Read Beautifully Revealed Online
Authors: Bethany Bazile
Beautifully Revealed (6 page)
Isabella
After my long flight
I want nothing more than to collapse on a bed and get some much needed rest for tomorrow. I push the door to my room open and I’m surprised when Lucas’s smiling face greets me. My heart thuds in my chest, unexpected tears of happiness glisten in my eyes and I realize I missed him more than I was willing to admit. I drop my bags and leap into his arms.
He welcomes me into his arms
with a firm hug, nuzzling his face into my hair. He smells like home. A feeling of comfort falls over me, and I’m absolutely certain I made the right decision in coming here.
“I missed you,” I say quietly.
“I missed you too, Izzy.”
I step back and look into those blue eyes
I’ve missed seeing. His hair has grown out from his usual buzz cut, but it’s sexy and gives him an edge I’ve never seen before. “I thought you might still be mad at me.”
He smiles and
that cute dimple appears, “Oh I’m still pissed, but I’m happy to see you more than anything else.”
“Well maybe we can be friends again,” I say hopefully.
“I don’t want to be your friend, Izzy, you know that.”
Of course I know that
, but it’s all I have to offer him now and forever. “It’s all I have to offer you, Luc.”
“We
’ll see about that,” he says grabbing my bags and pulling them into the room. “This is your room and mine is across the hall,” he says. It finally clicks that Lucas is in my suite and I realize he expects us to share.
“
We’re staying in the same suite?”
“Of course we are,
we haven’t had time to prepare for our meeting so we’ll be spending most our time together anyway.”
It sounds logical
, but I know it’s a terrible idea.
“
I don’t know, Luc, this is a bad idea. If Liam-”
“Does he control everything you do? He’s probably as domineering as his father.”
Domineering? Maybe.
Abusive
? No.
I don’t like Lucas comparing Liam to the man
who beat his mother, and I find myself getting defensive.
“Don’t compare
him to that man. Liam is good to me, Luc. I know you hate him but he’s a really great guy.” He rolls his eyes at me then turns to leave the room. So much for fixing our friendship, as long as I’m with Liam it’s going to be a huge obstacle in the middle of this friendship.
********
I take a two hour nap before showering and venturing into the sitting room to find Lucas. I don’t find him there so I knock on his door. Lucas opens the door in a pair of briefs and nothing else. “Uh…sorry Luc, I thought
we could go over the details for the meeting tomorrow.”
He smiles at me
, running a hand over his tight abs. Okay so he’s purposely trying to tempt me, but I feel nothing. I turn around and head into the sitting room to wait for him. Lucas doesn’t bother to get dressed and just comes out of his room with his briefcase as if he’s not practically naked.
“Aren’t you going to get dressed?”
“Why? Am I making you nervous?”
“No Lucas
, it’s just very inappropriate.” I’m not nervous. It’s just really disrespectful towards Liam. I don’t want to say that to Lucas because he would probably strip naked just to spite Liam.
“You’ve see
n me in less than this, Izzy.” He takes a seat at the table and I’m irritated by his ridiculous ploy to tempt me. I contemplate going into my room and leaving him out here, but I have no idea what we’re doing tomorrow so I sit across from him grudgingly.
“So how’s
Florida?” he asks.
“Do you really care?”
“Of course I care, you’re important to me and I want you to be happy.”
I eye him suspiciously becau
se I just don’t believe he wants me to be happy with Liam. “I am happy.”
He nods his head and looks down at the papers in front of him
, but not before I saw that look of disapproval cross his face.
We
spend most of the night going over our presentation, and by the time I get up from the table to get some rest it’s almost dawn and we need to be at our meeting at noon. Luc gives me an awkward hug at the door to my room and I hurry in, shutting the door behind me before he’s tempted to ask to sleep in my bed with me. Old habits die hard and Luc is really good at getting his way.
********
I wake feeling groggy, the jet lag is taking a toll on me, and I just want to get this over with so I can come back and sleep until my flight the next morning. I dress in a pantsuit and sensible shoes. Put my hair up in a tight bun then wait for Lucas at the door.
Our meeting goes off without a hitch and it seems everything is going as scheduled. Lucas has begun to relax and I don’t bring up Liam because I know his name will sour his mood.
He talks me into spending a little time in the casino before we decide to go to dinner. I’d much rather go to my room and order room service, but Luc insisted. We won’t get the opportunity to see each other for a while so I give in and join him at the hotel’s restaurant.
