Chapter 8
8
What the fuck was he thinking, offering to let her stay with him? Vinnie kicked himself all through a completely awkward dinner and after Lorelei excused herself to go to bed. He heard her shifting in his bed and knew she wasn’t any more comfortable than he was.
He’d make it better tomorrow. He had to.
Vinnie finally fell asleep somewhere after midnight. His sleep was fitful and broken, a cry waking him sometime before the sun lightened the shades on his windows.
It had been ten days since she disappeared. A full week since he found her. And her memory was still not back. What did that mean?
Vinnie spent his spare time over the last week researching memory loss and what the recovery would be like. When he wasn’t looking at Lorelei, he was thinking about her and wondering how he could make her feel better. How he could help her be herself again.
A text popped up on his phone from Marcus and a smile lifted Vinnie’s lips without a thought.
Are you up for breakfast? I heard you have a guest.
I’m up. Not sure if my guest is. I’m assuming you know all the details by now.
Yeah. Frannie has been champing at the bit to rush over to your place and mother Lorelei.
Sounds like Frannie. She’s been helping people since I met her.
She’s an amazing woman. So is your guest. Let us know when you guys are up for company. We can come to you or meet somewhere. Whatever is easiest.
With her crutches, I think leaving as little as possible is best. Probably taking her to Karli and Cade’s later.
I thought she wanted to stay with you?
I don’t think she really understood what she was asking.
You and I both know people in crisis moments aren’t always rational from the outside.
Yeah, I guess.
Have you asked her what she wants?
I don’t think she wants to hurt my feelings.
She’s definitely lost her memory if that’s the case. She never worried about that before.
She’s not the same.
Even if she had her memory, she wouldn’t be.
True.
Let me know when you’re ready. We’ll bring food to you.
Thanks, Marcus.
You’re welcome. It’s been too long anyway.
Vinnie nodded. He couldn’t remember the last time he saw Marcus outside of work. It had been way too long.
Less than an hour later, Lorelei was up. Her first stop was the bathroom, then she made her way out to the living room. Vinnie sent Marcus a text that Lorelei was up, then folded his blanket and returned it to the back of the couch. His suitcase was tucked into the corner of the living room, out of the way so Lorelei could move around without tripping on it.
“Good morning,” she said. Her voice was soft, still sleepy.
“Morning,” Vinnie managed, his rough with desire and thoughts of caring for her.
“Your bed is very comfortable.”
That was not the image Vinnie needed to start his day. He was already battling a hard-on, and thinking about her in his bed was not going to help the fight. “I’m glad you slept well.” He stood and walked to the kitchen. Coffee would help.
“Not really, but it was comfortable.”
“More nightmares?”
She nodded.
Vinnie scooped ground coffee into the drip machine he’d had for a decade. He grabbed the carafe and filled it with water, then dumped the water in and started the machine. “Did you take a painkiller this morning?”
“I did. And I did my breathing thing.” She shook her head.
“Still hurts?”
“Yeah.”
When did his kitchen get so damn small? With her at the entrance, he felt closed in. Not trapped because she wouldn’t do that, but like he couldn’t breathe without sensing her. Without wanting to pull her closer like he did in the hospital and inhale her scent and wrap himself around her and hold her close until she relaxed into him.
He missed that.
She took a step toward him. “Vinnie?”
He swallowed. “Yeah?”
“Can you… I mean, will you…?”
The look in her eyes went straight to his dick. Desire, trust, faith. All things she couldn’t have for him. All things he had in her and was projecting. All things that were so wrong when she didn’t know who the hell she was or who he was.
He imprinted on her. That was all it was. Like a scared child who latched on to the person who found them, Lorelei was scared and didn’t understand herself why she wanted to be around him. She admitted that. She didn’t want him.
He was the one with an issue controlling his emotions. Controlling the raging need pulsing through his veins.
He needed to get the hell out of there before he did something he couldn’t take back, or let her do something she didn’t really want to do.
“I’ll be right back,” he blurted, squeezing past her and running to the bathroom.
