Trust Me

Travis stared at the picture, his eyes narrowing as he mentally read the name under it.

"Oh, for God's sake, I asked you not to miss your sessions.” Felix stated as he closed the book.

“I don’t see why it should be a cause for alarm.” Travis hissed as he sighed deeply.

“Really? It’s not a cause for alarm? What if your father decides to…” Felix started to say.

"Can we please not talk about him?" Travis asked, rubbing his head.

"Well, we'll have it your way as long as you do not miss the session for Friday." Felix agreed.

"I'll try." Travis responded.

"If Liora is back in town, you need to ensure you don't run into her, at least for now." Felix warned.

Travis pulled off his shirt, running a hand through his hair as he responded, "That would not be a problem. I read the marriage contract, remember, and the marriage was kept a secret. I'm pretty sure pretending not to know her won't be unexpected."

"I don't know if that should make me relieved or shake my head at the j*rk that you are." Felix chuckled, shaking his head.

Travis's lips curled into a smile as he responded with a shrug, "I've been called a j*rk more times than I can count."

Felix laughed at his joke just as they heard the doorbell ring throughout the cabin.

"Must be Alex; let me just take a shower, and I'll be right down." Travis said.

"Okay," Felix responded and walked out of his room.

As soon as the door closed behind Felix, Travis closed his eyes, the smile vanishing off his face. He raised his right hand to his neck, rubbing off the pressure that had weighed on him.

"Liora Adams," he muttered under his breath.

The name rolled off his tongue smoothly, almost like his body remembered it but his mind did not.

"Let's hope I don't have to confront you anytime soon." Travis mumbled to himself.

About fifteen minutes later, Travis padded down the stairs of the cabin, dressed in sweatpants and a comfortable T-shirt.

"I ordered dinner from the hotel while we waited." Felix said.

"That's fine, thank you." Travis replied.

"Welcome back, how was your trip?" Alex asked.

Alex Warner was Travis's personal assistant who had grown close to him and Felix and had become like a close friend to them.

"Why did you let Felix come pick me up? I have only gotten an earful of complaint since I landed." Travis said with a grin.

"Oh, please, we all know that made it less suspicious. Imagine your personal assistant appearing at the airport; that would have been more suspicious." Felix defended.

"It's a good thing you're back." Alex stated, smiling before adding, "I hear Mr. Ashford already spoke to you."

Travis nodded as he picked up a plate to dish some of the pasta on the table for himself.

"I'll see him at the office tomorrow. For now, I need you to bring me up to speed on our acquisition of the White Medical Center." Travis stated.

"We have reached out to the president like you said, and a meeting is to be scheduled with the board soon," Alex explained.

"Okay, that sounds good. Any other new thing happen while I was away?" Travis asked.

"Mmm hmm, nothing really important, except the fact that Michael has the board against your plan for the medical technology arm of the group." Alex replied.

Travis nodded, his eyes blank as he calculated. There were a lot of things he was preparing to do, and no matter how hard anyone tried, they were not going to stop him.

"Felix, are you sure the doctor is in town?" Travis asked.

"I'm not sure, but from what I heard, it seems it's true." Felix responded with a shrug.

"Any report from the team on the doctor's location?" Travis turned to Alex.

He had a private team of cyber intelligence who have been helping him track the location of the doctor.

"If it was that easy to track, I'm very sure you would have found her by now." Felix shrugged.

"How do we know it's even a 'her'? It could be a 'he,' right?" Alex asked.

"Well, last I checked, the name is for a female warrior." Felix stated.

Travis stood up, dropped his empty bowl of pasta, walked over to the fridge, and took out a bottle of water.

"It's a 'her,' I'm sure of it." Travis stated.

Felix and Alex continued their conversation in the background while Travis walked out to the back of the cabin into the small garden that separated his unit from the one behind.

Taking in a deep breath of the cool air, he closed his eyes and muttered to himself, "I will find you."

****************************

"What? Head of the Trauma Unit? How is that supposed to help us?" Luke White asked.

He looked really pissed and ready to explode as he stood staring daggers at Fiona White. They were seated in the conference room located on the fourth floor of the hospital. Liora sat to the right of Fiona, directly opposite Luke White.

The sun had risen early that morning after she had spent the night tossing and turning from one end of the bed to another.

"Don't you think you should say something?" Lily whispered into Liora's ear.

Liora sat there looking at the chaos unfold before her as she watched every face closely.

"How is that going to help us? Our finances are nothing, and our reputation is also taking a hit. I think allowing the Ashford family to take over is the best decision for us at the moment." Luke insisted.

Everyone in the room shifted in their seats uncomfortably, exchanging a knowing glance amongst themselves.

"Last night, Liora took care of the trauma ward; I'm sure we all have heard about it. Having her on the team would greatly improve our…" Fiona tried to explain.

"Fiona, I know you have tried your best for the past few years, but as it stands, letting the Ashfords take over might be our best course." Letitia Wright, one of the board of directors, said.

"I know we are struggling, but with Liora here, we can get back to what we once were. Trust me." Fiona said, her voice almost pleading.

Liora could see the triumphant look on Luke's face as he sat back, resting his back on the chair.

Just then, Luke's phone rang, and from the look on his face, it seemed like a very important call.

"I need to take this." Luke stated, standing up.

"Fiona, you know we all just want what's best for the hospital?" One of the board said.

Luke rushed back to the room, an urgency on his face as he looked around the room.

"What's wrong?" Leticia asked.