All is Lost (All Series, Book 2) (40 page)

“
Shh, give me just a minute
Tristan. I’m trying to find your medicine.”

Understanding me, he nods his head before
squeezing his eyes shut tightly. I frantically begin digging
through the cabinet beside his nightstand and discover several
filled vials. Reaching a shaky hand up for a syringe, I freeze
realizing I don’t know what the hell I am doing and I could hurt
him more–or worse, I could kill him. Glancing back over, I watch
his chest rise and fall rapidly indicating he is struggling to hold
in his pain.
I must help him
. I turn around on my heel and
rush out of the room. Finding Morgan and the nurse standing on the
other side of the closed door, I exhale and explain that I need her
assistance since it’s my first day with him. She flashes a
flirtatious smile at Morgan and walks immediately over to
Tristan.

“
Damn, this was a bad idea,” I say
through my clenched jaw. “He’s hurting and I can’t help
him.”

Shifting his eyes from me to Tristan and
finally landing on the nurse, Morgan casually counters, “He’s fine.
He just needs his pain medicine.”

“
Exactly! And I don’t know a damn
thing about giving medicine. What if I had hurt him by giving him
too much medicine? Morgan we have to go.” I rush my words, hoping
that he will appease my pleas.

“
We’re not leaving. I’ve convinced
her to take a break so I can spend a few private moments with him.
She drives a hard bargain, but I bought you at least an
hour.”

“
Fine,” I breathe dejectedly,
watching the real nurse inject Tristan’s liquid relief into the
small hub connected to his IV and I feel my own body relax
slightly.

After explaining a few details of his routine,
she leaves us alone without so much as a sideways glance. Clearly,
whatever Morgan offered her is a huge motivator for her to abandon
her responsibilities. Morgan takes the seat next to Tristan’s bed
and begins talking to him like he isn’t even aware of the head
injury.

“
I have never seen you so lazy,
Trist. You know, I expected you to be working the beat already.
When you do finally drag your ass out of this bed you’re going to
have hit the gym for a month straight to get rid of your gut and
cankles.”

“
Will you please, just shut the
hell up?” Tristan groans with a smirk playing at the corner of his
mouth.

“
Oh really?” Morgan winks at me and
says, “You’re going to say that to me after I bring you a special
gift? Wow! Well, maybe we should just go and let you have some
peace and quiet, old man.”

“
Ugh, fine.” Caving in, Tristan
pouts playfully staring at his cousin. “You can stay, but cut me
some slack. I’m injured.”

Morgan begins laughing and Tristan lays his
hand heavy against his stomach trying to stay the pain. Grateful
seeing their jovial banter return, I am freed from the oppressive
stress that held me since arriving. I smile as they continue
laughing for another moment.

Tristan turns his head my way and a beautiful
grin breaks, “Well, hello again pretty lady.”

“
Hi yourself.” Joining the
conversation, I sit on the edge of his bed next to Morgan. “How are
you feeling?”

“
Like shit. Oh, I’m sorry, please
forgive my foul language.” Wincing through his apology, Tristan’s
eyes mirror his plea.

“
I forgive you.” Smiling at his
goofy and unnecessary apology, I shrug a shoulder, “but honestly
I’ve heard you say worse.”

His grin grows wicked as his eyes scan over my
outfit, “You look smoking hot in that little white
uniform.”

Rolling my eyes at his dramatics, I slap his
hand lying near my leg. “Jerk!” I snort.

He catches my hand and tugs on it, drawing me
nearer. With his eyes latched on mine, Tristan’s look shifts to
something unrecognizable. As a rule, Tristan and I have never been
touchy-feely, but that changed recently. After the chaos and pain I
endured at the graduation party and nearly losing him, I have
reevaluated my life and checked my automatic freak outs toward
intimacy. Still slightly uncomfortable with it, I grudgingly allow
him to pull me down to his face and wait for him to speak; but he
doesn’t speak. He just stares at me. Hard.

