Trinity (The Executive's Affair) (8 page)

"No," she wailed. She would rather die before going back to him.

"Such a shame." He slammed the back of her head on the floor and then kicked her twice more. The first kick landed in her shoulder and the second landed in her ribs again.
"I'll see you soon, Trinity."

She curled up in the fetal position, barely aware that he'd left.
At least he hadn't kicked her in the stomach. That was something to be thankful for when everything else seemed hopeless. Her last thought before the world went black was of Laszlo and the future she knew they could never have.

***

Her eyes fluttered open and then closed against the bright light of the room. She had no idea where she was, but based on the sounds and smells around her, she guessed she was in a hospital. The steady beep of a heart monitor, the rhythmic drip of an IV, the hushed tones of the voices around her—yup, she was definitely in a hospital. She had no idea how long she'd been there or how she arrived. The last thing she remembered was lying on the floor, crying and in pain. Jason had found her. Fear struck her hard and fast. Jason was going to kill her brother if she didn't give him back the pictures she'd stolen.

Trinity lifted her hand and was startled when a sharp piercing pain shot through her hand and up her arm. The IV. Forcing her eyes open, she pulled the needle from her hand. "Ouch." Her voice was raspy and her throat was dry.
She heard a male voice in the distance. It was loud and he was shouting. Oh, god! Was that Jason? Her eyelids felt like lead. Why was she so tired? And why did it feel like her arms and legs were in mutiny against her? Flinging the cover off, she sat up. Her eyes were still droopy and she was having difficulty focusing. Everything looked so blurry.

"Hey, what on earth do you think you're doing?" A pair of large strong hands was on her shoulders, pushing her back down onto the bed. "Lie back down. You're in no shape to be up walking around."

"No, I have to get out of here. He's going to kill my brother." She pushed the hands away. "Stop, no! He's coming back! You have to let me go!" She kicked her legs and swung her arms, thrashing and screaming. A debilitating pain in her chest caused her to cry out.

"Nurse!"
shouted the man who was holding her down. His voice sounded familiar, but her brain was fuzzy and at the moment, she was solely focused on getting out of there and making sure Jason didn't kill her brother.

"What's wrong?" It was a woman's voice.

"She removed her IV and she's insisting on leaving."

That voice…she knew it. "Laszlo?" she muttered as her body went limp. 

He brushed the hair from her face. "Yes, it's me." He kissed her forehead. "Now please lie down, love and let the—"

"No! I can't. He's coming back. If I don't get out of here he's going to kill me. I have to leave. Please. Please, Laszlo you have to let me go!" she shouted as tears coursed down her cheeks.

"Who, Trinity? Who is coming back?"

"Jason," she whispered. There was a pinch in her arm, a needle, and then the room went dark.

CHAPTER NINE

"What did you give her?" Laszlo asked the nurse.

"A mild sedative. Her heart rate was climbing to an unsafe level. That kind of stress isn't good for the baby. She needs to rest and stay calm," the nurse said.
"I'll have the doctor come in to check on her shortly."

"Thank you."
Laszlo blew out a breath and dragged a hand through his hair. He hadn't slept at all since he'd found Trinity last night. She'd been slumped on the floor, unconscious and badly beaten. Her face was black and blue, she had a concussion, and three fractured ribs. By the grace of God the baby had been unharmed.

Laszlo had immediately called an ambulance and then the police. He'd rode to the hospital with her and only once he knew she and the baby were okay did he talk to the police. They believed it was
a robbery. Odd thing was, nothing was stolen and everything in the house was intact. Laszlo knew that whoever had attacked Trinity, she'd known them. But now the question was, who had done it and why? He now knew the who—a man named Jason, who had apparently not only threatened Trinity's life, but her brother's as well. He still didn't know the why, though. But he was damn sure going to find out. First, he had to make sure both Trinity and her brother was safe. And then he'd find out who this Jason guy was and make sure he paid for what he'd done to Trinity.

He took a seat in the corner
and pulled out his cell phone. The first call he made was to a private security firm. He wanted round the clock protection for Trinity; an armed guard stationed outside of her hospital room, one at the gate to his house, and others at every entrance to his house. The second call he made was to the best private investigator in New York. Laszlo wanted Trinity's brother located and protected. He also wanted this Jason guy found. The third call was to Sarah. He instructed her to go to Trinity's house, pack up her things, and have them delivered to his house. The whole "let's date and get to know each other before we rush into living together" crap she wanted was off the table. There was no fucking way he was letting her out of his sight now. And if she didn't like it…well that was just too bad.

As he was getting ready to put his cell phone away it buzzed in his hand. "Laszlo Cstary," he answered.

"What the hell happened to you last night, Laszlo? You gave me your word that you'd arrive early and talk to the press! I expected you to be late, I really did, but I never expected you not to show up at all," Natasha yelled.

Damn, she was loud!
He held the phone away from his ear until she stopped yelling. "Something came up," he said coolly.

"Something came up? Are you serious? Christ, Laszlo, your company hosts this event every year. You're the guest of honor and you didn't show up because something came up? The press is having a fucking field day with this."

"Trinity was attacked last night, Natasha. She's in the hospital. I've been here with her all night."

There was a long pause. "I'm sorry. Is she all right?"

"She's going to be fine. So is the baby."

"Okay." Natasha exhaled. "I can fix this, play up the sympathy angle, but I'm going to have to announce the pregnancy."

"No." He stood and paced back and forth in front of the foot of Trinity's bed. "Until we know who attacked Trinity I don't want any information given about her or her condition."

"The children's hospital is talking about finding a new sponsor, Laszlo. You can't afford that if you want to rebuild your image."

"They're the ones who can't afford it," he snapped. "I'm their biggest financial supporter and they know it."

