Hope. My forehead wrinkled as my eyebrows came together. I pressed, trying to struggle through the thick cloak of black in my mind. Surely there had to be something, some spark of a memory. “Yet I wasn’t harmed,” i said in disbelief. “A fact I’m very grateful for,” Damian said. “Still, it must have been very frightening.” A sudden thought came to me, and my hand flew from his in alarm. “Was anyone else hurt?” Again his gaze flickered away from me for just a second. He reached up and recaptured my hand then brought it to his lips. A soft gasp escaped me when he pressed a kiss to my palm. “No.” I sagged in relief. “I wish I could remember. I keep thinking if I just try a little harder, it will come, but when I try to focus on the past, my head starts to spin.” Damian frowned. “This is precisely why I do not like to discuss the accident with you. The doctor warned against causing you any upset or stress. You must put the incident from your mind and focus on regaining your strength
Hope. I dozed off, and when I woke up, i looked at the clock by my bed and saw that an hour had elapsed. I felt refreshed and drew away the covers, wanting to get up and move around. The constant rest was starting to make me restless. Though i was dressed in soft pajamas, I nevertheless reached for the silk dressing robe lying at the foot of my bed. Tying it around my body, i walked out of the bedroom and into the living room, where i found Patrice. I smiled at the other woman and assured her i was feeling well when she prompted me. Patrice nodded approvingly, and as if sensing my need to be alone, excused herself. I took the opportunity to explore the spacious penthouse. I walked from room to room, acquainting myself with my home. Only it didn’t feel like home. I could see Damian in the style and makeup of the decorations and furnishings, but I couldn’t see anything that made me feel as though I had made any mark on the apartment. For some reason, that discomfited me. I felt like
Damian I watched her go and cursed under my breath. I dragged a hand through my hair before i sat down and reopened the laptop. A quick check of the browsing history showed she had done nothing more than research memory loss and a few articles about my company. Another check of my files indicated none of my business documents had been accessed. I cursed again. I had reacted badly, so harshly , but seeing her using my computer had immediately put me on guard. I propped my elbows on the desk and held my head in my hands. My meeting with the detective in charge of the investigation into Hope’s abduction had been an exercise in frustration. They had little to no information to go on, and the one person who could supply it couldn’t remember. There were no new developments regarding where she had been for the past month. Hope hadn’t been rescued as the news had led viewers to believe; rather, she had been abandoned by her kidnappers, and an anonymous caller had alerted the police on he
Hope. I stood in the closet of the bedroom Damian had given me, staring blindly at the row of clothing hanging in front of me. I wiped the tears with the back of my hand and concentrated on what to wear. I rummaged through the many outfits, but none of them felt like me. With an unhappy frown i turned to the row of shelves that lined the right side of my closet and saw a stack of faded jeans next to several neatly folded T-shirts. I reached for the jeans, knowing that this was what i felt most comfortable in. But when I unfolded the first pair, i saw that they weren’t maternity pants. They were not going to fit. A quick search of the rest yielded the same results. I turned back around and flipped through outfit after outfit on the hangers and saw that they, too, were not suitable clothing for a woman in the more advanced stages of pregnancy. Why did i have nothing to wear? I glanced down at the bulge of my stomach. While i wasn’t huge, the waistlines of the clothing in my closet
Hope. The next morning, I dressed in one of the chic outfits that had been delivered straight to our house by a local boutique. Damian had insisted i see an obstetrician before we departed for the Hamptons, and so, accompanied by him and flanked by several members of his security team, we entered the medical building where the doctor’s offices were housed. I felt conspicuous and faintly embarrassed, but i also glowed under Damian’s constant attention and his apparent concern for my well being. To my surprise, there was no waiting once Damian announced our arrival to the receptionist. His security detail remained in the lobby, and I smiled at the image of the big, burly men standing amidst a dozen small patients mostly children and women. Damian and i were ushered to an exam room by a young nurse who assured us that the doctor would attend to us shortly. When the nurse retreated, Damian lifted me and settled me on the exam table. Instead of sitting in the chair to the side, he sto
Hope “We are here,” Damian said. I nodded, and Damian stepped from the limousine. He reached in and helped me out, and i blinked as the bright sunshine hit my eyes. The wind blew, and i shivered against the slight chill. Damian wrapped an arm around me and hurried me towards the waiting plane. The inside was warm and looked extremely comfortable. As he guided me toward a seat, he said, “There is a bed in the back. Once we have taken off, you can go lie down.” “That sounds lovely,” i said with a smile as he settled into the seat next to me. I turned and looked out the window and then glanced toward the front of the plane as i saw several of Damian’s security detail file into the cabin. “Damian, why do you have so many security people?” He stiffened besides me. “I am a very wealthy man. There are those who might seek to harm me...or those important to me.” “Oh. Is the danger very high?” i asked as i turned her gaze on him. “It is the job of my men to ensure there is no danger.
Hope. “You are welcome to stay, Rosie. I do hope you will eat dinner with us tonight,” Damian said politely as i mounted the stairs. I really had no idea where i was going, but upstairs seemed as good a place as any, and it would put me solidly away from the source of my irritation. I was nearly to the top when Damian overtook me. “You should have waited for me,” he reproached. “I don’t like you navigating the stairs by yourself. What if you were to fall? In the future, someone will escort you up or down.” My mouth fell open. “You are not serious!” He frowned, clearly not liking my tone of disbelief. “I’m very serious when it comes to your well being Hope.” I blew out my breath in frustration as Damian escorted me from the landing of the stairs down the hall to a spacious bedroom. Clearly this was the master suite. I set aside the protests forming on my tongue and stared at Damian in question. “Is this to be my room?” I asked irritated. “It is our room.” Heat rose in my che
Hope. Remembering that the doctor would be up in a few moments, and not wanting to give him any excuse to send me straight to bed, i hastened to the bathroom, where I splashed cool water on my face in an effort to rid myself of the flush that still suffused my cheeks. I dragged a hand through my curls and frowned at my reflection in the mirror. My hair didn’t look right. A brief image flashed across my mind. It was me, laughing, but with shorter hair. Hair that curled riotously around my head in an unruly cap. Even with such a brief glance into my memories, i knew i preferred my hair short. So why had i let it grow long? I shook my head and vowed to get it trimmed as soon as i was able to. I heard a knock at my door, and i rushed out of the bathroom. Damian walked in, with an older man following closely behind him. Alba entered after them and smiled at me from across the room. “Hope, this is Dr. Karounis. He is a leading physician in Athens, and he has graciously agreed to see to