She runs down the stairs to the casino floor as fast as her stiletto heels will let her. The casino staff is already sweeping up the broken glass when she gets there. She rushes over to Andrew and sees that he’s removed his coat. His white shirt is soaked with bright red blood. Her breath seems to catch in her lungs.
“Andrew, oh my God, Andrew, you scared me,” she says, taking him in her arms. “Don’t ever do anything like that again.”
“If you don’t let go of me, I might not be okay,” Andrew hisses.
She lets go of him and takes a step back. His face is contorted with pain, and there’s blood streaked across his cheek. She looks down at her hands and sees that it’s on her fingers too.
“Oh, Andrew, I’m so sorry,” she says, beginning to sob.
“It’s okay, Jessica,” he says. “I’m going to be just fine.”
“No, Andrew, you don’t understand,” she says, sobbing heavily.
Before she can finish explaining, she sees Jackson walking over. She wipes at her tears, worried she’s smearing mascara all over her face. But Jackson doesn’t even seem to see her. Instead, he’s staring at Gabrielle.
As Jessica talks to Andrew, Leilani looks around the room. Waylen is standing next to the pile of broken glass, and his mouth is set in a grim line. She looks past him and notices a team of bodyguards standing at attention. The men look a bit messy as if they’ve been in a fight. She turns and sees Andrew’s bodyguards. One of them is still wiping the blood from his split lip.
Was there a fight? She wonders. Why on Earth would they have gotten into a fight at a time like this? She looks back at Waylen and sees that he’s glaring at her. Wait, why is he so close to the chandelier? She wonders. Last time I saw him, he was halfway across the room—how did he get over here so quickly?
A doctor rushes onto the scene and tries to lead Andrew away to his room. Andrew reaches out for her, and she has no choice but to go with him. After all, he just saved her life. He puts an arm around her shoulder and lets her help him to the room. Every step seems to cause him unspeakable pain.
Leilani helps him lie down on a sofa and watches as the doctor slices at his bloodied shirt with a pair of scissors. The doctor works carefully but quickly, tossing the ruined strips of cloth onto the floor at his feet.
“You look angry,” Andrew says.
“I am,” Leilani answers. “Don’t you think it’s a little too convenient that the chandelier fell just as I was exposing Jackson’s scam.”
“I’m sure Jackson will investigate the accident,” Andrew answers.
“What a joke,” Leilani says. “He was clearly trying to silence me.”
“I know you’re angry, but think about it,” Andrew says. “You weren’t under the chandelier—it was Gabrielle. Why would Jackson hurt her after he went to such great effort to win her? It doesn’t add up. Besides, calling him out like that was a little too bold. Weren’t you worried he’d try to take revenge? You know half his family’s fortune comes from these casinos.”
“I’m not worried about his petty revenge plots,” Leilani says. “But he better leaves my sister out of it.”
Andrew sighs and hides his face in the sofa cushion. The doctor continues to snip at the fabric, careful to avoid tugging on any of the glass shards stuck in Andrew’s back. He winces as the tip of the scissors brush against a particularly large and jagged shard.
“Anyway, what were your cards?” Andrew asks. “Did you win the game?”
“Take a wild guess,” Leilani says. “If I had the winning cards, do you think I would’ve risked that scene back there?”
The doctor turns to Leilani and says, “Can you please help me? I’m waiting for the nurses to come to join me, but I don’t want to keep Mr. Clifford waiting any longer.”
Leilani nods and steps forward. Andrew’s back looks even worse up close. There’s so much blood it’s hard to see where the wounds are. The doctor passes her a cotton pad with antiseptic and shows her how to clean the blood without pushing the glass in deeper. Leilani dabs at his back, but her hands shake terribly.
“Why are your hands shaking so bad?” Andrew asks. “Are you in shock, or do you just feel sorry for me?”
“I don’t know how to do this,” she says. “I think I’ll hurt you if I continue—the doctor should wait for the nurses.”
“If I know you’re doing it, it’ll hurt less,” Andrew flirts.
Leilani rolls her eyes and says, “Clearly, you’re not hurt that badly. If you can still joke and flirt you must be fine. Anyway, it looks like some of these cuts need stitches. Maybe I’ll ask the doctor to stitch your mouth shut too.”
“I’ve just remembered that your ankle is hurt,” Andrew says, lifting his head from the sofa. “Doctor, take care of her first.”
“It’s nothing,” Leilani says. “I just need a bandage, and I can put that on myself.”
“No, take care of her first,” Andrew insists.
“How about I take care of you at the same time?” the doctor says.
There’s a knock at the door, and a team of nurses rushes into the room. The doctor orders one to look at Leilani’s ankle while the others help him tend to Andrew’s back.
As soon as the nurses wipe away the blood, more trickles out from the wounds. Leilani tugs her ankle away from the nurse and goes to look at Andrew, but there’s too much blood. She rushes to the window and sticks her head outside, letting the cool sea breeze calm her churning stomach.
“Mr. Clifford, we need to remove the glass now, but I have to warn you, it’s going to hurt a lot,” the doctor says. “Because of your heart condition, we can’t use any anesthesia.”
“That’s fine,” Andrew says. “I don’t need it anyway.”
Leilani’s heart thuds nervously in her chest. The room is deathly quiet. All she can hear is the clink of the glass as it lands in the metal tray and Andrew’s pained breathing. She closes her eyes and fights the urge to vomit out the window.
Andrew saved my life, she thinks. He knows I despise him, but he did it anyway. But I can’t afford to let myself be soft with him. No matter what, he’s still playing a game and treating me as the prize. Besides, in six months, he’ll give his heart to Charles, and he’ll die. There’s no point in letting myself feel for him—it’ll just make everything harder.
“Hello, Mr. Bamford,” the servant at the door says.
Leilani pulls her head back in and turns around in time to see the servant close the door after Waylen. Waylen walks into the room as if it’s his own. Robert and two bodyguards follow behind him, dragging the fourth man along the ground. Leilani feels her back stiffen, and she presses her lips into a thin line.
Waylen slowly looks her up and down, and his eyes linger on the bandaid on her ankle. She’s surprised he can see it from so far away. He looks between her and Andrew and smiles coldly.
“I didn’t expect you to come to visit me,” Andrew says with a laugh. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”
Waylen waves his hand, and Robert and the bodyguards step forward and haul their prisoner to his feet. The man looks badly beaten. One eye is swollen shut, and the whole left side of his face is bruised and bloodied. He seems unable to stand on his own, and Waylen’s bodyguards hold him on both sides.
“Do you recognize this man?” Waylen asks. “He’s one of the Clifford bodyguards. He stopped me from rescuing Leilani when she was under the falling chandelier. My men have taken care of him, and I hope you don’t mind.”
Andrew props himself up with his elbows and turns to scowl at the guard. Even though he’s lying on the sofa, he radiates cold power. The guard trembles and tries to step forward, but he falls down to the floor.
“I’m so sorry, Mr. Clifford,” the guard says, slightly slurring the words. “I was acting on Miss Jessica’s orders.”
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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