Page 4 of Fracture

Adam looked at her, his face going soft.

“Nope,” Lorelei said. “No pity. Fuck that. Get out if you’re going to look at me like that.”

Adam snorted. “Well, they didn’t knock your personality out. We just have to help you remember everything else.”

“We?” Lorelei asked.

Adam nodded and gestured to the door. “Raina is here. My wife. You were at our wedding before you went missing. And Karli, your cousin, is here with her boyfriend, Cole.”

“Cousin?”

Adam nodded and looked at Vinnie. “Is it okay if the others come in?”

Vinnie nodded. “As long as everyone gives her space and time to process. Maybe start with her cousin?”

“Okay. Thanks.”

“I’m here, too, you know,” Lorelei snapped at them. She didn’t like people making decisions for her.

“You are, but if you don’t know me, chances are you’re not sure what the doctors have said about visitors and recovery. I’m asking the person in the room who has an intact memory.”

Lorelei scowled at both men. She wanted to be indignant, but they weren’t wrong.

Adam walked out, saying something to someone in the hallway before coming right back in. He held the shoulders of a Black woman with dark hair like Lorelei’s, same tight curls and dark brown eyes. She had full lips and red circles around her eyes.

“Oh, my God,” she whispered as she moved toward Lorelei. “I’m so happy you’re alive.”

“Me, too,” Lorelei said. She stared at the woman who must be her cousin and tried to remember her. Just like Adam, she was familiar, but her mind wasn’t letting her access any of her memories.

“Adam said you don’t remember anything.”

Lorelei looked at Adam, once more trying to place him. She kept scanning the room and found Vinnie. “I remember Vinnie.”

Karli looked at the man. She tilted her head and smiled. “I don’t remember Vinnie. Have we met?”

Vinnie shook his head. “No, ma’am. I’m on a SWAT Team in Niagara Falls. We’ve been called in for support a few times. I heard about your cousin’s disappearance and couldn’t let it go.”

“Wait, we didn’t know each other before?” Lorelei asked. The nurses said he came in with her. Didn’t that mean they had some kind of history?

Vinnie shook his head. “No. Not well. We’ve met, but we’d never spoken until yesterday.”

“Well, shit. I thought I knew you.” Her memories were shot, but Vinnie was someone she didn’t doubt was supposed to be there. He protected her. Made sure she wasn’t pushed too hard. Never left her alone unless he verified the ID of whoever walked into the room.

But he was a stranger.

Lorelei looked at the man who said he was her partner. “Wait. How do I know you’re all here to keep me safe and not to hurt me again?”

“Look at me, Lorelei,” Vinnie said. He sat down in the chair next to her bed. “You know I’m not going to let anything happen to you. You know I’m here to protect you and help you and keep you safe. You might not know me, but you know that.”

Lorelei looked at the man and nodded slowly. The beeping of her heart rate monitor slowed as she stared at him.

He was right. She wasn’t afraid of him. He wasn’t a threat. He was the one who saved her. And he was protecting her in ways she didn’t even realize. Making sure she was given time to rest and not pressured to reveal things she didn’t know.

He was her guardian angel.

“Wow,” Karli whispered from Lorelei’s other side. “I’ve never seen you calm down that quickly.”

“Same. You’re good for her, Vinnie,” Adam said.

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