Captured by the Billionaire (Omnibus Edition) (12 page)

16

“Why hasn’t she woken
up yet?”

“We’re not exactly sure.”

“But she will, right?

“There is definitely brain activity. But she’s still very weak.”

“Does it usually take this long?”

“Every patient is different. But no. This is the longest I’ve seen.”

“I’ve paid you what you’ll make in a decade. If you let her die…”

“You can’t buy a miracle.”

She could sense that he was next to her, but her body was her new prison. The only thing she could feel was his hand on the top of her head, stroking her hair lightly. The worry in his voice whenever he talked to the doctors pained her, but as much as she willed herself to move, speak, do anything to give him a sign that she was still here, nothing happened.

Sleep. Leah couldn’t get enough sleep. No more bright light, no
more harsh music. The steel floor, always present beneath the thin mat, had disappeared and she felt like she was floating.

Then the dreams started and she was back in the bright room. At least she hoped they were dreams. When it was over she was back on the cloud, with Adam stroking her hair and whispering into her ear not to be scared. But what if that was the illusion?

Adam had just finished yelling at the doctor again. He was so angry his fingers felt hot. Leah was as surprised as he was when she finally made a sound, just a little peep. Her eyes were open, but his face was a shadow. It looked like he was smiling.

“Hi, baby,” he whispered.

All she had for a response was another peep. His lips were barely on hers and she wanted to stay in this moment forever, but her as soon as her eyes closed the blackness reclaimed her.

Just two little peeps. That was all it took to lift his spirits. Adam didn’t sound angry when he talked to the doctors anymore. It was easier to rest now that he knew she was in here. The dreams kept tormenting her, but now she was sure that’s all they were- just dreams. She must have started moving or groaning when she had a nightmare, because Adam always woke her up. For a split second, she would see his beautiful face and know that she was safe. He was always there.

Her eyes opened and everything was relatively clear. Leah was lying on her side, looking at Adam reading a book in the chair next to her bed. For a moment she just watched him.

“Hi,” she croaked.

In the space of a blink he was kneeling at her side, the book landing on the floor with a thud.

“Hi.” His fingers traced her hairline and down her jaw, which she could open. He smiled at her, kissing the tip of her nose.

“The baby?” Her hand landed on her stomach.

“He’s fine. Completely normal.”

“He?”

“Yea.” His hand was covering hers, his thumb gently brushing her belly.

“How long have I been-” her voice cracked, cutting her off.

“A while. Don’t worry about it.” Adam held a straw to her lips. The cool water was amazing. “Just keep sleeping. You’re getting better.”

“Adam.” Her voice was quivering, her vision blurring with tears. She was drifting away again and there was nothing she could do to stop it.

“
Shhhh.” Adam pressed his lips to her forehead. “I’m not going anywhere, baby. You need your rest.”

The next time she woke up, she didn’t have to struggle to keep her eyes open. Since she appeared to be alert, her first hour was spent answering questions for the doctors and submitting to various cognitive tests. Then came her first meal, another shake, but this one tasted like it was more ice cream than protein powder. A calorie bomb, as Adam put it.

“I want to go home,” Leah said, when they were finally alone.

Adam’s face dropped. “Of course,” he replied softly. “I don’t think the doctors will approve air travel this late in pregnancy, especially in your condition. Perhaps in a few weeks you’ll be well enough to travel by sea.”

“No boats.” She shuddered. “Why can’t we just drive?”

“It would probably take two weeks to get there by car, and you would have to go through some very dangerous parts of Central America and Mexico. I won’t allow it.”

“Two weeks?” Her jaw dropped painfully. Adam winced when he saw hand rush to her face. “Where are we?”

“A private hospital in Belem.”

“I don’t understand. That is that far.”

“Oh.” His face relaxed slightly. “I assumed you wanted to go back to the States.”

Leah shook her head. His eyes lit up for a moment, then fell to the floor. “I won’t take him from you.”

“What?”

“Our son. If you want to take him back to Chicago, I’ll let you.”

“I don’t want to go back to Chicago.”

“It would be convenient for me if you chose another city.”

Leah sighed. “I don’t want to go back to America. I want to go home.”

He paused, a hint of a smile crossing his face. “I didn’t know you felt that way. Like it was home.”

