Sweet Seduction Shield (15 page)

"Oh," I
replied. "In ASI control."

"That's the
one," he said, sounding like he was smiling. "My reputation
precedes me then, I see."

A very small
huff of laughter escaped me, which I tamped down considering the
situation we were in and Ben's possible plight.

"Has that
person found Ben yet?" I asked.

"Almost there,
sweetheart," Eric said. "How are you holding up?"

Not good. The
car was jerking from side to side, the Territory's tyres were
squealing and engine roaring, as it sped up and tried to bump us
again and again.

That driver just would
not
give
up.

Then Pierce
would dodge to the left, swing us out of the maniac's path, make my
shoulder connect with the side pillar of the car, or my neck wrench
painfully the wrong way. And every time my breath would get pushed
out in a rush. Leaving me panting, and sweating, and freaking the
fuck out. I felt overwhelmed and under-protected, and yet all I
could think of was Ben.

"Please let
him be OK," I whispered. "Please let him be OK."

"What's that,
Marie?" Eric asked. I hadn't realised I'd said that aloud.

"Ben," I
whispered again, and heard Eric suck in a surprised breath of
air.

When he'd
gotten himself under control, he said, "Where are you now?"

"New North
Road," I answered automatically.

A fraction of
a pause as he tapped on his keyboard.

Then suddenly,
"Jason's made it on site." Eric sounded just as eager as I was to
make sure Ben was OK.

How could I
face Abi if he was not?

"HOLD ON!"
Pierce shouted, breaking my train of thought, making me open my
eyes abruptly at his volume and tone. I hadn't realised I'd shut
them, praying for Ben to be all right.

But as our
vehicle became airborne, and the world started to spin in a tumble
drying wash of different colours. And my head connected
surprisingly painfully with a side airbag, as the metal of the car
groaned, and the loud pop and hiss of further airbags inflating
sounded out all around us. I realised it shouldn't have just been
for Ben that I prayed.

But also for
us.

"They've found
him," I heard Eric's strained voice say down the line, realising
despite the car having made a complete three-sixty once already, I
was still grasping my cellphone tightly to my ear.

I wanted to
ask if Ben was OK. I wanted to understand the tone of panic I heard
in Eric's voice. But all that came out was a scream, as Pierce
threw himself over my body, wrapped his arms around my head and
frame, and the world turned to utter chaos.

Loud.

Ear-splitting.

Chaos.

And then went
completely dark.

"Daisy, Daisy.
Give me your answer, do."

Sirens. The
creak and groan of bending metal. The scrape of gravel and the
shattering of glass. The burning smell of rubber.

"I'm half
crazy all for the love of you."

Loud shouts
and the tick of a cooling engine. The thud of heavy boots and the
feel of cool fingers against skin. Restriction. Too small a space.
Tight.

Pain and a
burst of light.

"It won't be a
stylish marriage."

The shudder of
machinery and the too close sound of a pneumatic type drill.

"I can't
afford the carriage."

Movement.
Voices. Hands everywhere. Sharp stabs of pain and a dull ache
behind the eyes. The press of something hard and flat against the
back. Suffocation. Can't reach the source at the neck.

"But you'll
look sweet upon the seat."

More voices,
flashes of light, cold air. Slamming doors. Movement.

"Stay with me,
Marie. Hang in there."

Beeps, rushing
noises, the squeak of a rubber soled shoe. Lights.

Darkness.

"Come on,
Tiger. Come back!"

Darkness.

Darkness.

Darkness.

"Of a bicycle
built for two."

Ryan's
voice.

***

I woke with a
start.

Daisy.

I blinked open
my eyes, felt the too exuberant thud of my heart in my chest, and
struggled for breath. It was only when the room coalesced around
me, that my body's frantic reaction started to quieten. I was in
bed, at Abi's. I'd expected to be at the hospital still. That's
where the ambulance had taken me, I was sure. I remembered the
crash. Pierce throwing himself over my body to protect me. The
sounds of metal crumbling, gravel scraping, and glass shattering.
The shouts from the emergency services as they secured the scene.
The smells; petrol, burnt rubber, tarseal. Blood.

