Chapter 14
DORI
The weight of what happened lies heavy on my chest. The drugs are working themselves out of my system, and now I’m an anxious mess. I tremble as I wait for Jami.
The curtain slides open, and a nurse and Jami come into view.
“Here she is,” the nurse says.
Jami steps beside her, and his blue eyes lock with mine. “Sweetness, it’s so good to see you. I love you so much.”
He rushes to me and takes me in his arms as the nurse leaves, closing the curtain on her way out.
“Jami.” I hold him tight. “I was so scared, Jami. They were going to sell me.”
“I know.” He takes in a choppy breath and pulls back, scanning my body. “Are you okay?”
“I think so. There’s so much to tell you. My mind is scrambled, so I don’t know where to start.”
He sinks onto the bed next to me as his gaze scrolls over my face and down to my belly. His shoulders soften as he slides his hand over my stomach.
His worry-filled eyes come back to mine. “Is the baby okay? ”
I draw my eyebrows together and shake my head. “What?”
“I know, Dori.”
“Know what?” I think about his question for a second. “What baby are you talking about?”
“They told me about you being pregnant.” His gaze roams over my face. “Is everything okay?”
I squeeze my eyes shut and try to make sense of what he’s saying.
Why does he think I’m pregnant?
It takes me a couple moments to remember I told Xander I was pregnant, hoping he would stop Mort from selling me.
I open my eyes. “Oh, Jami. I’m not pregnant.”
His expression softens. “Did you…lose it?”
“No, no, no. You’re misunderstanding. I was never pregnant. I told them that so they wouldn’t sell me.”
He flinches as if I’ve slapped him, then he quickly composes himself. “Really? You aren’t just saying that to…”
I study him for a moment. “Why would I lie about that?”
“Maybe you didn’t want to tell me. I don’t know.” He turns his head, slumping over as he thinks for a beat. He shakes a thought loose, stands straight, and faces me. “All that matters is that you’re okay.”
He can’t hide the disappointment in his eyes.
I take his hand in mine. “I’m sorry they made you believe that. It’s got to hurt on some level.”
“You’re all that matters.” He takes me back into a hug, bringing me to his chest. “I was terrified I’d never see you again.”
“Me too.”
His words break me, and I allow my tears to fall. He consoles me for a minute, rocking me in his arms as he kisses the top of my head.
I calm in his embrace, letting his love fill me. “Never let me go. ”
“Never again.” He strokes my hair and squeezes me tighter. “I’m so sorry, Dori.”
“For what?”
“For making it easy for them to take you. I’m sorry for everything.”
“This wasn’t your fault, Jami.”
“But it was.” He releases me and stares hard into my eyes. “I have to tell you everything.”
My stomach knots. There’s a lot more to all of this. I can feel it in my bones. I roll my lips between my teeth and nod, telling him to continue.
He takes both my hands in his. “I should’ve told you from the start, but… Aiden and Hunter had a plan to take down his mother so you wouldn’t be in any more danger. I knew about it and didn’t tell you.”
“What kind of plan, and why didn’t you tell me?”
“I didn’t know the specifics at the time. They wouldn’t share them with me, but I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want you to rebel and put yourself at greater risk. It was wrong of me to keep it from you, but I wanted her locked up and out of our lives for good.”
My knee-jerk reaction is to be furious, but I purposely seek more answers as my therapy has taught me to do and try to remain calm.
I squeeze Jami’s hand. “I’m confused. If they didn’t share the details with you, how could you have kept it from me?”
“I knew they were up to something.” He lowers his head. “You were reinstated, and Hunter asked me not to tell you.”
My thoughts go blank. There’s so much to this, and I’m having a hard time making the connections. The drugs must still be messing with my mind.
“When was I reinstated?”
Jami raises his head. “Before I left for Miami.”
“You knew I was reinstated before you moved? ”
“Yes. I should’ve told you. If I had, you never would’ve been in a situation where Hunter’s mom could get to you.”
My heart thumps hard. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Hunter asked me not to. He said he wasn’t going to tell you because it would interfere with the plan they had to catch his mom, but I assumed he would tell you before you got on the plane to come to Miami.”
“You thought Hunter was going to tell me about my job?”
“Eventually, yes.” Jami palms my cheek. “I waited for you to say something. Every day I talked with you, I expected you to tell me about it, but it never came.”
“Would you have told me if Hunter didn’t ask you to keep it from me?”
“Of course.”
I breathe to stay centered. “That doesn’t sound like you weren’t willing to tell me. It sounds like you were manipulated not to.”