“Well I do.” She bit her lip. “I did. I’m not sure anymore. But I want to go back. For now.”

“For now?” His voice was quiet.

“Yes.” She was getting aggravated. “You know, I haven’t had a chance to process my anger toward you, Adam. But I want to be somewhere familiar. Now. I want to see
Ramira, and my dog. I want to sleep in our bed. And I want to throttle you for being married.” She glared at him.

“I’m so sorry.”

“I don’t know if I’ll be able to get past that.”

“I know.”

“Take me home. Now.”

“You’ve just woken up, I’m not sure if it’s a good idea. Maybe in a few days.”

“No!” Leah sobbed. “You don’t understand. I can’t stay in this room.”

It was all too familiar. The lights, the sterile setting. Too much white and stainless steel. It was definitely more luxurious that the medical facility back on the ship, but still too similar. Her eyes darted around the room as a wave of nausea washed over her. She started to panic, pulling on her IV and trying to stand.

“Ok, ok.” Adam climbed in to bed beside her, folding her into his arms.

“Please just get me out of here,” she begged. Her entire body was shaking uncontrollably.

“I will.” He kissed the tears that were streaming down her cheeks. “But we might have to stay in Rio. I’ll rent a house.”

“My house!” She had to squeeze her eyes closed to shut out the room.

“I’m not sure I’ll be able to get the doctor to go with us, and he has to.”

“So do what you do then. Drug him, put him and an old circus animal cage, and drag him out to the jungle,” she yawned.

“Leah…” He kissed the top of her head. “Leah?”

She was drifting away again, too exhausted to respond. Adam tried to climb out of the bed but she whimpered as soon as she felt him move so he stayed with her through the night.

17

Adam awoke to a
blood-curdling scream. Again. They’d been home for a week and the nightmares were only getting worse. The new doctor said that it was most likely posttraumatic stress disorder, but he wasn’t a psychiatrist. If Leah decided to stay, something that was looking less and less likely, he would probably bring in a shrink after the baby came. He offered to do it now, but she didn’t want to talk and he didn’t want to push her. She wasn’t talking to him very much at all.

The sounds she made were horrendous, but he didn’t mind being ripped from his slumber every night. The fear in her eyes when she woke up however was pure torture. For a few seconds she didn’t know where she was and she struggled against him, flailing her arms until she collapsed against his chest and sobbed as she slowly fell back to sleep. His guilt usually kept him awake long after her.

“Leah!” Adam was shouting but she wasn’t responding.

She was still so frail he was afraid to shake her, but it was the only thing that seemed to work when she was trapped inside of herself. Leah’s broken wrist shot forward and hit his solid chest before he could stop her. The scream that ripped out of her throat was full of more pain than terror and her eyes flew open.

Now came the confusion as she looked around and slowly remembered that she was safe in her bed. She held her arm against her chest and winced. Immediately Adam reached out to pull her into his arms but she shot him a look of pure hatred.

“Don’t touch me!” she cried, rolling on to her side with her back towards him.

He lay there still for a moment, unsure of what to do. This rejection was a first. She usually clung to him when she woke up scared. The sound of light sobbing filled the room, burning his ears. Her entire body was trembling and he ached to soothe her.

“Did you injure your wrist?”

“Yes,” she snapped. “I had to break it to avoid being murdered by the psychopath you let kidnap me.”

Her words cut him like a knife. This was bound to happen and he wondered why it had taken so long. He knew she couldn’t keep her anger under wraps forever. Lashing out in bed seconds after what seemed like the worst nightmare yet wasn’t how he pictured it.

“Did you injure your wrist just now?”

She was quiet for a few seconds. “I should probably have the doctor take a look at it in the morning.”

“Does it hurt a lot? Maybe we should go now.”

“Yes, it’s hurting a lot, but we’re not waking him up this early. Just because you gave him a lot of money doesn’t mean you own him.”

“Is there anything I can do?” He reached forward to stroke her back, but stopped himself before making contact.

“There is.” She wasn’t crying anymore. “You can buy a time machine and make it so that we never met.”

This was exactly what he expected her to say, exactly what she needed to say, but he hadn’t anticipated hearing it would be this painful. There was a lump in his throat.

