Total pages in book: 134
Estimated words: 131209 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 656(@200wpm)___ 525(@250wpm)___ 437(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 131209 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 656(@200wpm)___ 525(@250wpm)___ 437(@300wpm)
“Brooke Stevens?” the man on the phone inquired.
“Yeah… who is this?” I replied, wiping the sleep from my eyes.
“There’s been an accident.”
I sat straight up in my bed. “What?” I yelled out. “What do you mean?”
“Lilith Stone… you’re her contact in case of emergency.”
“Lilith?” I asked confused. “Madam?”
“Excuse me?”
“Yes… I know Lilith. What’s going on?”
“We can’t state any information over the phone, ma’am. She’s been taken to Jackson Memorial.”
“Oh my God! Is she okay? Is she going to be okay?”
“I can’t disclose any of that information. The nurses will inform you once you’ve arrived.”
“Okay, I’m on my way, thank you.”
I barely had time to throw something on before I made my way into the hospital, running up to the nurse’s desk.
“Lilith Stone, she’s been brought in here. Is she okay? What’s going on?”
“Ma’am, please calm down.”
I eagerly nodded, trying to catch my breathing.
“Are you her next of kin?”
“No, I’m her emergency contact person.”
“Can I see a form of I.D?”
I reached into my clutch and pulled out my license, handing it over to her. She took a copy of it and handed it back to me.
“Miss Stevens, she’s in ICU, she’s stabilized. That’s all we know right now.”
“Oh my God.”
“We’re doing everything we can. She’s in good hands.”
“Can I see her?”
She nodded. They took me to a private room, and she was on all these ventilators. I barely recognized her face; it was so badly beaten.
I stayed with her the entire night, holding her hand, and not being able to leave her side. It took two days for her to fully wake up, and then four more days for her to talk. I had been bringing her flowers for the last two days.
She smiled at me as I placed new flowers on her window.
“Are you ready, darling?” she asked.
I nodded. “I still don’t understand why you think I need help running VIP. I can do this on my own, Madam.”
Since the minute she woke up she had been telling me that I needed to call Ysabelle. She had to come home to help me run VIP while she recovered. The doctors said it would take months for her to recover, and she would be transferred to a rehabilitation center; much to her disapproval.
She sympathetically grinned at me. “Brooke, you have heard the doctors, even they don’t know how long it’s going to take for me to heal. I was badly beaten and I’m lucky to be alive. Please, don’t argue with me. Just make the call.”
I sighed, “Okay.” I didn’t think Ysabelle had to come to help me run things. I could have handled it, but when Madam requests something, we listen. It’s part of being Madam.
I dialed the number and it started ringing, I hit speaker.
“Hello,” Ysabelle answered.
“Bella,” I replied, my emotions getting the best of me. I tried to hold back the tears; between Devon and now this, it was a sensory overload.
“Brooke? Are you all right? What’s wrong?”
I took a deep breath. “Bella, it’s Madam. We’re in the hospital and she’s been badly injured. I don’t know what to do and I need you to come home. I need your help with everything. I can’t do this on my own. Please, please tell me you’ll come home,” I pleaded, surprised over the words that were coming out of my mouth.
Maybe I did need her help…
“What? Is she okay?” Ysabelle asked with desperation in her voice.
“Yes… but the doctors don’t know how long it will take for her to recover, and VIP can’t run itself. I need you to come home and help me. Bella, we owe everything to VIP. We can’t let it go down because Madam is helpless. Tell me you are coming home.”
“Brooke…”
“Please… for me.” I urged.
“All right. I’ll book the next flight out.”
“Don’t worry about it. I’ll have the jet come get you. It should be there by tonight.”
“Okay.”
“And Bella?”
“Yes.”
“Are you coming alone?” I don’t know what possessed me to ask that, but I did.
She hesitated. “Yes.”
“Okay, I love you.”
“I’ll see you soon,” she said and ended the call.
I put down my phone and hugged Madam. “I don’t know what I would have done, if I would have lost you. Oh my God, I have never been so scared,” I honestly spoke. I wanted to tell her what was going on, but it wasn’t about me. It was about her. She didn’t need anything else on her plate.
“It’s all right, darling, I will be fine. It will take some time, but I will be better than before; you will see. Everything will fall into place. I promise.”
We both turned when the door was roughly pushed open. A man with long blonde hair that was pulled back into a ponytail, rushed in. I had seen him a few times before, mostly at parties and sometimes in Madam’s office. I never spoke to him; I think his name was Mika. He was older, but fuck he was sexy. The intensity of his stare at Madam made me come unglued and nervous.