Page 111 of Forbidden Billionaires: Vol. 2
"Briggs and I both wanted to be there. You never even asked us to stay. As far as I was concerned, we were volunteering."
"We're going to pay you for your time."
"That's not necessary. It's my fault that he was in there in the first place."
"That's not true." I looked out the window. "It was mine."
"I don't think so, Penny."
I liked that he was continuing to call me by my first name. "We agree to disagree then."
He gave me a small smile. "I guess so." He pulled up in front of our apartment building. "Do you want to just call him and tell him to come down? When James wakes up he'll be wondering where you went."
"Good idea." I wanted to get back to James as soon as possible. I clicked on Rob's name in my phone. It went straight tovoicemail. "His phone must have died. I'll just go up real quick. I'll be back in a minute."
"Let me come up with you." He unbuckled his seatbelt.
"No, it's fine. His phone dies all the time. He never charges it. Sometimes I'm surprised he even has a cell phone at all. Besides, I wanted to go up anyway to grab a few things for James in case he's allowed to change out of his hospital gown."
"Okay." He nodded at me as I climbed out of the car.
For the first time in ages I was actually happy to enter our apartment building. Cliff, the man at the front desk, didn't stare at me like I was a charity case this time. Someone must have reported that James had woken up. It was probably all over the news.
"Good afternoon, Penny," Cliff said with a smile. "I have some mail for you."
"Good afternoon, Cliff." I grabbed the mail from his hand. No manila envelopes. No more Isabella. Soon this would all be behind us.
"And just to let you know, Rob and your cleaning lady are both in your apartment. They were both on the list that Mr. Hunter wrote up so I let them in."
"Yes, that's fine. And her name is Ellen." I hated when people addressed her in any way as our help. She wasn't that to me. Ellen was family. She had stopped by the hospital every day. I had told her she didn't need to work at all, but she insisted that itkept her mind off worrying. And that she wanted the apartment to be perfect for when James came home. She was one of the sweetest people I had ever met.
"Right, yes I have her name listed here. Ellen. I'll make a note to call her that. Actually," he said and cleared his throat. "I was wondering...do you know if she's single?"
My first reaction was to laugh. Cliff was even younger than me. And Ellen had to be at least 60. But of course, there was no way he was asking for himself. He was probably asking for his father or some older relative. "She's single."
"Oh wow. Okay great." He looked slightly embarrassed. "I'm happy to hear that James woke up."
I smiled. I couldn't even express to him how ecstatic I was. "Thanks, Cliff." I walked toward the elevator with the mail. I thought about Bee and Mason, Rob and Daphne, and Jen and Ian. And possibly even Melissa and Matt. Love was in the air. Ellen loved James like a son, but she didn't have any children of her own. Her husband had passed away a few years ago. Maybe there could be some love in the air for her too.
The last week and a half I had felt so depressed walking into our apartment. It felt empty and lifeless without James. It wasn't a home without him. Really, the hospital felt more like home than this did. Wherever James was, that was where home was.
I stepped off the elevator and grabbed my keys. I walked into the apartment and tossed the mail and my purse on the kitchen counter. "Rob?"
There was no answer.
"Ellen?" I couldn't wait to tell her that Cliff had asked if she was single. Her first reaction would probably be to giggle too.
But again, there was no answer.
They must have both been upstairs. "Rob?" I called again as I walked out of the kitchen. I turned the corner toward the staircase and saw him. He was lying at the bottom of the stairs. There was a pool of blood under his head and his leg was twisted at an awkward angle. "Rob!" I ran toward him and crouched down. "Oh my God, Rob." I was afraid to touch his body. I didn't want to injure him any more than he already was. There was so much blood underneath his head. And it was smeared around beneath his hands like he had tried to get up and failed.No.
"Wake up. Rob, you have to wake up. Ellen!" I screamed up the steps. "Ellen, help!" I gently put my fingers to Rob's neck, trying to find a pulse. My eyes were blinded by tears. "No, Rob, wake up."
"Don't move."
Her voice made my whole body turn cold.Isabella.
"Stand up, Penny."