I’m almost glad that I came here until
our dinner arrives, and Lucas’s phone begins to ring. He ignores it at first, but it continues to ring so he finally answers it. He turns his face to talk and judging from the tone in his voice this is bad news. He hangs up and gives me a dismal look. “Anna’s missing.”
I sit up straight in my chair, shocked by his words. “What do you mean
missing? What happened?”
“My dad says she never came home last night and
she’s not answering her cell. He didn’t want to call me until he had time to look for her, but now he’s pretty frantic.”
“Oh
my God, Lucas, I’ll call the airport and see if we can get a flight out of here.” I rush outside the restaurant while Lucas settles the bill and waits for them to box up our dinner. After several calls and quick checks on my phone I realize we won’t be able to get out of Vegas until the morning. I cancel my flight and reserve two tickets for the five a.m. flight to Chicago.
I quickly dial Liam
number because he needs to know about his mother. “Ella,” he answers on the first ring.
“Anna’s missing
,” I say abruptly. I didn’t mean to blurt it out but I’m anxious and scared.
“What?”
His voice is almost a whisper.
“Anna’s been missing since last night.” The silence that ensues worries me. “Liam? What are you going to do?”
“I don’t know,” he answers.
“You have to go Liam, s
he’s your mother.” He’s quiet for a while and I’m not sure if I got through to him or not.
“She called me,” he finally says. “She called me and I blew her off…now this happens.”
“You have to go to Chicago, Liam.”
“I don’t know
if I can.” This is hard for him and I wish I could hold him and reassure him that going to Chicago is the right thing to do.
Lucas steps out of the restaurant and
immediately asks, “Were you able to get a flight?”
“Not till tomorrow morning.” He nods his head and
we walk to the elevator. As hard as I know this is for Liam, it’s ten times worst for Lucas. Anna is his everything and we need to get to Chicago as soon as possible and figure out what’s going on.
“Hello?” I say into the phone and realize that Liam hung up on me.
I contemplate calling him back, but I’m pretty sure Lucas’s voice chased him off in the first place so I decide not to.
Back in our suite,
Lucas’s demeanor is dismal and the blank look on his face worries me. He refuses to eat and won’t even attempt to get some rest.
“You should really get some sleep, Lucas.”
“Will you come with me?” he pleads sadly.
I shake my head a
t him and he rubs his forehead with his hand. “Please Izzy, just lie with me. You always had a way of helping me get to sleep.”
I feel horrible saying no
, but this would make Liam crazy. “I can’t.”
He nods and doesn’t
push the issue any further. We sit in silence until I begin to drift off to sleep on the couch. Less than an hour later his phone rings. We both look at it, then at each other.
“Hey D
ad,” he says into the phone. My heart begins to race because this could mean they found her and she’s fine or…I can’t even think about the other possibility.
His eyes lock with mine and I see the tears beginning to form
, and all I can do is shake my head in disbelief. He hangs the phone up and sighs deeply before saying anything, “They found her, but she’s not good.” His voice begins to shake so he inhales and exhales to calm the tremors. “She was in a car crash and has been stuck in her car for hours. She went over the embankment and her car was found in a ditch. Now she’s in critical condition.” Tears begin to pour down his face and I move towards him in auto pilot.
“Izzy, this is like what happen
ed to my mother all over again.” My heart breaks for him. I hold him in my arms wishing I could absorb some of his pain, but the pain I already carry around is too much of a burden for me. How can I possibly know what to do for him when I never know what to do for me?
“Our flight is in five hours,
let’s go to bed.” If he needs me to hold him tonight that’s what I’ll do for him. I run into my room and change into a t-shirt and shorts before joining Lucas in his bed. He lays his head on my chest while I hold him tightly, his tears soaking my shirt until he finally dozes off.
Liam’s finge
rs are lightly stroking my clit. His tongue is licking behind my ear, causing me to moan. I gently rock my hips against his hand as I try to clear my sleep haze. I take a deep breath and freeze, every muscle in my body locks up because Liam’s smell is ingrained in my system and right now I realize I’m still in bed with Lucas.
I leap out of the bed in complete shock. My eyes bulge, my breathing escalates and I cover my mouth with my hand to
keep from screaming. Lucas looks at me confused, and I have the urge to slap his face.
“Are you fucking crazy!” I scream at him. “I slept in this bed with you as a favor to a friend and you take advantage of me
!”
“Izzy
, calm down, it’s nothing we haven’t done before. Plus you were enjoying it.” This is wrong on so many levels. I haven’t felt this sexually vulnerable in years and I’m shocked that Luc would do this to me.