Jami pushes off the bed and runs his palm down his face. “I promised to share everything with you and not keep you in the dark. If I had done what I said I’d do, you wouldn’t have been in the situation.”
My thoughts get mangled into a pile of rubble. It’s too much for me to take in. I need time to think and get my mind straight.
I make the decision to work through this information with my therapist so I can better understand it. It’s too confusing and important to try to do it on my own.
“Jami, I don’t care about all that right now. I’m tired, and we can talk about it later. Right now, I just need to feel safe.”
He strides back to me and holds me. “I’ve got you from this day on. No one will ever hurt you again.”
“Then take me home. I just want to go home.”
“Let me get you out of here.” Jami rushes around and arranges for us to leave as I try to regain my senses.
I’m still tired and overwhelmed from my ordeal. I force all other thoughts away so I can feel some semblance of control and normalcy.
Once the doctor says I’m medically stable, I’m released out of their care.
The nurse hands Jami my discharge orders. “She should be fine. Just make sure she stays hydrated and gets some rest.”
He takes the papers from her. “Will do.”
“Then you’re good to leave.” She leads us out of the room.
“Thank you.” I grab Jami’s hand. “Let’s go.”
We say goodbye and start toward the door.
He stops before we get to the entrance of the waiting room. “Melanie, Aiden, and Hunter are in there wanting to see you.”
“We can go in.”
Jami moves in my way. “Aiden and I… We’re not in a good place. I don’t want him to give you any trouble.”
“I know he’s mad about us, but he needs to get over it.”
Jami scans my face with something I can’t place in his eyes. He’s hiding something from me. My brain scrambles for an answer.
“Jami, what aren’t you telling me?”
“I’ll explain when we get to the hotel. I just want you to be prepared for when he sees us together. It’s not going to go well.”
“He needs to get used to it sooner or later. I’m not going to let you go, so if he wants to be in my life, he needs to accept our relationship.”
“Okay.” Jami holds my gaze for a moment, then gestures to the door. “Let me lead.”
I nod, and he guides me to the waiting area. I hold my head high, preparing to fight for Jami and me. My brother needs to learn I’m capable of making my own decisions, and he can’t interfere anymore.
We step into the room. Hunter’s back is to me as he speaks to Aiden, who’s sitting next to Melanie. She notices us the second we get to the area.
She jumps up from her chair. “Oh my god, Dori. You’re okay.”
Hunter spins our way as Aiden stands. Relief washes over Hunter’s face, but Aiden stares at Jami like he’s about to tear his arm off. Jami tenses and pulls me close.
Mel gives me a hug. “I’m so glad we have you back.”
“I’m glad to be back.” I stare at Aiden until his heated gaze finds mine.
He blinks and stays where he’s at.
Hunter strides toward me, so I break away from Mel.
“Beauty…” He moves to embrace me but stops. His guilt-ridden eyes shift between Jami and me. “You have to believe I never wanted this. It wasn’t supposed to go down like it did.”
“I know, but I’m tired and want to get out of here. We can talk about this later. I need to rest before I can work through what happened and why it did.” I lean into Jami for support. “Jami told me a little bit, but it’s too much for me to discuss right now.”
“Understood.” Hunter swallows hard. “Trust that I’m doing everything to make sure they all stay locked away for good.”
“Thank you.” I peek around him to see Aiden.
He’s staring at us, frozen. I can’t read him. His expression is blank, but the energy in the room is thick with tension.
I release Jami’s hand and take a step toward Aiden. “Are you going to say anything?”
“I… I’m glad you’re okay.” He takes two long strides and hugs me. “I love you, sis.”
My insides warm. Maybe there’s hope that we can work out our issues. “I love you too, but we have a lot to talk about.”
He pulls away. “I know.”
I glance at Jami. “Can you take me to the hotel now? My nerves are fried, and I?— ”
“Say no more.” He takes me by the hand. “I got us a two-bedroom suite so Melanie could stay with us. She wanted to be near you.”
She grabs her purse off the chair. “I’m ready when you are.”
I say goodbye to Hunter and Aiden. Their concern and hesitation is clear by their stiff and measured movements. Jami waits until I give the gesture to leave. Once I do, he leads us out of the room.
All the while, I can’t help but feel I’m missing a lot.
I roll over and snuggle into a comforting Jami. He moves my hair away from my face then kisses my temple. The weight of his stare makes me flutter my eyes open.
His loving gaze shines at me. “Good morning, sweetness.”
“Good morning, handsome.” I stretch as I yawn. “What time is it?”
“It’s a little after ten.”
“Wow, I haven’t slept this late in ages.”
“Your body needed to rest.” He pulls me into his arms. “It’s a dream come true to wake up next to you.”