like it or not.”
Leilani can’t believe that Andrew was bold enough to call Francis. She looks out the window at the distant sky. The stars twinkle brightly, but she feels trapped and gloomy.
“Of course, I’ll leave the child to Waylen,” Leilani says. “I have one request for you, though. I’d like you to keep this matter a secret. I don’t want Waylen to know anything.”
When I die, Waylen is the only person I trust to raise our child, Leilani thinks. But he can’t know why I’m leaving him or that I worked with this grandfather to do it. If he knew the truth, he’d do everything in his power to stop it and get me back.
“I’ll keep your secret,” Francis says. “And I’ll even help you leave.”
“There’s no need for that,” Leilani says cooly. “I can take care of that on my own.”
Leilani doesn’t want to deal with Francis; she wants to leave on her own terms, and she wants to do it as painlessly as possible. She knows that Waylen will suffer, but she doesn’t want to break his heart completely.
“You better be able to handle it yourself, or you’ll be hearing from me,” Francis says.
Before Leilani can answer, Francis, ends the call. Leilani stares angrily out the window, only turning when she hears rushed footsteps behind her.
“Mrs. Bamford, Mrs. Bamford,” Robert shouts, “Mr. Bamford is awake!”
Leilani doesn’t know if she’s happy or sad to hear that Waylen is awake. She wants him to recover quickly, but the sooner he recovers, the sooner she has to leave him. She tries to smile happily, but Robert raises his eyebrows at her.
“Did Mr. Francis give you a hard time?” Robert asks. “You look upset.”
“Oh, no, of course not,” Leilani says a little too quickly. “I mean, he was a bit cross, of course, but he mostly just wanted to ask about Waylen.”
Robert nods, but he doesn’t look convinced. I’ll need to be better at acting if I’m going to do this, Leilani thinks. Already, Robert is getting suspicious of me. If I’m going to trick Waylen, I have to do a better job of hiding my true feelings.
She follows Robert toward the room. Before she even reaches the door, she can hear Waylen swearing and the sound of breaking glass. She pauses nervously and looks at Robert.
“Apparently, Mr. Francis made a deal with the Oliver family,” Robert whispers. “The Oliver family agreed to end the feud, and Mr. Francis forbade Waylen from getting revenge for the attack at the hotel. Waylen is furious about it.”
Leilani sighs and opens the door.
A pillow hits her shoulder and flies out into the hallway.
The room is a mess. There’s broken glass on the floor and a smashed iPad next to one of the bodyguards. Waylen has thrown everything he can reach from his hospital bed.
“Can you give us a minute alone, gentlemen?” Leilani asks the bodyguards.
The guards smile with relief and rush toward the door. They push and shove each other, trying to get out of the room as quickly as possible. Leilani smiles to herself and slowly walks toward Waylen’s bed. The door shuts, and she’s completely alone with Waylen.
“Do you want water?” Leilani asks, grabbing a spare glass from a cabinet.
Waylen doesn’t answer, but she poured him a glass anyway. She looks at his right hand and sees that it’s wrapped with thick bandages. She gently sits on the edge of the bed and raises the glass to his lips, tilting it slightly so he can drink.
Waylen grabs her arm with his uninjured left hand and holds it firmly. He frowns deeply, and his forehead creased with wrinkles. She wonders if he’s angry or in pain.
“Are you okay?” she asks. “Do you want me to call for a doctor?”
Waylen presses his lips together and slowly runs his good hand up and down her side. Then he slides his palm over her thigh and under her dress. Leilani tries to pull away, afraid that a nurse will come in and see, but Waylen’s grip is iron hard. She struggles and spills some of the water on the bed.
“What are you doing?” Leilani asks. “You’re hurt—how can you be thinking about s.e.x at a time like this?”
“I’m not thinking about s.e.x,” Waylen says. “I’m checking to see if you’re hurt.”
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.
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