“What are you going to do?”
“I don’t know. When he does this. Shuts off. It feels as though he doesn’t care about me or the baby.”
Angrily swiping at a tear, I look out of the window not seeing anything, but our reflection.
Carla moves to the chair next to me and wraps her arm around my shoulders. “I know everyone keeps saying to give him time, but that really is what he needs. He wouldn’t have drank so much last night—which caused his brother to intervene—if you didn’t mean so much to him. When he gets like this you need to call him on it. Don’t ignore what he’s done. Make him listen to how he made you feel. And eventually he’ll stop hurting you because it will finally start to sink into his head that you are there to stay and nothing he does or says will make you walk away from him.”
I blow out a breath of air.
“I’m not sure I’m built to take hit after hit from the man I love.” I look at Carla. “Because I do love him.”
“I know you do. It wouldn’t feel like your heart was breaking every time he left if you didn’t.”
“I just wish he would show me his back to get it out of the way, you know? His biggest fear is that once I see his back, I’ll leave. So I need to get him to show me. And when I’m still there, he won’t have that as an excuse anymore.”
“I’m sorry Sabrina. I wish there was more I can do to help you.”
I pat her hand. “Just being here is enough. Thank you.”
Carla goes back to her seat and pulls her folder out of her purse with the charity event information in.
“Are you okay to look at this now?”
“Yes. I’m fine, and it will help take my mind off Lucien.”
As I watch her find the page in the folder that I know she will have notes of things to go over today, I start feeling a bit weird. As though there’s something wrong between my legs. I’m not in any discomfort, but I feel panic starting to set in.
I push away from the table, and when Carla gives me a quizzical stare I tell her, “Restroom.”
She smiles as I head towards the restrooms.
Once inside, I quickly yank everything down and drop to the toilet. Looking down my panties are covered with blood.
My heart starts to pound.
There is more blood coming out of me. Running out of me. Like water.
“Oh god, no.”
I don’t know what to do. All I can hear is my heart pounding in my ears while I panic.
Realizing I have my cell in my hands, I quickly dial Lucien. No matter what he’s dealing with, I need him right now. The phone rings and rings, until my call is answered. No one speaks.
“Lucien?”
“I’m sorry Sabrina. I can’t talk right now.”
He hangs up on me.
How can he hang up?
I dial Carla instead.
The minute she answers and I tell her there is something wrong she comes running and shoves female products at me.
“Here. Use some and try and get up. We need to get you to a hospital.”
I do as she says, not really believing anything will work. There’s too much blood.
Managing to get out of the cubicle, I meet Carla’s eyes and feel myself go lightheaded.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Lucien
“Why the fuck did you refuse to talk to her now?” Sebastian looks pissed.
“I’m not talking to her over the phone. I need to be with her,” I reply with my head in my hands.
Just hearing Sabrina’s voice made my heart beat triple time. Perhaps I should have said more, at least asked her if she was okay. Or I could have told her I would be home soon and we’d talk then, that I had a lot of explaining to do. Instead I’d been curt and hung up on her.
“Fuck!”
Ruben stands over me glaring until Rosie pushes him out of the way.
“You need to call her back right now, and, providing she answers tell her you missed her and will be home soon.”
I did miss her. I missed sleeping with her in my arms. I missed her body heat and the beat of her heart—where I’d rest my hand—making my sleep peaceful, keeping the nightmares away.
Instead of nightmares waking me, my pounding head did. After lots of water, painkillers and a breakfast roll, I’m feeling almost human, and need to get myself together to go and talk to Sabrina.
What the hell I’m going to say to her is anyone’s guess. I’ve royally fucked up and it kills me knowing that I’ve really hurt her. My intention had been to get out of there as quickly as I could before she had me baring my back to her. I wasn’t ready to have her walk away from me. So instead, I was a bastard and walked away.
“What the fuck,” Sebastian’s shout brings me abruptly back to the present. “Are you okay?” He listens, but his eyes stay focused on me.
“We need to go,” he says to me. “That was Carla. She’s with Sabrina.” He pauses and looks around as though he doesn’t want to say what he has to say.
My heart thuds in my chest. There’s something wrong.
“Sabrina?” I whisper.