He drops Rebecca’s hands and asks, “Were you here last night?”
She says, “Your injury was very serious and I—”
“Yes or no?” he asks.
“Yes, I came last night,” she whispers.
Waylen throws the quilt aside and climbs out of bed. Rebecca reaches for him, but he pushes her hands away and storms into the hall. He looks around the deserted hallway and then rushes down the long passage, opening door after door. Finally, he finds the maid cleaning one of the guest rooms.
“Where are they?” he asks.
The maid stares at him in confusion. He feels a light tap on his shoulder and turns around to see Rebecca.
Her eyes are wide and slightly sad as she says, “Mr. and Mrs. Clifford left early this morning.”
Waylen lifts his hand to his face and smells his palm. Leilani’s scent seems to linger on his skin, taunting him. He rushes back down the hall and grabs Robert by the shoulders, pushing the butter into the wall.
“Who came to my room last night?” Waylen asks.
Robert’s face flushes, and he says, “Both Rebecca and the doctor came to see you last night.”
Waylen lifts Robert the collar of his shirt and asks, “Tell me one more time—who came to see me?”
“Rebecca did,” Robert gasps.
Waylen lets go of the shirt, letting Robert fall to the ground. He turns on his heel and marches out of the room and into the dressing room. He hears Robert struggle to his feet and chases after him.
“Mr. Bamford, where are you going?” Robert calls.
“Do me a favor and just check her schedule for me,” he says.
“Whose schedule?” Robert asks. “Rebecca’s?”
“No, you know whose,” Waylen hisses.
Robert returns as Waylen is fastening the watch around his wrist, “Mr. Bamford, the servant said that Leilani would go to D.O. today.”
“Let’s go,” he says.
“Where are we going?” Robert asks.
Waylen balls his hand into a fist and asks, “Do I have to explain everything to you the hard way?”
Leilani dresses for work in a navy pencil skirt and a crisp white blouse. She slips on a pair of flats and clasps a small watch around her wrist to hide the ugly purple bruise. She walks downstairs and finds Andrew in the living room with a doctor.
“How is he?” she asks the doctor.
“He doesn’t have a fever, but the wounds are quite serious,” the doctor says. “I’m going to give him an IV to help him regain his strength, and I’ll re-bandage the wounds. At least his heart sounds normal, thank God.”
The doctor busies himself with his medical bag as a petite nurse enters the room with an IV bag. Leilani looks down at the coffee table. It’s covered in different colored pill bottles and several rolls of bandages. There’s also a tablet containing Andrew’s medical records. The screen of the tablet is bright and clearly unlocked.
Leilani inches toward the table, hoping to steal a glance at the records. Just as she reaches the table, the doctor leans down and flicks a switch on the side of the tablet. The screen goes dark, and the medical record is locked. She sighs.
“Are you leaving for work already?” Andrew asks, eyeing the watch on her wrist. “Have the driver take you.”
“There’s no need,” she says. “I’ll drive myself.”
Andrew shrugs and waves goodbye. She grabs her purse, gives a few orders to one of the maids, and gets into the car. The one silver lining of living with Andrew is that he gives her freedom—he doesn’t have his men follow her everywhere she goes.
Leilani pulls into the garage and parks her car. She smiles when she sees that someone has already painted her name above the space. She gets out and locks the doors, fumbling with the keys as she puts them back into her purse.
There’s a light breeze, and then a faintly medicinal smell fills her nose. She turns in a panic and comes face to face with Waylen. His breathtaking eyes are searching as he stares down at her.
“Was it your last night?” he whispers, his hot breath tickling her ear.
Leilani stands on her tiptoes and looks over his shoulder, half-expecting to see Robert lurking in the darkness. She wants to punch the butler in the face. He promised to keep her visit a secret but has already betrayed her.
Strong fingers grab her chin, and Waylen forces her to look at him. Her heart hammers in her ears, and she bites her lip. He leans in closer until his lips are just inches from hers, and she shakes her head.
“I know it was you,” he whispers. “I’m sure of it.”
She feels a tug on her watch and hears a small snapping sound as Waylen breaks the delicate silver links. He drops the watch on the ground and raises her hand to the light. The dark bruise stands out against her pale skin, and he wraps his fingers around her wrist, matching each finger to the bruise it made.
“I knew it was you,” he says.
Leilani tries to pull her hand away, but instead, Waylen pushes her up against the side of her car. His eyes are hard and cold, and his mouth twists with a small, ironic smirk.
“So why did you come to see me in the middle of the night?” he asks. “Weren’t you worried your fiancé would find out you were sneaking into my room? Didn’t you wonder what would happen if Rebecca knew her guest was in her boyfriend’s bedroom? Do you really care for me that much—enough to risk everything?”
“You think too much,” she says. “You were in shock last night. The doctor said you might not make it. As your ex-wife, I came to pay my respects and say goodbye.”
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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