I know they
had to cut us out of the vehicle. I shuddered at the recollection
of the Fire Service using their 'jaws of life'. I know the
paramedics put a neck brace on me and placed me on a hard
backboard. I know there was electronic beeping at the hospital
ward, but it was quieter than the crash site.

But I didn't
know how I got here.

I looked
around the room, noting the closed curtains which were lit behind
by bright sunlight. And Genevieve from Sweet Seduction sitting in a
chair.

I raised my
eyebrows in surprise, which pulled at something on my cheek.
Reaching up, I noticed my hand shook, but whatever I'd tugged at
was under gauze bandaging. I was going with stitches. Great.

"You're
awake," Gen said, putting her book down and coming over to the side
of my bed. "Thirsty?"

I nodded,
unsure if I could talk yet.

Gen helped me
sit up and held a glass to my lips for me to drink. She fluffed the
pillows afterwards, and helped lay me back down, slightly more
elevated than before.

"Where's
Daisy?" I asked, now that my throat wasn't as parched as
before.

"Kelly's
entertaining her. I think they're colouring in penguins in the
spare room."

"She's OK?"
Meaning, is she OK with her mother lying unconscious in the next
room.

Gen nodded.
"Freaked a little. But because she could come in and check on you
whenever she felt the need, I think it settled some of those fears.
Pierce told her you were just sleeping. That helped too."

I didn't say
anything. I wasn't sure if the tightening in my belly was because I
now knew Pierce was OK and I was relieved, or because I was angry
he'd been talking to my daughter and I hadn't.

Gen studied me
for a moment, her hand absently rubbing her lower stomach in a
soothing circular motion. The silence stretched a little
uncomfortably between us, then both of us started talking at
once.

"How's Ben?" I
asked as she said, "He sang to Daisy while they sat with you."

"What?" I
asked, as she replied, "Beat up, pissed off, but fine."

I took a deep breath in. OK. The fact that it had been
Pierce's voice singing
Daisy Bell
that I'd heard was irrelevant right now. Or at least, a little
too much for me to contemplate right now. I needed to concentrate
on the important issues.

"So, what
happened to Ben?" I asked, sitting myself up a little further. I
ached all over, but it wasn't excruciating. Just a stiffness from
lying in bed and what looked like a day's worth of bruises.

"He was caught
off guard," Gen said, returning to her seat and stretching her legs
out. "Something Mr Ben Tamati is not particularly familiar with.
One knock to the head and he was out. We're not sure if it was
McLaren's man; the guy who tried to run you off the road, or if
there's more than one player involved now."

I let a long
breath of air out and ran a hand through my hair.

"Thank God
he's OK," was all I could think of to say.

"Abi was
pissed at Pierce," Gen offered, fingering the book on the table
next to her distractedly.

I frowned. If
she was pissed off at Pierce, she'd be pissed off at me.

I struggled to
a sitting position, swinging my legs over the side of the bed.

"Hey!" Gen
chastised gently. "You should take it easy. Honestly, speaking from
experience, that first step outta bed after a near fatal incident
is hell on your equilibrium."

I swung my gaze back to the slim, super model blonde,
wondering just what she'd been through to speak
from
experience.

"I'll take it
slowly," I assured her.

"Do you want
me to get Pierce?" she asked, stunning me immobile for a
moment.

"Why the hell
would I want you to do that?"

"Um," was all
she managed to say at first. "Well, you know, he's your man, and
all."

I blinked.
Just how long had I been out and what had happened while I was?

I shook my
head. Regretted the movement immediately. And said, "Ah, no. He's
not."

Gen nibbled on
her bottom lip delicately and stared at me for a second, then
offered a small knowing smile.

