Life of a Fool (London Brothers Book 2) (12 page)

What?  My mind couldn’t calculate fast enough, but I was
sure I wasn’t due to start my period.  “What?  No, I can’t be.” 

“Do you think we hurt something last night?  Shit, this is
my fault.”

“No.  Just help me dress.”  I didn’t care about that at the
moment. 

“Okay.”  He continued to pull my panties up my legs and just
about the time he finished, the doorbell rang.  “I have to go let the
paramedics in.”

“No,” I cried.  “Don’t leave.”

Jason cupped my face and said, “Shh…it’s okay.  I’ll be
right back.  They’re here to help you.”  He kissed me, then walked out to go
answer the door.  I lay there trying like hell to figure out what was happening
with my body.  I was so sick of the fucking injuries.  I wasn’t myself when I
was so dependent on people to help me.  I wanted to be healed, physically,
emotionally, mentally…in every way.  Jason was helping with some of it, but the
rest was up to me and my body.

As I lay there listening to the footsteps and voices, I had
another surge of excruciating pain.  “She’s in here.  Shit!  Lori Ann!”  Jason
screamed.  Why the hell was he so loud?  My head was suddenly dizzy, and as men
asked me questions, I felt like they were ten miles away.  I knew they were
moving my body and I think I screamed a few times, but wasn’t sure.  A few
pokes and squeezes in my arm, and I felt my body relaxing a bit.  But as soon
as I was lifted, onto a stretcher I assumed, everything changed.  I had a warm
sensation cover my body like a hot blanket and I tried like hell to get it off,
but couldn’t.  I heard Jason’s voice saying, “You’re okay.  Don’t move, baby. 
Please don’t move.”  I could’ve sworn he was crying.  Why the hell would Jason
be crying?  “It’s getting worse.  Hurry the fuck up!”

He was seriously going nuts.  I
tried to open my eyes to tell him I’d be okay, but I felt too tired.  I think I
gripped his hand.  Was that his hand I was holding?  Damn, I was losing it. 

*****

The next coherent thought I had was when a woman’s voice
called my name and was asking me stupid questions.  She wanted to know if the
man who came to the ER with me had given me all my bruises and broken ribs. 
Then, she said the strangest thing…she asked if he was the father.  My eyes
suddenly popped open to see an older woman in a pressed suit standing next to
my bed with a clipboard in her hand.  She wasn’t a nurse, that I knew for
sure. 

“Who are you?”

“I’m Joan Summerville, Mrs. DiSabatino.  Do you know where
you are?”

“Yes, I’m in the hospital in San Diego.  Who are you?”

“I’m the hospital social worker.  When you were brought in
last night, the doctors assessing your condition alerted me to the bruises and
other injuries you have.  Now, the gentleman that came with you…”

“Jason.”  I interrupted.

“Yes.  Mr. London, he is a friend?”

“What is all this about?  I’m not feeling all that great at
the moment, so if you’d just cut the shit and ask me what you want to know.”

“Fine.  Did Mr. London have anything to do with your
injuries?”

“No.  That would be courtesy of my bastard husband, Antonio
DiSabatino.  He’s in Italy.  Jason is a lifelong friend and helped me to escape
from him.  Antonio did this to me.  Jason rescued me, saved my life.”

“I thought so.  I’m sorry I had to ask.  You see, I’ve known
Jason and his family for years, worked with him on multiple cases, but had to
ask.”  Her smile was genuine, and I could see she was a fan of Jason’s. 

“He’s a good man.  My husband, on the other hand…”

“Well, I kept the hospital from calling him for now, but I’m
not sure how long that will last.  We are required to notify next of kin or
someone with legal authority to make medical decisions on your behalf when you
are incapable, but because of the relationship you have with Jason and Kyle
London and the information he was able to give us about you, we treated you.” 
She paused, then said, “It’s in your chart that your husband was unreachable.”

“Thank you.  You probably saved my life by not calling him.” 
I felt tears well in my eyes. 

“Does he know?”

I sniffed.  “Know what?  I mean, he knows Jason and our
friend Craig took me away, but I don’t think he knows where I am.  Not yet, at
least.”

“No, does your husband know about the baby?”

“What?!?  What baby?”

“Lori Ann…may I call you Lori Ann?”  I nodded.  “Hun, you’re
about three months pregnant.”

