Chapter Forty-Seven

Danica

M y head is groggy, and I vaguely register the sound of soft voices speaking in the distance, before a weightlessness overcomes me. Suddenly, I am floating, lost in the clouds and the smell of a delicious spicy aroma that wafts around me. “Mmm. Theo. . .” My moan is soft and I am pretty sure I am dreaming. It has been hours since he left without a word, hours of trying and failing to get my new babysitters, Muscles and Dimples, to give me any information; or hell, to even just talk to me like normal people.

I gave up all hope of getting past their brooding, silent walls after the third hour. Left to my own devices, I took my time exploring this ridiculous mansion pretending to be an apartment. My God, it is fancier than Caleb’s place; let alone Jonathan’s or Finnley’s, and all three of them have more money than they know what to do with. I honestly don’t know how Theo stands it, living here. At least with the other house in the country, it made sense. Sure, it was bougie as fuck, but it also felt homey somehow, welcoming.

In contrast, this place is a cold museum meant to shine a light on the wealthy, serving only to make them look even more wealthy and powerful than they already are. It’s the kind of place my parents would love, actually. All pretense, with no heart. Shamelessly going through each of the rooms, I couldn’t help but cringe at the over-the-top gaudiness. It’s so out of character for the Theo I knew that it is almost laughable to think this is where he lives and spends most of his time. I would laugh, if it didn’t also make me so sad.

Needing a distraction, I eventually found myself in the media room. This place has a freaking media room, like seriously? And that was aside from the gym, library, office, game room and living room. Not to mention the three over-the-top guest suites and jaw-dropping master suite that could easily replace my entire apartment with their individual spaces.

So yes, a distraction from my new gilded cage was very much needed, which was how I found myself melting into this butter-soft leather couch and flipping on the television. The last thing I recall was falling asleep to the news talking about some disaster with a private jet that went missing somewhere over the Pacific, and how its crew and passengers -some singer with a funky name- are all now missing and presumed dead.

I could swear I was floating, flying on the wind, but that can’t be possible because now I am lying on clouds, so soft and fluffy, that I can’t help but snuggle further into their comforting embrace. As my mind slips back into the oblivion of a peaceful sleep, I almost thought I caught a whiff once more of that spicy aroma and felt something soft brush my hair. But it is probably all just a part of these sweet dreams.

Buzz.

I moan, swatting blindly at whatever annoying bug must be flying around my face.

Buzz.

“Mmm. Go away!”

Buzz. Buzz. Buzz. “Just let me sleep dammit. I have had the week from hell and this girl needs her beauty sleep.” The words come out muffled against the pillow I have smashed my face into as I try to drown out the annoying sound, but the buzzing doesn’t stop .

Opening my eyes, I squint blearily into the bright room, and realize belatedly that the annoying sound was coming from my phone which is sitting on the glass top of a nightstand. Huh. It takes me a few tries as I smack my hand around but eventually, I am successful in grabbing it and bringing the damn thing to my ear.

And then I am rewarded with an ear-splitting shriek.

“Eeeek!”

Jesus! I drop the phone and it smacks me in the face. With a groan, I glare at damn thing through my squinty eyes before bringing the demon phone to my ear once more.

“What?” My word comes out in a hoarse croak.

“Bitch!”

Ah, it’s Sierra.

“Do you want to tell me why I had to hear from my sister that you saw Theo again?” Her screech is loud, and I wince, pulling the phone away from my ear slightly as I force myself to sit up, resting my back against the heavenly pillows that had carried me through such pleasant dreams the night before.

“Hi Sierra.” I scrub my face with one hand, trying to force my weary body into a higher state of wakefulness. God knows I’m going to need it for this conversation. I knew this call was coming. It’s been a few days since I have had the chance to check in with my best friend. With everything that has happened, and the fact that her schedule is so busy, I haven’t had the chance to call and update her. Apparently, Quincy beat me to it. “It’s good to hear from you to-”

“Skip the pleasantries and get to the good stuff please. How the hell did you see Theo again? And why DIDN’T YOU CALL ME ?” Her voice is so loud that it’s a wonder no one else can hear.

In a pathetic attempt to protect my poor ears, I put the phone on speaker before tossing it carelessly onto the cushy duvet. This is probably going to be a long conversation, and I know how animated my dear friend can get when she is digging her claws into such juicy gossip.

“Well. . . so here’s the thing. . .”

“Oh. My. God. Danica Lynae Ellis, did you sleep with him?” She gasps with exaggerated shock.

With this, at least, I can be honest. “No! Of course not!” My snort of indignation is quite unladylike, but I can’t help it. She, of all people, should know better than to ask me that .

“Then what the hell is going on over there? You’ve got some ‘splaining to do missy!”

A dry laugh escapes me. “Well, I was trying to tell you, if you would stop interrupting.”

“Zipping my lips as we speak.” I can picture her making the motion with her hand where she mimes zipping her lips closed, locking an imaginary lock, and throwing away the key, as she has done numerous times in the past when there is juicy gossip to hear. “Ok, shoot!”

“So, you know that little stalker thing I have been dealing with for forever?” I rush to get out before she can interrupt again. “Well, you see, Bash has been hounding me for the longest time about going to one of his games, and he was in town for his big match against Seattle. He finally wore me down about going; so naturally, I dragged Jonathan with me to the game, but Theo saw me and lost it on the ice, and then when I was meeting up with Bash after the game, Theo confronted our little group. . .”

I continue to elaborate on the details of me initially running into Theo again, and Sierra is the perfect listener, gasping in reaction to all the right moments. I glaze over the details of what happened at the club (she doesn’t need to know that I basically dry humped the guy on a crowded dance floor. I will take that secret to the grave), instead focusing on the more important details relating to the hits on Prism, and Jonathan being attacked.