"It took me a
while to get it too," she admitted, but didn't make any sense at
all. "I fought it, of course. I mean, how can they be so sure after
so short an amount of time? It's the stuff of fantasy novels, isn't
it? But eventually, with their determination and dogged pursuit,
you start to see it. There'll be hurdles and crossroads, and all
sorts of things springing up in your way, but although they'll tell
you it's best to just go with the flow, I'm from the school of
'make 'em work for it.' Believe me when I say, it is so worth it in
the end. And my mother always said, 'you've gotta make 'em work for
it, Genevieve'." She laughed at herself, or her mother, I couldn't
tell, and then added, "I sure as hell made Dominic work for it,
anyway. You should make Pierce work for it too."

My mouth was hanging open a little, as I stared at the
creature before me. What had she just said? Silence met the end of
her speech, but I don't think Gen noticed it, or felt uncomfortable
because of it. It was as though she was used to talking and having
people stare at her in disbelief when she was done. She didn't
looked fazed at all by my reaction. Just offered a shrug and a
smile and started towards my side of the bed to help.

Before she
made it, Kelly appeared in the doorway.

"Groovy. She
lives." She took a look at my face, then flicked a glance to Gen's,
then sighed. "You been running off at the mouth again,
Genny-Benny?"

"Maybe," Gen
said a little slowly. "You come to help?"

"Yeah.
Everyone's in the kitchen and I thought I'd check on the invalid
before dealing with the clusterfuck that's about to go down out
there."

"Clusterfuck?"
I asked.

Kelly rolled
her eyes. "Abi's pissed off at Pierce. Ben's pissed off with
everyone. Adam's trying to cool it all down. Nick's pissed off with
Adam's attempt at civility. Pierce isn't saying a word, just
standing there with beefy arms crossed over all that chest and
scowling. Jason's stirring shit, because he's Jason. And Stone's
just trying to eat all the doughnuts and finish his coffee before
he's called back on the road."

I blinked, as
Gen laughed uproariously. "Gotta love 'em."

"Yeah well,"
Kelly said, "now that Marie's awake, she can referee."

"Why would I
referee?"

"Because your
boy is about to be fed to the wolves, and by the way he's been
looking after you and Daisy, and storming about like the world's
about to come crashing down if you don't wake up any time soon, he
deserves someone in his corner. And no one listens to me."

"Yeah they
do," Gen said cajolingly.

Kelly snorted.
"No. Marie, you have to get in there and save Pierce's arse."

"Why?"

Both women
stared at me as if I was mad.

"Because he's
yours, sweet pea," Kelly said. "Whether you know it yet or
not."

They were all
mental. But I did want to find out what was going on. At the very
least, find out what Abi and Ben had to say. They were the ones
directly affected by what had happened. I owed it to them to bear
witness to their anger.

I also wanted
to check on Daisy, to reassure her that I was all right. Plus I
needed to get dressed into something else. I was still in a
hospital gown, my teeth felt fuzzy and I needed a shower. The
shower would have to wait, but I crossed carefully to the bathroom
and quickly brushed my teeth, splashed water on my face, and went
to the loo. Then returned to the bedroom, where Kelly and Gen were
in quiet discussion, the words of which I couldn't quite hear.

They stopped
talking when I walked in, Kelly pointing to some clean clothes at
the end of the bed.

"Abs washed
your gear from home. She thought, after what Pierce described, that
you'd feel better knowing it had all been laundered."

I sucked in a
startled breath and blinked repeatedly for fear Abi's kind actions
would make me cry.

"How long was
I out?" I asked to distract myself, as I began dressing, uncaring
that I had an audience. I had too much to do to insist on privacy,
and beside, I was kind of getting used to these women's constant
need to be near, to help, to befriend. I was even beginning to like
it.

"A few hours
in the hospital, half a day here," Gen said.

"How did I get
released from the hospital?" I was stunned they'd let me out so
soon.

"Your tests
all came back clear," Gen explained, but didn't go on.

"So?"

"Pierce,"
Kelly offered, not needing to say anything else.

"He thought
I'd be safer here," I surmised.

"He knew Daisy needed to be near you, and moving her to the
hospital was more dangerous than having you recuperate here under
surveillance. The doctors were convinced you'd fully wake up soon
anyway, you kinda did a couple of times, but Pierce still had to
sign over your care, relinquishing them from liability."