His eyes break from mine and move over every
inch of my face slowly, like he’s memorizing the details. Being
this close and feeling so intimate my emotions begin choking in my
throat. He releases my hand, sliding his up my arm and stopping at
my cheek. Warmth from his large hand cups my face while his thumb
strokes tenderly over my cheekbone. His sweet simple touch reminds
me that he is one of the best men I have ever known. Tristan has
always been here for me and he knows me better than almost anyone.
Except Anna
.

His tongue sweeps out to moisten his lips as
he drags my forehead toward them. It is a sweet gesture and my
heart trips with the love I have for this amazing man. Tristan’s
fingers slowly laces through my hair as he pushes my head upward
and stares deep into my eyes again. Releasing a heavy sigh after
seeing a subtle darkening in his eyes, I squeeze mine tightly,
hearing alarms sounding in my head urging me to break away
immediately, but I fight against it and tell myself that everything
is okay.

The grip Tristan has on my head tightens as he
pulls me down again, crashing my lips onto his. My eyes flash open
as he moves his mouth roughly over mine. Panic squeezes deep in my
chest and a maniacal scream erupts inside my head.
No
!
Pressing my hands on his chest, I force my mouth away from him. I
literally jump back several feet away from the bed. I cup my hand
across my mouth to smother the shriek trying to break free from my
throat.

“
What the fuck Tristan?” Morgan
growls angrily, grabbing my elbow and towing me farther away from
the bed.

“
I was accepting my gift, Morgan.”
Chuckling lightly, Tristan sweeps his eyes from me to Morgan. “Why
are you freaking out? Didn’t you bring this little beauty in here
to make me feel better?”

“
Yes, but not so you could to do
that
to her,” Morgan defends fiercely.

Abundant, heavy emotions run through my mind
simultaneously, each one fighting to dominate the moment. Betrayal,
hurt, and guilt win out over all of them. Scarce trembling
transforms into full blown body racking spasms as I clutch
desperately to Morgan’s arm, depending on him entirely for
stability. Gravity threatens to sever my stance and my
sanity.

Tristan sighs, “Really, Morgan? You dress that
hot body in a naughty nurse’s uniform and expect me to keep my
hands to myself? Not likely. She’s sexy as hell and tastes like
cherries.” Wicked eyes flash and lock on mine. “Come back over here
honey and let’s get to know each other better.”

Gasping loudly, I stammer, “What…what did you…
just say, Tristan?”

An obscene grin eclipses the familiarity of
the sweet grin I have known my entire life as he replies, “See,
that’s not fair. You know my name, but I don’t know
yours.”

Dizziness from the lack of oxygen entering my
body has my head spinning. My knees buckle and I sway against
Morgan, nearly knocking him over. From the horrified look on his
face it wouldn’t take much to do just that. He draws me
protectively into his arms and begins rushing us out of the room
and away from the man–my best friend–who acts like he doesn’t know
me anymore.

I snap, “Stop!” My anger boils up and I press
away from Morgan’s hold. His steps falter as I spin around and
charge back toward Tristan.

Morgan follows, grasps my elbow and places his
mouth against my ear, growling low enough that Tristan can’t hear
him, “Hell no. I’m getting you out of here right now. I don’t know
what the hell is going on, but something is definitely fucked
up.”

I stare down at his hand gripping my arm
tightly then shoot him a warning glare.

“
Let go of me now,” He does and I
turn my attention to Tristan. “What do you mean you don’t know my
name?”

Displaying his famous lopsided grin, he shrugs
his shoulders and glances between me and Morgan before
replying.

“
I’m sorry if I upset you baby
doll.
Should
I know you?”

Morgan responds, allowing me a chance to catch
my breath. “Wait. You know me, right?” He asks. Tristan nods his
head, answering yes. Pointing a finger my direction, Morgan
continues, “But you don’t know who she is?”

Tristan narrows his eyes at me, devoting
several moments to slowly scanning every inch of me and after that
kiss an icky feeling traces their path. I struggle fiercely with
wanting to run away, but I can’t do that. I must figure out what is
going on.

“
No.” Tristan answers.