“I can’t sleep anymore.” She flung herself out of bed, wavering on her feet.

Adam followed her out onto the deck. The sky was a dark blue, growing lighter in the east. Leah was leaning over the balcony staring westward at the fading stars. She looked so much better than she had just a few weeks ago. The color in her face was back and the gauntness was gone, but her body was still painfully thin except for her heavily pregnant belly.

He wanted to give her the space she needed, but couldn’t bear to let her out of his sight so he stood behind her silently.

“I can feel you watching me.”

“I’m sorry. I’m just afraid to leave you alone.”

“Well I suppose it’s just as well, because I’m terrified of being alone now. Even for a few seconds.”

“I’ll stay out here as long as you need to.”

“I don’t want you here.” She shivered. “But I don’t want you gone, either.”

“I’m sorry.” He must have said that more times this week than he had in his entire lifetime. He wasn’t used to apologizing. “Are you chilly?”

Leah sighed. “Yes.”

It was warm as it always was, but she was still cold. The doctor said it was normal, but it was still difficult to see. He went back in the bedroom and got the bedspread. On his way out he saw her slippers next to the bed. Tentatively, he wrapped the blanket around her shoulders, letting his hand linger for a few seconds before reluctantly pulling it away. He sat the slippers on the deck next to her.

“Your feet are bare.”

She huffed and sank her feet into the plush slippers. “Thanks.”

He leaned against the railing, leaving a few feet between them. She didn’t run away, but he had no idea what to say.

“Where did you get that file on me, Adam?”

That question. The one it had taken her far to long to ask. “It’s a service, for wealthy clients such as myself. The find women who are inclined to be sexually submissive yet unlikely to actively seek out such a relationship.”

“Have you used that service before?”

“No.”

“Why did they pick me?” He couldn’t tell if her voice was more angry or sad, but the desperation bothered him.

“I’m not sure. It seemed like most of the girls were targeted in college. That boyfriend of yours…” Adam couldn’t bring himself to say the name. It made him jealous to think of her with someone else. “He worked for them.”

“Nice to know that part of my life was a lie, too,” she said bitterly.

“Maybe not.” He didn’t like to think about it, but knew it would make her feel better. “He’d found a few before you, but didn’t stay with them for as long. And after you were done he stopped.”

“What, did you check up on him?”

“Yes.” That didn’t exactly cover it. Adam knew everything there was to know about the man. “His life is relatively normal.”

“Good for him.” She sighed, still refusing to look in his direction. “So how many did you have to choose from?”

“About a dozen.”

“So what did you do, narrow it down to the top three and then pretend to meet them in a bar like you did with me?”

“No. The others didn’t appeal to me.”

“Right,” she scoffed.

“I swear.”

“Well then, why me? What made you pick me? What did I have that the others didn’t?”

“They just didn’t appeal to me. You did.” Not at first, but why confuse her with that. “And you wanted to live here, so I thought you’d be happy.”

“Thanks for asking me first.”

“If I told you I wanted to, I’d be lying. But I am sorry that I didn’t, looking back.”

“So is this a common thing with you super rich guys? Kidnap a woman and make her have your baby, all the while convincing yourself she was a willing victim?”

“I…” Victim. That stung. And he knew he deserved it. “No. Well, the kidnapping thing, probably, I’m not sure. But apparently I’m the only one who ever came in looking for a baby.”

“So how many other men saw my picture and just passed it over? They’ve had it for what, 5 years now?”

“I have no idea. You tell them what you’re looking for and they match you up. There are thousands to choose from, so they say.”

“Well, I’m sure I’m getting pretty old, as far as sex slaves go. Was I on the discount rack? Is that why you picked me?”

“You were actually very expensive.”

“That isn’t a compliment, you know. Buying a person. Especially when she didn’t know she was for sale.”

“I didn’t buy you. Technically. I bought information about you, and paid to keep them from selling that information to anyone else.”

“How very thoughtful.”

He almost apologized, but he wasn’t sorry. Not for taking her. He was a selfish man, and that had been the best decision of his life. His only regret was not keeping her safe. She probably didn’t want to hear it, though.

“When were you going to tell me you had a wife and children?” Her eyes stayed forward.

