Chapter Five
One week later
Even though she’d been able to sleep on her own, Russ was still insistent on staying the night. Anna hated to admit it, but she liked him being there. During the night she would wake up, and he’d be there. If she was in the throes of a nightmare, he’d tell her everything was okay, and promise to take care of her, and for her to go back to sleep. He reminded her that she was safe, and no one would ever hurt her. During the day, when he was busy with his work, she made arrangements for Karen’s funeral. Her body had finally been released, and in one week, she was going to be putting her to rest. Franny was there to help as well.
“You don’t have to stay,” she said.
“You’re being discharged tomorrow.”
“Yes.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I’m going to go back home to my and Karen’s little apartment.” She took a deep breath. There were going to be a lot of memories there.
“I’m going to be here to pick you up,” he said.
They had gotten into a strange routine. He stayed during the day, left in the morning, returned in the evening, and then left for a couple of hours before returning at midnight for her to fall asleep.
“You don’t have to do that.”
“The doctor has discharged you into my care. You can’t leave without me.”
Anna licked her lips and tucked her hair behind her ear. She was so nervous about being near him outside the walls of the hospital. Russ didn’t scare her, and he’d told her he was Russ, not Russell. She wasn’t about to argue with him.
His billionaire status unnerved her.
Some women would love to have a billionaire taking care of them, but for her, it was just a nightmare. She and Karen had planned their own business, and now she was sitting in front of a man who was a success.
It was embarrassing, their small time dream, and here was a man with a massive one.
“So I’ve not got a choice.”
“I’m a good man, Anna. You’re safe with me. Are you scared of me?”
“No, of course not. I wouldn’t be frightened of you.” She told him the truth. “I just, I’m used to being alone.”
“You’re used to being with Karen.”
“And she’s gone.”
“Exactly. It gives me no pleasure to say that to you.”
No matter what he said, it would hurt. Karen was gone.
“Look, I don’t think you should be alone right now.”
“Living with you will help me?”
“I’m hoping it will give you a chance to get over the pain of losing your friend.” He took a seat on the bed, taking her hands. One of her hands was in a cast, but the doctor said it was healing perfectly. She didn’t like it when he touched her. Anna didn’t want to get used to his comfort. In the end, it would disappear like everything else. “Going back to your apartment is going to be tough enough. Staying there with memories, it’s going to eat away at your soul. Trust me on this.”
“I do trust you. I know it’s going to hurt, but I don’t want to become dependent on you.”
“You’re not going to. All you’re doing is leaning on me for support. Let me help you.”
“Why?”
“I want to.” His jaw clenched, and she forced herself to look away.
“Do you always get what you want?”
“Yes.”
She growled with frustration. “This isn’t fair. I don’t owe you anything.”
Russ stuck out his lip. “I guess you don’t owe me anything. I mean, it wasn’t me who found you, and unlocked the dog cage you were locked in. I didn’t help you get to hospital, nor have I been the one sitting here night after night—”
“Stop it. Okay, yes, I owe you, and I sound ungrateful. I’m being ungrateful. I’m sorry. How do you put up with me?”
“I don’t know. I wonder that all the time.”
She rolled her eyes and giggled. “Fine, I will not moan at you anymore, and I will be a nice girl to you.”
“It’s about time. I thought that would never happen.”
Anna laughed again.
“So, do you have everything ready for Karen?” Russ asked.
The laughter died. “Yes. I do.”
“Tell me about her.”
“You want me to talk about Karen.”
“She meant a great deal to you. We’re not going anywhere, and I’m curious about you two.”
“I told you we were both in foster care, and how we always ended up back together.”
“I don’t need to know those kinds of details. Think of the happy memories. Tell me about, I don’t know, some special memory.”
Biting her lip, Anna stared down at her hands as she thought about everything she’d experienced with Karen.
“It had to be on the night of my eighteenth birthday. Karen was older than I was by about four months. Karen stayed in foster care as she was allowed to stay until we graduated high school. We were both working, and on my eighteenth birthday she was waiting outside for me.” Anna rubbed her hands together, trying to do everything she could to keep her emotions in check. If she started crying, she wasn’t going to stop, and she needed to stop. “I expected her to have cake or something. She had a car. We had been working for a couple of years, and we saved every cent we earned so that we could make a plan for when we left the foster system. She told me to get in the car, even pretending to hold a gun to my head. Her gun was made out of her fingers. It was only joking around. I got in the car, and she drove for what felt like a lifetime. Finally, she stopped at an apartment that was rundown, and completely shit.”
“It was yours?” he asked.
“It was ours. Karen had placed three months rent, and we were moving in immediately. She had a cake ready, and we celebrated my birthday, and our freedom. It was amazing.”
“See, now you’re not feeling sad, you’re feeling happy.”
“I am. Thank you.”