“NO!  I can’t be.  I mean…how could I…no, no, no!”  I was
screaming, crying and shaking my head like the devil himself had planted his
spawn inside of me.  This couldn’t be true.  Antonio would never stop coming
after me.  He’d stop at nothing to kill me and take his child or kidnap me and
hold the child’s safety over my head as ransom to make me stay.  NO!  This
couldn’t be happening. 

“Calm down.  It’s going to be okay.”  Joan wrapped her body
around mine and held me tight…this stuffed-shirt-looking woman was so much more
than what I’d thought.  “We won’t let him know.  I understand, Lori Ann. 
Believe me when I say I do.  I’ll help protect you.  You and this baby will be
safe.” 

I cried for what felt like hours.  When I was able to ask
questions, Joan told me that I had slight internal bleeding, probably from
re-injuring my ribs that was causing some of the pain.  And on top of that, I
had a placental tear that most likely happened when Antonio had broken my ribs
a few weeks ago, and instead of healing on its own, it continued to tear,
causing massive bleeding.  The screaming and yelling in the bathroom and
ambulance was Jason freaking out because there was blood everywhere.  I had
passed out from the pain and blood loss.  As she spoke, I cried.  The baby was
fine, for now, she’d said.  I had to be on bed rest for a few weeks, which was
a good thing, she added, since my ribs needed the time to heal too.  I didn’t
want to be pregnant.  I didn’t want Antonio’s baby.  But I couldn’t bring
myself to terminate a child.  And I didn’t know what that meant for me and my
life going forward.  So, I cried.

Joan stayed another hour, talking to me about options to
protect myself.  I didn’t really want to hear any of them.  All I kept focusing
on was the fact that I’d been awake for a few hours and Jason was nowhere
around.  It scared me.  I couldn’t do this on my own. 

I closed my eyes and tried to sleep, but my mind wouldn’t
let me.  It was getting dark outside now and I was alone.  I didn’t have a clue
what my next step would even be.  I thought about my parents and knew they
would let me stay with them, but that also meant coming clean to them about
everything that had happened with Antonio.  I didn’t really have any other
option, though.  I looked around for my purse, hoping my phone was in it, but
didn’t see it anywhere.  I’d have to wait until morning to call them. 

The hospital door opened and in walked Jason.  He looked a
disheveled mess.  I burst into tears the second I saw him and buried my face in
my hands.  He rushed over and sat beside me on the bed.  “Hey.  It’s okay. 
Shh.”  He pulled me gently to his chest.  “You scared the shit out of me.  Don’t
ever do that again.”  I sniffed and let out a sad laugh as I looked up into his
face. 

“Jace, what do I do?”

“I have to ask…did you know?”

“That I was pregnant?”  He nodded.  “No, Jason.  I didn’t
know.”  I stiffened and pulled away from his grip, crossing my arms over my
chest.  His question didn’t sit well with me.  Was that why he’d been gone all
day?  He thought I’d kept something this big from him?  I suddenly wanted him
to leave, so I said, “I need to get some rest.  I’m not feeling very well right
now.  Can you go?  I’ll talk to you tomorrow.” 

Jason reached up and grabbed my wrists, unlocking my folded
arms.  “Nope.  Not leaving.”

“Excuse me?”

“I’m not leaving here.  So, just go ahead and lie back and
rest.  But I’m staying.”

I sighed.  I didn’t have the energy.  “Jason, please.  Go
back to your place and get some sleep.  We can talk tomorrow.”  I didn’t pull
my arms away, but I turned my head to the side and laid it on my pillow so I
didn’t have to look at him.  I felt a tear roll down my cheek as I closed my
eyes.  Jason sat there, holding my wrists, not saying a word. 

“I didn’t know what was wrong with you, and it scared the
hell out of me.  I thought I’d hurt you when we made love last night.” 

I turned to see the anguish on his face.  “Jason, you didn’t
do anything wrong.  You were so good to me last night.  It was exactly what I
needed.  This was because of him.  I didn’t know I was pregnant.  I guess with
the stress of trying to leave Antonio, I did realize I could be.”  He was
staring at me, lost.  So, I pulled my arms from his hands and touched his
face.  “I don’t want this.  I don’t want anything that ties me to Antonio. 
Please believe me.”

Jason leaned in and kissed my lips.  “I do, baby.  I’m just
so fucking scared for you now.  If he finds out, he’ll come after both of you
for sure.  I’ll kill him before I let him near you.”

I took a deep breath as his kisses trailed over my cheeks,
my forehead, my eyelids, and down my neck.  “You don’t hate me?”