Truth

Piercing Morgan with unruly and hateful eyes,
I strike like a rattlesnake with my venomous bite, revealing my
conspiracy theory and accusations.

“
Someone is keeping this
information from us. Someone doesn’t want us to know that he
can’t…” I don’t finish my thought. My heart clenches with fear that
he may actually have also forgotten Anna, the love of his
life.

“
Who would do that and what gain
can come from keeping that information from us?”

“
I don’t know.” My tone softens as
I turn and narrow my eyes at Tristan. “But we can’t leave him here,
like this.”

“
For now, there’s nothing we can
do. He’s in no condition to move.”

“
Does someone want to clue me in on
what the hell ya’ll are going on about?” Tristan interrupts, his
voice raspy mixed with pain and the sedative.

Resigning that we can’t take him with us now,
I approach the bed again and find the will to tamp down my
hostility enough to soothe him.

“
I think perhaps it’s just a
misunderstanding. We’ll work it out later, but for now you need
rest.”

Closing his eyes, Tristan sighs and nods in
agreement.

We enter the garage and Morgan holds open the
passenger side door of his car, allowing me to sit before shutting
it and leaving me to fetch the real nurse. Even though Tristan is
alive, I feel like I have lost him. How can he not remember me? I
don’t care what it takes I’m going to get to the bottom of
this.

Chapter
Twenty-Seven

Morgan

Brewing with an all consuming rage, I storm
back into Tristan’s room ready to cuss the little bastard out for
all that he is worth for manhandling Breesan and kissing her…and
because he forgot her. How the hell can he forget her; and what
about Anna?

Impossible.
He could never forget the
girl he has loved since he was a kid. Honestly, it isn’t Tristan
that I’m angry with. I am more pissed off that someone in my family
has kept the fact that he can’t remember shit from me.

Forcing open his bedroom door with damn near
every bit of my strength, it bounces hard off the wall behind it.
My feet freeze, stalling on the threshold at the shocking sight set
before me.

“
What the hell is your problem?”
Tristan winces, lifting his hand to the side of his head, clearly
still in a lot of pain.

“
Hello Morgan.” A sweet fake
greeting from a truly naughty nurse, standing beside Tristan’s bed,
sends a wave of disgust coursing through my veins.

Finding my voice and my ability to walk again,
I answer Tristan as I approach his bed. I glare down at him and
notice the intimate way that Elise’s hand is laying on his bare
chest.

“
Why don’t you two tell
me
what the fuck is going on here?” I bark with a deep and menacing
tone.

“
You’re not the only one who
brought me a gift. My dad moved in sweet Elise here to help with my
recovery
.” He emphasizes the word while waggling his
eyebrows suggestively. Covering her tiny hand pressing against his
chest with his, he begins sliding them down his stomach toward the
hard-on tenting his sheets. “Elise, the guy closing the door behind
him as he leaves
now
is my cousin Morgan. Goodbye
Morgan.”

My mind swirls cyclonically and I stagger
backward from the cumulative information, but somehow manage to
walk toward the garage. Tristan’s memory is fucked up and he’s
turned into a horn-dog. Elise is staying here for him and
apparently not just to help him with recovering from his injury.
Not good. Those disgusting thoughts aside, the key here is Tristan
saying his dad is responsible for her being here. Apparently
forcing me to marry Elise is no longer their plan to merge with
Carrington International.
Beck and Barret Walker are behind this
bullshit
!

“
So, the prodigal son decides to
grace us with his presence.”

With a hand resting on the door knob to the
garage after opening it, I pause as my father’s words wash over me
like hot lava. I refuse to play into his taunts to rile me up so I
plaster a fake smirk and turn to face him head on.

Releasing the door that I seriously want to
rip off the hinges, I reply coolly, “Dad.”

“
I’m surprised to see you here. I
was told you moved out after returning from your frolic across the
country. What do you have to say for flagrantly disregarding your
role in this family Morgan?”His superiority resonates brighter than
his smug smile, and I would love to wipe that shit off his
face.