He swallowed. “Probably not for a few years.”

“Until I had all of the babies that you wanted and I wouldn’t be able to leave.”

There was no point in lying. “Basically.”

“Wow.”

They sat there for a few minutes in silence.

“Does she know about me?”

“Yes.” He remembered that awful phone call perfectly. Patricia was positively livid.

“Do your children know they’re about to have a baby brother?”

“No.”

“Does she want a divorce?”

“No.”

“Do you?”

“I can’t do that to her. It would destroy her career.”

Leah’s head dropped into her folded arms. He tried to wrap his arm around her shoulders but she swatted him away.

“Do you love her?”

“In a way. Like a relative, a sister maybe.” He was trying to not lie, but that had visibly upset her. He should have told her no.

“So what was your plan then? Spend half the year with your real family and half the time with your bastard and me? Or were you going to take him with you and leave me all alone?”

“I never wanted to keep you away from the baby. It’s complicated. But I intended to spend the vast majority of my time here.”

“Are you sleeping with her?” Leah sobbed. “Did you fuck her while you were gone?”

“No!” Adam replied instantly, shocked.

“So when was the last time, then?”

“With Patty?” He honestly didn’t remember. “It’s been years. At least a decade. Probably more.”

“Most guys that cheat on their wives say that, you know,” she laughed bitterly.

“I swear. Not since Ryan came back into the picture.”

“Ryan?”

“Her publicist. She’s been in love with him since she was a kid.”

“So why’d she marry you?”

“He’s from a lower stature in life. Back then moving up in the world was all she cared about.”

“Did it hurt when you found out?”

“No.”

“So you didn’t care that your wife was sleeping with another man?” She finally looked at him. “I find that hard to believe. You’re too controlling. Your ego couldn’t take it.”

“The only time Patty wasn’t having an affair was when she was trying to get pregnant. It never bothered me.”

“Never?” Leah scoffed. “Because you were doing the same thing, right?”

“She didn’t care either. As long as I was discreet.” Adam’s eyes dropped. “But after a while, it did start to get to me. Their relationship. I got jealous. All I had was meaningless sex.”

She stared into the distance. “How can I trust anything you’re saying?”

“Because I’m leaving her.”

“You just said you couldn’t get a divorce.”

“I can’t.”

“So I’m just supposed to stay here and have your children while you are still married to another woman? I can’t do it.”

“It’s complicated.”

“Yea, no shit.”

“Leah…”

“Don’t you dare,” she said firmly. He had forbidden bad language.

“I wasn’t.” He ran his fingers through his hair, frustrated that she wouldn’t look at him but completely unable to order her to do anything. “Ok, this is extremely complicated, but hear me out.”

He waited for a response and let out a frustrated sigh when she kept her eyes forward.

“I’m not just leaving her. I’m leaving my entire life. I’m going to fake my own death. That was always the plan, just not until my kids were older.”

That got her attention. She turned her head and stared at him. “You can’t be serious.”

“I am. I swear. I’ve been planning it for years. Even before I met you.”

“How can you do that to your children?”

“They would know. It wouldn’t be that different for them. They grew up only seeing me on holidays anyway. They could visit.” He paused. “If you were okay with that. Or I would go somewhere else.”

“You would have never asked my permission.”

“Not before, no. I admit that. But now I would.”

Leah bit her lip. “From what Walker said,” she shuddered just to say the name, “you were one of the most powerful men in the world. Why would you walk away from that?”

“Because I fucking hate it.” Adam pushed away from the railing and started to pace on the deck. She turned around to look at him. “I’ve hated every minute of it. I never wanted it. But it was what I was born to do, what I was groomed to do, from the time I was a small child. I took my father’s company and built it into an empire because that was what I was supposed to do. And I. Hated. Every. Second.”

“What about the money? Did you hate that too?”

“Of course not,” he laughed. “And I’ll be taking a lot of it with me.”

“And the power?” She raised her eyebrow. “I happen to know how much you like to control people’s lives.”

“It’s not the same thing. It’s hard to explain.”

“So your son will be the new emperor then? Is that what he wants? Have you thought of that?”

“Of course!” Adam growled, making Leah jump back. He had forgotten. No sudden loud noises. “Oh, god. I’m so sorry.”