He stopped and looked at me.  “Why would you even ask that? 
You know I’d never hate you.  I love you.”  His blatant declaration had both of
us frozen in place.  We’d talked about feelings the night before, but those
words right then were different.  They held a promise and a future.  They felt
so much more raw than our pillow talk about loving each other. 

“You love me?  Like really love me, Jace?”  I sounded
stupid.

He took a deep breath.  “Yes, I told you that last night,
baby.”

I smiled, “I know, but today…well, it’s just different.  It
sounds real.”

“Well, it was real last night, last year…hell, the last
fifteen years.  I love you, Legs.  Can’t help it.  And this new development,
well, we will figure it out.  I have to keep you safe.”

I pulled his face to mine and kissed him.  “I love you, too.” 
I stared into his handsome face, then asked, “Will you lay with me?”

“You sure?  I don’t want to hurt you.”

“Yes, I’m sure.”  I carefully moved over and Jason stretched
out beside me, wrapping his arm around my stomach.  He froze for a second, then
placed his hand flat across my belly.

“I’ll take care of you too.  I won’t let anyone hurt you.” 

I turned to look at his face.  “Oh, Jace.”  Tears flooded my
eyes, and I sobbed into his shirt.

“Shh.  It will be okay.  I’m here, and I’ll never leave you.”

I could not believe what was happening.  I swear her husband
had some demonic fucking powers that could reach Lori Ann no matter where she
was.  I tried not to lose my shit about the fact that my girl was pregnant with
her abusive ex asshole’s child.  When Joan pulled me aside and told me, for a
split second I was happy and thought, “Wow, really?”  Then, my brain kicked in
and I realized what she was telling me.  My whole body stiffened, my face felt
like it slammed onto the floor, and my stomach churned with nausea.  As Joan
asked me a few questions, I was gritting my teeth and grinding my jaw so much,
I could hardly speak properly. 

“Jason, without telling me too much, how bad is this
situation?”  Joan asked.  I glared at her, and she nodded her head.  “That bad,
huh?”

“This,” I pointed toward Lori Ann’s hospital door, “just
ratchets the danger up several notches.  He’s an unpredictable, arrogant,
power-hungry abuser.  He’s threatened her more than once.  It’s just a matter
of time before he shows up here looking for her.  We’ve been lucky so far and
have been able to go undetected since we got back here, but this?  Well, you
and I both know her name will get leaked no matter how hard we try to stop it,
and he’ll be at our door in a matter of days.”  I ran my hands through my hair
and muttered “fuck” under my breath.

Joan put her hand on my arm.  “I’m sorry, Jason.  I’ll do
all I can to help.  First, though, I have to go talk to her, get a statement. 
I know you.  I trust you had nothing to do with her injuries.  So, I
need
her to be honest with me so I can have some legal way of helping.”

“Thanks, Joan.  I appreciate it.  She’ll tell you.  There’s
no way Lori Ann would protect him.  I’m just worried about how she’s going to
react to finding out she’s pregnant.”

“You
really
don’t think she knew?”  I understood Joan
had to ask me that question, but it still pissed me off.  Maybe because a tiny
part of me questioned it too.

“No,” was all I could say.

“Okay.”  She stepped away from me, grabbed her satchel and
turned toward Lori Ann’s room.  “I’m going to check and see if she’s awake.  I’ll
be back.”

I nodded my head and walked down the hallway, making my way
outside to make a call.

Ringing.
  “Hey, Jace.”

“Craig, man.  You’re not going to believe this shit.”  I
took a deep breath and relayed the events from the last few hours, skipping the
most private of details about my night with Lori Ann.  It was none of his
business.  He was quiet, simply listening. 

I waited for him to ask if I thought she knew and kept it
from us, but instead, he said, “He’ll never stop coming after her, Jason.  We knew
he’d come looking regardless, but a baby? 
His
baby?  This is her death
sentence, and you know it.  He’ll either wait until that baby is born and then
steal it, or he’ll try to kidnap her and take her back to Italy while she’s
still pregnant.  What the fuck are we going to do?”

“I don’t know.”

“Damn, this is so screwed up.”

“Yeah, it is.  I haven’t had a chance to talk to her yet. 
She passed out from the pain and meds they gave her.  I’m waiting to go in, but
first, I needed to call you and calm the hell down.  You know how I feel about
her, Craig.  I’ll do whatever it takes to protect her…and her baby.”