Lorelei watched Vinnie run and closed her eyes against the pain. She missed the man from the hospital. The one who held her and made her feel safe. This man was distant.
She tried asking if he had someone in his life the night before, but he didn’t answer the question she was afraid to ask. If he had a significant other, no wonder he was acting weird. She should have just stayed with her cousin.
Lorelei stared at the coffeepot as it puffed and popped and dripped coffee. Lorelei had no idea how she liked her coffee. Or if she liked it. The hospital brought some, but it was not her favorite. The scent of it made Lorelei think she liked it. The sharp jolt combined with the smooth depth of it. She wanted to like it, but maybe it wasn’t her thing.
Maybe she’d never know what was her thing.
A knock on the door startled her. It wasn’t her home, but Vinnie also didn’t mention anyone was coming. It was possible it was Karli and Cade, but wouldn’t Vinnie have mentioned that?
Vinnie came rushing back, ignoring her before he went to the door and threw it open wide. He grinned at the older couple on the other side, opening his arms to hug the woman.
Parents? They were white, but they didn’t really look like him. Not that it was the sole determinant of family, though.
The woman glanced past Vinnie and found Lorelei watching them. Her eyes went soft as they slid down Lorelei’s body.
“Frannie,” Lorelei said.
The woman’s eyes went wide. She pulled back from Vinnie. “Did you tell her my name?”
Vinnie shook his head. “You know her?”
“I…” Lorelei didn’t know. The woman wasn’t familiar, but for some reason, she knew her name.
“It’s okay, Lorelei. We know it’s going to take a while for you to remember anything.” Frannie came closer as Vinnie hugged the man who’d come with her. “We brought breakfast. And creamer. Vinnie said he didn’t have any.”
Lorelei nodded and let the woman hug her.
“How are you feeling?” Frannie asked softly.
Lorelei shrugged.
Frannie laughed softly. “To be expected. Do you want to sit? I can get you a cup of coffee. I know how you like it.”
“You do? I don’t.”
Frannie chuckled. “That’s okay. You’ll remember everything eventually.”
“What if I don’t want to?” Lorelei breathed, the question making everyone in the room stop.
Frannie was the one who spoke first. “It would be nice if we could choose.”
Lorelei nodded and let Frannie guide her to the couch. Frannie sat next to her and nodded to the man. “That’s my husband, Marcus Patrick. Marcus is the local police captain. You’ve been working together. He and Vinnie have known each other for longer than I’ve known Marcus.”
“Oh, um, okay.” Lorelei didn’t know what to say.
Frannie chuckled. “I bet you’ve gotten a lot of information over the last week. Names and events and a lot that you don’t know.”
Lorelei nodded.
“It’s not easy.” Frannie looked at Marcus. “We should eat. I’m starving.”
“Of course.” Marcus replaced Frannie on the couch and offered his hand to Lorelei. “I know there are a lot of people offering you help, but I hope you’ll accept my offer of the same. If there’s anything you need or want to know, please reach out. Vinnie knows how to get in touch with me.”
Lorelei nodded at the older man. He gave her the same sense of calm that Vinnie did. In a different way, but she knew Marcus was someone she could count on and trust. Someone who wouldn’t lie to her or manipulate her. And someone who would be brutally honest with her. Which was why she had to ask him…
“What’s the chance the man who took me will be found?”
“Man?” Vinnie barked, rushing back into the living room with Frannie right behind him. “Do you remember something?”
Lorelei nodded, avoiding meeting Vinnie’s gaze. “Last night and the night before, I had nightmares that woke me up. Both nights I remembered a man.”
“Can you tell me anything about him?” Marcus asked.
“He was mean. And he wanted to know what I knew about something.”
“Do you know what he was asking about?”
Lorelei shook her head. “No. I can’t ever remember details.”
“You only started having nightmares two nights ago? When you left the hospital?” Frannie asked.
“She had them before,” Vinnie answered.
“But you never remembered anything?” Frannie asked.
Lorelei looked up at Vinnie. “He helped me. He calmed me down and let me go back to sleep.”
