Page 57 of Lost In The Dark

“Her pulse is way too slow. We have to get her to the ER,” I was scooping her from the floor and standing with her in my arms before I even stopped speaking. My back up team, who had been holding further back, were running towards me as I turned. “Call Pierce, get the car here now!” I barked at them.

Addy was so cold and lifeless in my arms. If I hadn’t have felt her pulse a moment ago, I’d be sure she was already gone and that thought was more than I could handle.

“What happened? Why is her pulse slow?” Jordan demanded as he ran beside me, not once taking his eyes from Addy in my arms.

“I don’t know. She could have some internal injury from the car hitting her weeks ago, or she could have a condition we don’t know about. We just have to get her some help!” I yelled, all of my fear pouring out of me with every word.

As soon as I got to the gate the car pulled up and one of my guys opened the back door.

“Get in!” I told Jordan and he instantly jumped in and held his arms out for her. As soon as she was in his lap I touched her neck and checked her pulse again. “It’s still too slow. Keep your fingers on it and tell me if it stops,” I told him. He nodded, though he looked completely terrified.

“It’s not going to stop. You hear me, Addy?” I heard him say as I closed the door and ran around the front. Thankfully, my guy had anticipated me wanting to drive and was out and held the door open, ready for me.

“Follow behind us. We can’t rule anything out right now. Heads on a swivel,” I told him, but I was already starting the car before I’d even finished speaking.

I was wracking my brain as we sped through the city traffic as fast as I could. The idea that she had been poisoned hit me and I replayed the whole morning, wondering if I had missed something. She had been close to people passing by on the sidewalk. Could one of them have dosed her without herrealizing? Had I missed something because I was so fucking filled with jealousy?

“We should call Asher,” Jordan said.

“We will, but you have to keep monitoring her pulse. Call him when we get her to the hospital,” I replied as calmly as I could.

“Stay with me, Addy. Please stay with me,” he pleaded quietly and I was thinking the exact same thing. My feelings for her were fucked up, but I needed her to stay around. Losing her would mean losing myself. That much I was sure of.

CHAPTER 18

ASHER

“I don’t care how you do it. Just do it,” I barked, feeling at the end of my tether with the meeting I had been stuck in for almost two hours with my legal department.

“It will mean we make losses, sir. I want to be sure you understand that?” The snivelly little bastard my father had happily had as the head of legal for over a decade told me.Fuck, I really needed to make some personnel changes!

“I’m fully aware of that. As I’ve spent the last two hours outlining, the business is changing, and it will mean some losses in the beginning, but ultimately we will profit and the businesses we intercede will remain functioning,” I explained through clenched teeth. I was trying hard to maintain my patience, but it was getting harder with every minute that passed.

“But that’s not how things are done,” he argued. I’d had enough. I rose to my full height and slammed my hands down on the conference room table, startling several of the people sat around it.

“It is now. If you have a problem, I suggest you start job hunting. I own this company. Me and my brother. There is no board to appease, no shareholders. I make the decisions and I will not be questioned. Either get on board or hand me your resignation!”

There were a few nods and I heard a feeble ‘Yes, sir,’ then they were filing out of the room nervously. For once the tyrannical way my father owned his business had worked in my favor. He had made sure his word was law when it came toLyle, and now it was my word that was law. It was going to make changing the business - from a company eating monster, that took failing businesses and tore them apart for profit, into a compassionate, consulting partner - so much easier. My plan would mean we would begin to work with the failing companies, becoming a partner in them, helping them get back on their feet and profiting from their success, not their failure. I could not and would not ever be the tyrant my father had been. I wanted to keep the business successful, but I had to change the way things ran. Maybe then I would be able to look at myself in the mirror again, without seeing a monster looking back.

“Asher!” I heard Eli’s frantic cry through the glass and I stood and instantly sped from the conference room, moving towards him. He was rushing towards me, his face a mask of terror.

“What’s wrong?” I asked as I got out into the area between our offices and headed right for him. I knew my brother was strong and smart, but it didn’t stop me from feeling the fierce protectiveness I had always felt since the day our mom brought him home and placed him into my arms. I had always tried to look out for him and that would never stop. He had a tendency to be too sensitive and trusting, and I always feared it would get him hurt one day. Now I worried for Addy too, in just the same way. They needed me and that felt good. I needed them both to need me. Without them, Adam, and Jordan, I just wasn’t sure what my purpose would be any more.

“You bitch!” Eli seethed as he stopped at Zara’s desk outside my office. “You haven’t even told him, have you?” She reared back,like she feared Eli, which was ridiculous. She knew him well enough to know he would never hurt anyone.

“He was in a meeting. I was going to tell him in a moment. I’m sure it’s not that urgent. You’re all being dramatic,” Zara sighed with a wave of her hand.

“Told me what? What’s going on?” I asked as I got to Eli and placed a calming hand on his shoulder.

“We have to go! It’s Addy. She’s in the hospital. Jordan said it’s bad,” Eli gasped breathlessly. “He called Zara and told her to tell you urgently. Thank fuck he called me too.”

“Asher, I’m sure that girl is just being dramatic. You have a meeting in…”

“Let’s go!” I said as I ignored whatever Zara had to say and set off running. I didn’t have a second to stop and hear whatever Zara was going to spout next. She’d already made it clear she had an issue with Addy for some reason, which made no damned sense. She had barely even met her.

“What happened?” I asked as we walked straight into the elevator and Eli slammed the button for the parking garage. I felt as anxious as he looked. Addy had come to mean so very much to me in the two weeks we had known her. Despite everything she was suffering, her goodness and kindness shone through. She was brave and tried so hard to be strong. I admired that in her. She was my kid sister. I knew that. I felt the sibling bond between Addy, Eli, and I, to the point I hadn’t even ended up going ahead with DNA tests. There was no point. I knew she was my blood, just as Eli did. More than anything I wanted to protect her, just as I tried to protect all of my family. The idea of her hurt or ill was terrifying. I wasn’t even going to allow myself to think of the prospect of losing her. I couldn’t.

“Jordan took her to Central Park. He said she just blacked out. They were scared her heart was going to stop. Doctors rushed her off. He was asking if we knew about her medical history.”

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