“Lucas
, I’m with Liam and I love him, I would never do anything to risk losing him. You violated my trust.”
He runs a hand through his hair and sorrow clouds his features, “
I’m sorry Izzy, I just wanted to forget, to feel something other than this pain. I shouldn’t have touched you.”
I shake my head, still in
disbelief of what just happened. I want to stop lying to Liam, but how do I tell him this? This is exactly what he was afraid of before I left. “I can’t even talk to you right now.” I feel sick to my stomach as I walk to my room. Lucas is not aware of my past but this feels very reminiscent of how Damon took my choice away from me. I shouldn’t feel this way. I slept with Lucas for years, but his right to touch me ceased when I ended our relationship.
I shower and dress
, dreaming up the different scenarios of what will happen when I tell Liam, but all of them don’t turn out good for me. By the time we get to the airport and board the plane I haven’t said a word to Lucas, and he’s keeping a safe distance from me.
Th
e flight seems longer than it actually is. I fluctuate between pretending to flip through my e-reader and clicking through the on flight television to keep busy. By the time we land I’m so anxious to see Anna and to hear any news about her condition that I’m chewing on my nails.
We take a cab
straight to the hospital and once we get to Anna’s floor Lucas’s hands are shaking so badly I stop him and give him a hug. I’m so angry at him, but the woman behind that door is a mother to him, and I know he’s hurting. He gives me a weak smile before I grab his hand and lead him into her room. Broad shoulders and unruly wavy hair greet me as we enter the room.
My heart flutters as I realize Liam fought back his resentment and came to see his mother.
He’s standing next to Anna’s bed and immediately turns to look at us as we enter the room. His eyes travel to Lucas’s and my linked hands before he turns back around and continues to stare at Anna. Lucas seems too afraid to move so he just stands near the door watching quietly with a death grip on my hand. When I finally manage to break free from him, I join Liam next to Anna’s bed.
I caress his arm and he glances a
t me sadly. Anna looks worst than I expected. Her face is bruised and has almost a grayish complexion. She has a cut on her lip and eyebrow, which look like they’ve already been stitched up. A beeping monitor is the only noise in the room until the door opens and a doctor steps in. He introduces himself before checking on Anna. As soon as he’s done with Anna, Lucas finally speaks up. “How is she?”
“Let’s st
ep into the hallway,” he answers. We all follow him into the hallway, staring at him with anxiously.
“Anna suffered
severe head trauma, broken ribs and internal bleeding. The fact that she survived for all those hours is a miracle. We’ve done all we can for her but she may only have a couple hours left.”
The three of us stare at him like deer caught in the headlights. Anna had been a mother to all of us in different way
s, and now this doctor is telling us to say good-bye. Lucas is the first to break down into a fit of tears. He pulls me into his arms and I physically battle with my tears. I need to be strong for Lucas and for Liam. I look around and find Liam staring at us embracing.
“Ella, I need to talk to you,” he says and I
feel like I’m caught in the battle between Lucas and Liam all over again.
Lucas
’s hold on me tightens and he barks out, “No!” He glares at Liam before turning back to me, “Izzy, I need you now more than ever. We were so good together, it’s time for you to come back home. I still love you.”
Liam barrels down on us, yanking me out of
Lucas’s arms, and I feel like walking out this hospital and not looking back. I don’t want to be the person who incites this war between them; right now I want to focus on Anna.
“You stay the fuck away from her,”
Liam growls. “As much as you hate it, she’s mine, she loves
me
.”
Lucas
’s face twists into angry scowl. “Then why was my hand down her panties this morning?”
Ohh
Shit!
I think the world just stood
still because I can’t move, and everything is moving in slow motion. I feel instant pain in my heart that Lucas would hurt me this way. It wasn’t enough that he took advantage of me, now he’s using it as a weapon against Liam.
Liam’s fist connects with Lucas’
s face and he falls backwards, skidding across the floor. I can only watch as Lucas covers his bleeding nose with his hand. Liam flexes his hand before turning to glare at me.
“It’s not what you think, I was sleeping. I swear he took advantage of the situation.
” He shakes his head, looking disgusted by me. I stop him as he tries to walk past me. “Where are you going?”
“Back to Florida. Anna has her true son here now, she doesn’t need me.”
“I’m coming with you.”
“No.”
He flings my hand off his arm and storms down the hallway.
I
decide not to follow him. As much as I want to go after him and explain, or at least make sure he’s alright, I can’t. Instead I spend the night in the hospital with Anna and Lucas’s dad. I don’t want to miss any of the time that I have left with the woman who taught me loving mothers do exist