“And so now, I’m kinda, sorta, maybe staying at Theo’s penthouse downtown while Finn is trying to get a handle on everything and Jonathan’s in the hospital.”

Speaking of, I wonder where my Hoodie Guy went off to last night. I haven’t heard from him at all since he left me with Muscles and Dimples. For that matter, I glance around the room as I continue my conversation with my best friend, how the hell did I end up in here? The last thing I recall was falling asleep while watching the news before. . .

Oh shit. I vaguely remember floating and a faint smell of spice. Theo’s spice to be exact. He must have come back at some point, found me passed out on the couch and carried me in here. But then, where is he now?

As I finish my long-winded summary of the events that have led me up to this point, Sierra is uncharacteristically quiet on the other end of the line. Like, you could hear a pin drop.

“So. . . aren’t you going to say anything? ”

And then, tinkling laughter rings in my ear before a lilting sing-song voice comes over the phone. “Danni and Theo sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-” but I cut her off before she can go any further.

“If you finish that song, I am gonna fly out there and kick you in the shins.”

“Oh please! If that was all it took to get you to come over here for a visit I would finish that song in a heartbeat, but we both know that’s not going to happen. All I’m saying is, you two are totally gonna fuck .” Her voice is teasing as she makes sure to emphasize the word ‘fuck.’

“What!” I hiss, throwing another glance around the room. No sign of Theo, thank God! I can only imagine what he would say about this whole damn conversation.

“Seriously, babe. Your guys’ chemistry has always been so thick you could cut it with a knife. He’s back in your life after all this time while you are dealing with your little stalker fiasco and now you are staying at his place. You two are totally going to hook up. It’s inevitable.”

I glare at the wall across from me, arms crossing over my chest in a defensive posture. A completely useless attempt at self-preservation in this one-sided interrogation by my best friend.

“Are you forgetting the part where he broke up with me? He completely obliterated my heart. I can’t fucking sleep with him.” I lower my voice as I hiss the last part.

“No one was saying anything about sleeping. I highly doubt there will be much sleeping involved once you two decide to make the beast with two backs.”

Ugh. My friend can be so disgusting sometimes. I grimace.

“All I’m saying is, you two clearly have unfinished business. And he only broke up with you after you ran out on him after confronting him with the autopsy paperwork your stalker left for you about your shit-face ex. The stalker was clearly trying to drive a wedge between you, and it worked.”

“But-”

She cuts me off before I can get a word in edgewise. “Now, I’m not saying he wasn’t in the wrong there. I know you ran out because you were overwhelmed with the news. You had just found out that your super protective, amazing boyfriend clearly murdered your abusive ex and then covered it up. Obviously, you needed time to process the information, and deal with the fact that you had just found out your boyfriend had been lying to you for months after he damn well knew you had some major trust issues. You needed time to sort through all the emotions that were bound to drag up when you were clearly still healing and working through an obvious trigger for your trauma response.”

At the time when everything happened, I hadn’t spoken to anyone about what I had found out. A lot has changed since that time, and I trust Sierra implicitly, which is why I finally opened up to her about everything that had happened. Lord knows it isn’t exactly something that I could work through with my therapist, you know, with the whole murder thing and all.

But Sierra is right; it had been a major trigger for me at the time. I was still dealing with a lot of PTSD and trust issues, between everything that had happened with both Bradley and my parents. I hadn’t meant for us to break up though; I had just needed space to breathe and clear my head. Had I known that Theo would break up with me the following week, I don’t know if I ever would have confronted him on the matter.

“What I am saying,” she continues, “is that you two clearly have some unfinished business. You never did try to find out why he broke up with you, did you? Just left it at face value when he said-” she pauses, trying to recall the details. “What was it that he said, again?”

My voice is devoid of emotion as I respond, mentally drained from the memories it has brought up, after the already overwhelming events of the last few days. “That clearly this wasn’t working out. I was too immature to handle the nature of dating a guy like him. A guy with a complicated past; and besides, we both had exciting careers ahead of us, so why shouldn’t we play the scene a bit and see what the world has to offer us?”

I hear a snap of fingers as she connects the dots. “Right! Don’t you think he could have been saying that just to give you what he thought you needed to hear? To give you the chance for a clean break after everything that had happened with your past? I mean, I hate to break it to ya, sis, but you had already cut every other possible tie to your old life over here. By that point, you had already made it clear that you had no intention of ever going back to the east coast, had cut ties with every person you possibly could that brought up any reminders of Bradley and what had happened. I mean, with the obvious exception of your brother, Finn, and Bash because they would never let you cut them out even if you tried.”

She pauses once more, and I take a moment to let her words sink in before she continues. “Maybe this was just his way of trying to push you into moving on?”

What she’s saying makes sense, in the fact that that would clearly be Theo’s style, trying to push me into bettering myself even at his own expense. But then, he went and hooked up with a damn puck bunny not even two days later. It was all over social media. That is what had finally broken me, not the breakup itself.

“I. . . don’t know.”

“Just talk to him, girl. You owe it to yourself to try to find closure if nothing else. And the best medicine for healing on from a broken heart? One last mindless fuck-fest with said heartbreaker. Doctor’s orders.”

I can’t help my chuckle, though it’s completely devoid of humor. “Right. I’ll get right on that Dr. Crawford.”

“Good. And I need all the gory details once you finally do hit that fine piece of ass. Now I’ve got to go; but so help me God, if I have to find out important details second-hand from QT again, I really will fly back there and kick your ass myself. Love you.” And with that, she blows me a kiss and hangs up, leaving me to stare blankly ahead, too lost in my own thoughts to notice the topic of our conversation has walked into the room and is now leaning casually against the doorframe.