Frannie looked between them, then at Marcus. “Um, what does that mean, exactly?”
“When she would wake up, I would hold her. That’s it, I promise. I know it was a violation to do it, and I know I shouldn’t have, but the first night she had a nightmare, I worried she was going to hurt herself. She was thrashing around and fighting. I thought she would make everything worse, so I started talking to her. She calmed down a little, but not enough. I held her hand, but she was still frantic, so I held her. As soon as she was in my arms, she settled. Her breathing eased, and she went back to sleep.” Vinnie closed his eyes and shook his head. “I know it was wrong, Frannie. I know it crosses a line. She never gave me permission to put my hands on her, and?—”
“It appears to me you’re the only one beating yourself up, Vinnie. Correct me if I’m wrong, Lorelei, but it sounds as though you were sleeping better and feeling better when he took those nightmares away.” Frannie raised one eyebrow at Lorelei and waited for an answer.
Lorelei bobbed her head just enough to nod. “I didn’t know until I had a panic attack, and Vinnie… It made me feel better to have him close.”
“Then it sounds like there’s nothing to forgive, Vinnie.” Frannie reached for his hand. “You didn’t do anything intended to harm Lorelei. You were protecting her. Sometimes our memories are the worst thing to get protection from, and you were able to give her comfort and care when nothing else did. Stop beating yourself up for it and accept what she’s telling you. She’s not angry at you.”
Lorelei shook her head. “I’m not. I never was. I was shocked, but not mad.”
“I’m… Okay,” Vinnie said.
“To answer your original question,” Marcus said, “we won’t stop until we find the man who did this to you. And whoever he’s working for.”
“Working for?” Something tingled in her mind.
Marcus nodded. “We know there’s a boss, but we don’t know who it is. I’m guessing the man who took you isn’t the boss. It’s unlikely he would expose himself.”
“He meant for me to die. He broke my ankle in my apartment. Said he couldn’t have me leaving to get help.”
“You remember that?” Frannie gasped.
Lorelei swallowed roughly and nodded.
“Oh, honey, I’m so sorry.” Frannie set a mug of coffee in front of Lorelei, followed by a plate of the most delicious and fluffy looking cinnamon rolls. “Eat. Drink.”
Lorelei nodded and did both. The other three joined her, the sounds of breakfast being enjoyed outweighing the worries in Lorelei’s mind.
The coffee was good, and the cinnamon rolls were even better. By the time she finished, she was stuffed and feeling better than she had in days.
“Vinnie, come for a walk with me,” Marcus said in a clear ploy to leave Lorelei and Frannie alone.
Vinnie looked at Lorelei, as if asking her before he left.
Lorelei nodded. “I’ll be fine.”
“Okay.” Vinnie followed Marcus outside, locking the door behind them.
“Karli and Raina have been in touch with me. Jessica visited when she and Braden got back. I know he had to come back to work, but she hated to leave.”
“I understand. Everyone has a life. Things they need to do.”
“Yes, but we’re all here for you. And worried about you. I know Karli and Raina told you about all the others. When you’re ready, we all want to get together. But for now, I have something for you.”
Lorelei waited as Frannie reached into her handbag. There was a moment of panic when Lorelei wondered if she was wrong to trust Frannie, but then Frannie pulled out something small and black and handed it over.
“What is this?” Lorelei asked as she accepted the… “A mask?”
Frannie nodded. “When I was in my twenties, I worked at a nightclub. The dancers all wore masks like this one. I know, weird, but I saw a woman killed on my walk home one night. I set out to find who killed her, and when I confronted him, I wore my mask. It was… maybe a way to hide who I was, maybe something else. But it made me feel strong. Like I wasn’t alone. Like I could do anything.”
“A mask did that?”
Frannie breathed a laugh. “Hard to believe, I know. A few years ago, I gave a mask to another woman who needed to feel strong and know she wasn’t alone. And another, and another. Your cousin Karli has one, Raina has one, Jessica has one.”
