Read Online The Billionaire's Trust (His Submissive, Part Eleven) by Ava Claire - Free Book Online Page B

into rooms with
defibrillators, wails of pain and agony, the buzz of all the
machines used to keep those bad off with one foot in the world of
the living. Instead, it was eerily silent. Like walking through a
graveyard.
    I hitched a breath when a door
thirty feet away flew open like a thunderclap, the familiar,
sleekly muscled frame of Jacob stepping into the hall.
    I opened my mouth but left the
greeting unsaid when I saw his head was bowed. On the phone.
Probably business.
    Whatever it was must be serious
because his demeanor was terse and unyielding. I approached him
slowly, frowning as his words reverberated through the
quiet.
    "I swear to god if you call this
number again--"
    My flats squealed on the linoleum
and he whirled to face me, instantly going from rage to something
softer. Eyes still on me he ended the call and started in my
direction.
    "Who was that? Everything
okay?"
    The nerve beneath his eye flickered
before he wrapped me in a warm embrace. "It is now."
    He was definitely avoiding my first
question, but his ill mother was in the room a few feet away. I'd
give him a pass for now. Besides, the longer those arms were around
me, the more everything else dimmed. Work, worry, everything except
his scent, his body didn't matter. I held onto him for dear
life.
    His hold slackened but I kept my
cheek against his chest. "She wants to see me."
    "Yes." My arms tightened, but he
broke the connection long enough to take the sides of my face in
his hands. He caressed me with his gaze. "I don't know if it was
the close call with death or what, but she'll be on her best
behavior."
    Yeah...best behavior for Alicia
Whitmore or the average person?
    I gripped his hand. "You'll be
there?"
    He nodded, an understanding smile
curving his lips. "Ready?"
    He wisely didn't wait for verbal
confirmation or we might've never gone through the door.
    We stepped inside. The room was as
regal as I remembered Mia's being. Lush furnishings that reminded
me more of some fancy hotel than a hospital. Alicia wasn't strapped
to the bed though--she may as well have been considering all the
cords snaking around her, binding her in place. And just like Mia,
she was a ghost of her former self. Body frail, all skin and bones
beneath the hospital gown. Her salt and pepper hair was oily and
hung limply around her splotchy face. With her eyes closed I got
this sick image of her laid in a casket.
    I gasped when her eyes flew
open.
    Thunder flashed in the gray as she
took me in. "I don't look that terrible, do I?"
    "No," I squeaked.
    She gave me a signature look full of
attitude. "You're a horrible liar. I guess that's a good thing
though." She winced as she grabbed the remote and brought herself
to a seated position. "Come closer. I'm not contagious."
    I was ready to tug Jacob along for
the ride, but I remembered the last thing I wanted was for her to
see me weak and unable to stand on my own.
    He's right over there , I told
myself, releasing his hand. And it wasn't like Alicia was gonna
attack me, she had IV lines coming out all over the place.
Truthfully, I was more worried about the blows she'd dole out with
her words. The scars invisible to the naked eye, but inside, bright
and purpled. Memories of that letter I'd found months ago, when she
seemed so excited to meet me. And then our first interaction when
she offered me a blank check to go away. Every run in after
compounded until we hit the apology. It would take more than 'I'm
sorry' to rebuild the bridge between us. And the last thing I
wanted was for her to see just how much she affected me.
    I walked to her bedside, chin up,
posture perfect, eyes cool and unaffected. "Jacob said you wanted
to see me?"
    She cleared her throat and reached
for a styrofoam cup. The clink of ice echoed as she tilted a few
cubes in her mouth before responding. "Jacob, can you give us a
moment?"
    His gaze shifted from her to me,
silently asking me if I was okay. I gave him a slight
nod.
    "I'll be right outside."
    We watched