"Grant Gould offered to beat your yearly donations by ten percent."

"Fuck!" Laszlo stopped pacing and hung his head. Gould was his biggest competitor and he was always trying to out shine Laszlo. "Okay, fine, call a press conference and I'll speak to the press directly."

She sighed with relief. "Thank you, Laszlo. This is for the best, trust me. I'll set it up for today, say three o'clock? At your office as usual?"

"No, I'm not leaving the hospital. Set up the conference here." He hung up without another word. An idea began to form in his mind. Maybe a press conference wasn't such a bad idea after all.

He pulled up a chair and sat beside the side of Trinity's bed. He took her hand and brought it to his lips, giving her knuckles a soft kiss. "Trinity," he whispered. "I don’t know what happened, love, but I promise you I'll fix it. I'll make it go away and I'll never let anyone hurt you like this again." He rested his forehead on the edge of her bed and fought back tears.
God, he loved her. He loved her so much it hurt. And he knew he'd do anything and everything in his power to have the future with Trinity that she keeps denying him.

***

"You couldn't even bother to change?" Natasha asked as she walked with Laszlo toward the press conference she'd arranged.

He looked down at himself. He was still wearing the tuxedo he'd put on for the charity ball. "It's better than jeans and a t-shirt."

She shook her head. "Okay, so remember to apologize to the hospital, use their full name so that there is no confusion. Then go on to explain that your fiancé was attacked—"

"Trinity isn't my fiancé," he said as he buttoned the top few buttons on his shirt.

"I know, but it's going to look better if she was."

"Okay, fine, whatever." Laszlo took a deep breath and entered the cafeteria where he was greeted by dozens of cameras flashing and snapping pictures. His eyes were tired and sore from lack of sleep. The constant flash of the cameras was not helping.
With his usual arrogant confidence, he walk to the podium and quieted the crowd with a wave of his hands. "Thank you all for coming," he began. "I'd like to extend my deepest apologies to the Garrison Children's Hospital for my lack of attendance at last night's charity ball. As a symbol of my remorse, I will double my yearly contribution to the hospital." He paused as a ripple worked through the crowd. "I truly hope that the Garrison Children's Hospital and Cstary Holdings will be able to continue the business relationship that we've both worked so hard to build and foster.

"Unfortunately, my lack of attendance was unavoidable. Last night when I arrived to pick up my
fiancé, Miss Trinity Collins, I found her on the floor, beaten and unconscious." Laszlo's heart rate spiked as he remembered how it had felt to see her like that. It was the single worst moment of his entire life. "She, along with our unborn child, are in stable condition. I ask that you please respect our privacy during this difficult time. Thank you."

"Mr. Cstary!" A female reporter stood and waved to get his attention. "Do the police have any leads on who attacked Miss Collins?"

"No," he said with a shake of his head. "However, I am personally offering a one million dollar reward to anyone who comes forth with any information that will lead us to the person responsible." From the corner of his eye he saw Trinity's doctor enter the room and walk toward him. "Excuse me," he said covering the microphone with his hand.

"Mr. Cstary, Trinity is awake and she's asking for you," the doctor whispered.

"Thank you." Laszlo turned to the press. "Any further questions can be addressed to my PR manager, Natasha Davidson." He left and rushed back to Trinity's room. He entered to find her sitting up in bed, trembling and crying. "Oh, Trin," he whispered.

"Laszlo," she whimpered, her lips quivering as she spoke. "I'm so sorry."

He sat on the bed next to her and put his arm around her shoulders, being careful not to hurt her, and pulled her head to his shoulder. "You have nothing to be sorry for, love." He kissed the top of her head.

"Yes I do. All of this is my fault." Her hands clung to the front of his shirt. She buried her face against him and cried. "My brother is going to die because of what I did."

Laszlo stroked her hair in an attempt to soothe her. "You don't know that, Trin. I've got an entire team of investigators looking for your brother. They will find him and protect him. I promise you nothing will happen to him."

"It's probably already too late."

He had no idea why she would say something like that, but he didn't ask because he was afraid it would agitate her and he didn't want the nurse to have to sedate her again. "Where is he?"

"He lives in Buffalo, New York. His name is Frank Johnson." She sat up slowly and looked a
t him through tear stained eyes. "Please, Laszlo, you have to find him."

There was so much fear and desperation in her voice it tore at his heart. Wiping the tears from her face, he said, "I will. I promise."

"I wanted to tell you," she said.

"Tell me what?" He wondered if the medication she was on was making her loopy because she was making absolutely no sense.

"I was just so afraid of how you'd react, that you'd think less of me, that you wouldn't want to be with me. Oh god!" She covered her face with her hands and sobbed for several moments before she continued. "I thought if I just left, if I disappeared that I could save you from all of this, but then I found out I was pregnant and you were so happy…I knew I couldn't…I couldn't…"

"Hey, it's okay, shh." He hugged her and rubbed her back.
Tears stung his eyes and he had no idea why. Maybe it was the way her voice gave out, or seeing her so distraught, or maybe it was because he'd known she was going to leave him and it terrified him that she might still try. "Whatever it is you can tell me."

Slowly, Trinity lif
ted her head and looked at him, but she still didn't speak. He took her face into his hands and kissed her gently on the lips. It felt like ages since he'd last kissed her and for a while last night he wondered if he'd ever get the chance again. "Nothing you can tell me will change how I feel about you, Trinity. Nothing," he emphasized.

She took a deep breath and nodded.
"Before I started working for you I worked for Congressman Jason Ross. I was a PR intern. It was a dream job. Jason was so charming and he seemed to take a special interest in me. He told me I was a natural and that I could have a very successful career in politics if I played my cards right."