For several moments neither of them spoke, and they just stared at each other. Anna took a deep breath as the tension between them mounted.
She was the first to look away.
Her life was upside down, and she didn’t even want to think about having a possible crush on a guy.
****
The following day, Russ was running behind, so he ended up jogging down the long hospital ward toward Anna. He had told the nurses to keep her locked in her room if they had to. Russ didn’t want to leave her alone, and he only did so when he knew the nurses were attentive. When he wasn’t with Anna, he was at work, or trying to get as much information off the devices as possible. The MC was working its ass off to help save as many women as possible. There wasn’t any time for screwing the club girls at the moment. Since he’d been seeing Anna, none of the club girls interested him. The club so far they had only encountered a shopping list for women. They had given the information to the cops, and were now waiting for news from the local missing person who matched the descriptions of the girls. The more women they saved, he hoped would help ease Lewis’s conscience. His friend was not doing too well in the last week, and he’d been unsuccessful with the voice recognition on his informant.
Russ truly believed Lewis was hunting a ghost that didn’t exist. If she did, Mandy wouldn’t be the same person who’d left.
When he rounded a corner he saw there was a nurse who was guarding Anna’s door.
“She try to make a run for it?”
“Yes. She doesn’t seem to understand that she is being released into your care. Make sure you keep an eye on her,” the nurse said, giving Anna one last look.
Leaning against the doorframe, he raised his brow at his woman. “You tried to run?”
“No. I wanted some fresh air, and not to be stuck here. Okay? It sucks being here, and I hate it.”
“Well, I can help you now. I’ve got my car, and we’re out of here.”
He grabbed her bag and headed out of the room. Anna was still on crutches to help her walk, and he made sure to keep his movements slow.
“You can speed on ahead if you’d like.”
“Not going to happen. I’m happy to take it at your pace.”
She wore a large pair of jeans and a shirt that swamped her body. He’d given the nurses money to buy her some clothes, but they had appalling taste. Her hair was down, and the lush length made him want to run his fingers through it. Over the past week he’d found himself wanting to do things to her. Touch her, caress her, strip her naked, and fuck her brains out. Anna fired the blood in his veins, and many nights he’d been in a constant, painful state of arousal from watching her. She would throw the blanket off herself, and he’d get a good look at her fuller body.
Russ liked a woman with curves, but the women at the club liked to keep themselves slim, believing it was what helped attract men to them. Throughout the night, Anna’s shirt would ride up, and one night he’d been practically begging for the shirt to go above her breasts. In the end, it hadn’t happened, and he’d been so damn sad about that. She needed to be naked as far as he was concerned, and clothes needed to be banned.
Instead, he’d sat in his chair, gotten hard as rock, and when she woke in the morning, he’d left her alone, willing his dick to relax. It hadn’t happened, but he always took care of his needs when he got home.
They entered the elevator, and Russ forced himself to think of other things rather than sinking his dick into a nice warm cunt, or more specifically, Anna’s nice warm cunt. She would be nice and warm for him, and so wet. He’d make sure she was soaking by the time he slid within her walls.
“Thank you,” she said.
“For what?”
“For helping me. I don’t want you to think that I’m ungrateful. I am grateful. It’s just hard.”
“I understand.”
She rested her chin on the top of her crutches. “Have you ever lost a best friend?”
“No. I don’t know what you’re going through, but I do understand why you’re distant, and scared to let anyone in.”
He reached out, and tucked some hair behind her ear. The length was silky smooth, and it didn’t help to stem the arousal building inside him.
The elevator opening invaded their moment once again. Their moments always seemed to be interrupted.
He followed Anna out toward his car, and he took the time to check out her ass. Of course her ass was covered by the long clothes, which pissed him off.
“Who got you those clothes?” he asked.
“One of the nurses.”
The moment they were outside of the hospital, he heard her sigh of relief. He couldn’t blame her. Hospitals sucked.
Russ showed her where he was parked, and for a second she paused.
“Is everything okay?”
“Sure, everything is fine.” She kept on moving, but he saw the tension inside her.
“Don’t be nervous.”
“Your car costs more than I earn in a year.”
His car was expensive. Being a billionaire, he liked expensive things, and he wanted to share some of that with Anna. She was lucky he’d remembered to bring the car, and not his bike. He loved his bike, and his passion for bikes was stronger than his love of cars.
Russ didn’t get this connection he felt toward the young woman. She didn’t try to flirt with him, nor did she try to actually get his attention in any way. Anna was an enigma, and at the same time, not. She was a young woman just trying to get by, and for some strange reason, he couldn’t bring himself to simply walk away.
Helping her into the car, he made sure she didn’t hurt herself or fall. He didn’t want her to jar her ribs or cause herself more pain.
Within minutes they were on the road, and Anna was telling him directions to her home.
“It’s not much.”
“Is this the first apartment you lived in?”
