I squeezed her hand. "If you'd been here, you would've been hurt too. I'm just glad you were away and safe."
It took some convincing before she calmed down, and I specifically instructed her to go on like nothing had happened. "Otherwise you're letting Dennis win. You don't want that, do you?"
Her face set stubbornly. "Hell no!"
I grinned. That's my sister.
Our bedroom at home-I refused to spend a second more than I had to at the hospital-is full of flowers from my in-laws, except Julian and his wife, and my coworkers from OWM. Gavin, his wife Amandine and Jana all come by on Monday to see me, and I assure them I'm fine and will be back at work soon.
"Make her listen to reason," Elliot complains. There are dark circles around his eyes, and he hasn't shaved since Friday. "I'm trying to get her to take a month off, but I might as well be talking to a piece of cookware. Teflon cookware."
Jana raises an eyebrow.
"A month is ridiculous!" I say. "I'm going to go stir crazy."
Jana turns to me. "Point taken. But if you don't take at least two weeks off, you're fired. I heard you cut your feet. It's going to hurt to walk."
"Yes, ma'am," I answer meekly, and Elliot relaxes … a little, and shoots a look of gratitude her way.
She glances at her watch. "I have to get going. Take care of yourself and don't come back until you feel not just fine, but great."
"Yes, ma'am," I say again to her retreating back. Jana has that effect.
"Traci's fired," Gavin says after Jana's gone. "She's also under investigation for her role in Dennis's attack."
I gape at him. "Traci? No way." I didn't catch every detail about what prompted Dennis to attack and who helped him. At first I was too happy to be alive, then the doctors were busy poking and stitching me up … and then I was just too exhausted. But Traci … ?
Gavin nods. "Unfortunately, it's true."
"She's the one who helped Dennis get hired, and she's been keeping tabs on you," Elliot adds. "Apparently she's always liked him."
"But I thought … She had such a huge crush on Gavin."
Gavin stares at me, dumbfounded. "She did?"
"Yes. Why do you think she dressed like that?"
"Gavin is a better catch than Keith Shellington," Elliot says with a sympathetic glance at Amandine, who merely sighs. I must look puzzled, because he turns to me and says, "Traci was sleeping with Keith."
"Oh my god."
"He's under investigation too. For inciting everything," Elliot says.
"Can they get him?" Elliot gave me the broad strokes of Keith's role while I was at the hospital, but I'm not too optimistic about him paying for it. He didn't actually do anything.
"Maybe, maybe not." Elliot purses his mouth. "Hard to say at this point."
Amandine adds, "It doesn't matter what the police find. He's finished."
"How?"
"He's already made enemies out of Elliot and his brothers and sister. Gavin, too, which means he's just antagonized lots of wealthy and powerful families. He won't be able to sneeze without somebody watching over him to make sure he doesn't break any laws."
Part of me wants him tossed into a dungeon, the key thrown away, but a bigger part of me is just glad this is over. Sighing, I lean back against my pillows.
"We should get going," Gavin says, helping Amandine up. "And you should get some rest. When you're well, we'll have dinner together again."
I smile. "I'd love that."
Elliot walks downstairs with them. I close my eyes in the now quiet room. The doctors prescribed a bunch of painkillers, but I refuse to take them. I want my mind clear.
My feet ache, my ribs are bruised and hurt like the dickens when I move the wrong way, and the gash on my head is ugly and throbbing. But I'm alive, and Elliot and Nonny are safe, and that's all that matters. A few drowsy moments pass, and then a thought fleets through my mind, and I frown.
"Why are you scowling?" Elliot says, reclaiming his spot next to me.
I snuggle next to him, grateful for his solid presence. "Because you were right about Traci and Dennis. If I'd listened to you, maybe things wouldn't have gotten this bad."
"It's not your fault they betrayed your trust and friendship, Belle." He kisses me tenderly on the temple. "They're the bad guys here. Don't blame yourself."
I place my hand over his chest, comforted by his warmth and his scent. His heart beats steadily under my palm.
"Saturday was your birthday."
"I know."
"I ordered this really special cake."
"With a gigolo inside?"