“And you want me to have one?” Lorelei asked. She turned the mask over in her hands. It was simple. Plain black with a little sparkle in it like it was dropped in glitter and washed, but some stuck in the fabric. The loop to go around her head was tight, and the mask itself was soft. There was no way a mask would make a difference.
“I know it doesn’t seem like much, but the women who have them call themselves the Curvy Vigilantes. We’ve been fighting the same fight as you for a long time. You were the one leading the charge on the legal side, the one who was getting us closer to finding the answers we’ve been looking for.”
“You never found who killed that woman?” Lorelei asked.
Frannie shook her head. “I did, but it was a long time after. And he answered to someone else. We don’t just want justice for one person, we want it for all the women who’ve been hurt, killed, or targeted by this organization. Including you.”
Lorelei shook her head. She was a victim. She hated the word. It made her feel powerless. Like she wasn’t good enough to do something about the man who attacked her.
“You know my name, but do you know what I do?”
Lorelei thought for a minute, then shook her head. She wasn’t sure how she knew Frannie’s name, but it was all she knew about the woman.
“I own and operate a women’s shelter. Domestic violence survivors in many cases. Women who have nowhere else to go. Who feel like you’re feeling right now.”
“How do you know how I’m feeling?”
Frannie patted Lorelei’s hand. “I’ve gotten very good at reading people over the years. You’re feeling alone, scared, confused, and maybe like you hate that you are a victim.”
Lorelei shrugged. She couldn’t deny any of it, but she didn’t want to admit it either.
“I’ve felt all those things. So have the women who’ve come through Shelter in the Storm over the years. We don’t like to use the word victim because it has negative connotations. It sounds like something happened to you that you couldn’t stop. We prefer to call our guests survivors or fighters or just guests. We help women figure out what’s next for them. And that means letting go of the things that held them back. For you, I have a feeling fear is a big thing right now. Those dreams, nightmares, are making you want to not sleep or making you want to not remember.”
Lorelei nodded.
“I can’t imagine how hard it is to relive what you went through. But your memories are important.”
“I know. Because I know something.”
Frannie shook her head. “No. Because they’re a part of you. Your memories tell you about your first love, your family, the people you choose to spend time with. Memories define us in ways that we can’t explain. They make us who we are, and that’s why you’re drifting right now.”
“You think it’s a mistake to lean on Vinnie? Because I didn’t know him before.”
Frannie chuckled. “Not even a little. Vinnie is a good man. A great man. He’s someone I would trust with my life if I ever had to. He’s smart and kind and trustworthy. And that you know that without knowing him says there’s a part of you that’s working how it should.”
“I almost shot my housekeeper,” Lorelei admitted.
Frannie shrugged. “You’re going to remember some people and not others. You’re going to trust some instincts and not others. You can’t control how that happens. All I know is you’re not alone, Lorelei. You don’t have to be. There are people who want to be there for you, and who will be there for you. Probably before you’re ready, but it’s because we care about you and want to see our friend back.”
“Thank you,” Lorelei said. There was no pressure with Frannie. It wasn’t the same as Karli or Adam, where Lorelei felt like she was letting them down because she couldn’t remember them. Frannie accepted what Lorelei knew and didn’t know and trusted she would remember what she needed when the time was right.
“Take it slow. Talk to Vinnie, if he’s your safe person. And if you feel better with him by your side, ask him to be there. He’s beating himself up, and the only one who can get him to stop that is you.”
“I will. I wouldn’t be here without him, and I am beyond grateful to him. I owe him my life.”
“You owe no one anything. You are strong on your own. But you can show him your gratitude.”
Lorelei’s cheeks heated. “What do you mean by that?”
Frannie’s brows went up, and a smirk lifted her lips. “What do you think I mean, Lorelei?”
Lorelei chuckled, shaking her head at Frannie.
Frannie leaned over. “He’s a very attractive man, isn’t he?”
Lorelei snorted. “You’re trouble.”
“The best ones are, my dear. Including you.”
Lorelei drew a breath, one that hurt her lungs but reminded her she was alive. She was trouble. For the people who wanted to hurt her and others. She wouldn’t rest until she stopped them.
For good.