“No. It’s the fifth one. We got out of a bad neighborhood, and felt this one was better for the both of us.” She took him toward several large apartment buildings that looked slightly rundown to him. They were not the worst he’d seen, but they were not the best.
“You might want to, erm, drive around for a little while. I don’t know if your car will be safe.”
Russ looked around and shook his head. He wasn’t afraid. Parking in an available spot, he climbed out of the car and rounded the vehicle to help her out. They made their way into her building, and he was surprised that the elevator actually worked.
Anna looked so comfortable, and he couldn’t help but watch her. It was what he found himself doing regularly, watching her. He couldn’t look away. Anna had such an expressive face that he refused to miss it. Russ was so used to keeping his emotions in check that seeing her so open drew him to her. He was like a moth, and she the flame.
She opened the door, and turned toward him. “We weren’t millionaires.”
“I know that, honey.”
“Well, this is going to be a bit of a shock to you.”
Rolling his eyes, he pushed open the door. “I wasn’t born with a silver spoon. I worked my way to the top.”
“Seriously?”
“Yes. Seriously. Did you think my business was inherited?”
“I don’t know what to think, to be honest. You keep everything locked up tight so I don’t know what to make of it. I’ve talked so much about myself, and you don’t.”
“There’s not a lot to know about me.”
“You’re part of an MC, and that’s cool.”
“Not really. We’re a bunch of men who share a couple of interests.”
“Those interests brought you to my life.”
He sighed. “That’s true. I don’t have a family. I was found on a shop doorstep, thrown into foster care from a baby.”
“You weren’t adopted?”
“I was adopted, but it would seem that the people who wanted me, didn’t want my bad attitude. I was a kid that had issues.” Russ kept his gaze on hers. “I didn’t let foster care shape who I am now. I’m a fighter, and I can see you are as well.”
“Karen, too. She fought the system just like us.” She gave him a smile, and his gut tightened.
Did she have any idea how beautiful she looked?
“So, this is my and Karen’s home, or it’s mine, now, I guess.”
He looked around the living space, and noticed how clean it was. There was very little furniture. They had bean bags around a small table, and small patches of carpet made up the floor.
The floor that wasn’t carpeted had been painted, and looked nice. The walls were washed and painted, and he moved toward the windows to see they were also painted.
“Sorry about the lack of furniture. We wanted to save every cent we earned for a shop, or a small business.”
“A small business?”
“When we were taken, we had been to see a property that we thought could be the future for us.”
“Did you know what you were going to do?”
“No. We had ideas. We always had a lot of ideas, but we didn’t exactly know how we were going to implement them.”
“You can still do that now,” he said. He wanted her to have her dream.
Anna shook her head.
“The money that we had saved up for our venture I put into her funeral. Will you be coming to the funeral?”
“Yes. I wouldn’t miss it.” He spotted several pictures across the walls. They weren’t in picture frames, and they were printed on paper. “What’s this?”
“We had a cell phone that took pictures. The library a few blocks away printed them for a small fee.”
“You were always saving money.”
“Nothing wrong with that. We loved our little life. We were both happy.”
Russ looked at a picture of Anna on her own. In every other photograph Karen was there with Anna, or on her own. There was a single picture of Anna alone, and she was sitting on a wall. Her hair was shorter and fell around her body. The sun was setting behind her, and she looked blissfully happy.
The shot captured so much, just like the woman.
Anna was a mixture of innocence, pleasure, pain, knowledge that was beyond her years. She had paved a way of life for herself, and her friend.
The woman who was invading his entire world was a strong woman.
“Can I take some of the pictures with me?” she asked.
“Yes, you can take all of them.”
He watched as she started to take them down from the walls. The way she took care had a lump forming in his throat. In a week they were going to be putting her friend to rest, and she wasn’t ready. He knew that.
Russ went to the kitchen and checked inside the refrigerator. He wasn’t surprised to see processed cheese and spoiled milk waiting for them. Opening a cupboard, he found a stash of their noodles.
He’d not lived a day to day life for so long.
His billion dollar company guaranteed his luxurious lifestyle. In that moment he thought about Tina, the club whore at the club. Did she ever live like this?
Knowing Anna lived like this made him so damn angry, and yet when he thought about Tina, it didn’t bother him. He walked into her bedroom, and knew it was hers because there were pictures of Karen within the room. Not scary, threatening pictures, but ones to show Anna loved her as a sister.
Opening up drawers, he gathered her things together, finding a ratty old bag to place them in. Seconds passed, and Anna walked in, holding the crutches and the photos.
“Hey,” she said.
“I’ve got most of your things packed away in a bag.”
“Well, the apartment is paid two months in advance so it’ll give me time to find somewhere else.”
He didn’t have any intention of her coming back here, but he wasn’t about to tell her that. She was skittish as it was.
“We all set?”
“Yes. We are.”