Cole(94)

I shook my head, jerking it from side to side. She couldn’t do that. “No!” My damn voice—it was barely a loud whisper.

“No?” She stood by the bed. “Addison, you’re freaking me out. What’s wrong?”

“I—” My throat started to spasm. I couldn’t talk, or I couldn’t rush it, at least. I had to go slowly to get the words out. Taking a big damned calming breath, I forced myself to speak slowly, “Phone. Call Cole.”

“I can do that.” Sia grabbed the phone next to the bed and held it out. “What’s his number?”

Our gazes caught—I had no idea. She grimaced, then perked back up. She began searching through drawers. “I’m sure he’s got his number around here…maybe? Maybe not. And you know, they didn’t want me to have my phone so I can’t even use that some way.” She gestured to the hallway. “Let me ask Dorian. I’m sure he has Cole’s number.”

No, no, NO! I shook my head as fast as I could, but the words wouldn’t come out. She left, and along with her, my only hope.

Fuck that.

Every part of my body was hurting, but I slipped from the bed—and crumpled to the floor. I landed hard, feeling stabbing pain shoot up my legs, but I gritted my teeth and scooted to the bathroom. I didn’t want to leave Sia on her own, but if she didn’t know, maybe he’d leave her alone? It was my only chance, so as I heard her coming back, I grabbed the phone and went into the bathroom.

“Addison?”

I looked back. She was coming around the corner, another shadow behind her. A larger one, and he turned with her, almost towering over her. I paused, the phone in one hand and my other reaching for the bathroom handle. Our eyes met, and his narrowed.

“Addison, what are you doing?” Sia asked.

Dorian’s nostrils flared. His hand came down on Sia’s shoulder, and he began to pull her behind him. He surged toward me, and I slammed the door shut. I hit the lock a fraction of a second before he was there, yanking on the handle.

“Ms. Bowman.” He sounded so damned professional.

I kicked at the door, then regretted it. My ankle began to throb. I grabbed it, just holding on as he knocked on the door again. “Addison, if you tell me what’s the matter, I can probably assist you.”

Asshole. I couldn’t say a word, and he knew it. He’d hurt Sia.

“Addison? Come on.” Sia was becoming impatient. “This is ridiculous. You wanted me to call Cole. Dorian can do that for you. That’s what you wanted, right?” Her voice grew quieter. “You can do that? You’ll call Cole for her?”

“Mr. Mauricio is out handling business. I’m sure he’ll call as soon as he’s able.”

“Yeah.” Sia bought it. “You’re right.” She stepped closer to the door. “Did you hear that? Cole will call us. I’m sure the second he has his phone, he’ll call. Dorian’s right. Come on, Addison. Come back out. We can both snuggle in that bed of his—have you seen the bed? It should have its own Instagram page. It’s like nothing I’ve seen. Huge. And the sheets?” She groaned. “I felt them before. I’m pretty sure that’s Egyptian cotton.”

A growl formed at the base of my throat. She wasn’t helping, and I couldn’t say a goddamn word. I hit the door with my fist, still holding my aching ankle in the other hand. The longer I kept quiet, the better chance Sia would remain alive.

Enough was enough.

I didn’t want to involve the cops, but I had no other choice. Lifting the receiver, I dialed 9-1-1 and held my breath, hoping this would save the day without putting Cole behind bars.

“Addison?” Sia pressed against the door.

“Ms. Bowman.” Dorian was right next to her. I could see their shoes.

“Emergency. What is your loca—”

The line went dead. I hung up and tried again. Nothing. I kept hitting the hang-up lever to try again, but nothing. I started crying. This couldn’t be happening.

“Why’d you do that?” Sia asked, her voice suddenly different.

I froze, phone in hand.

“You yanked out the cord,” she said. “Why…I mean, why would you do that?”

No, no, no! She couldn’t ask more questions. I tossed the phone aside and began hitting the door with my palm. She needed to shut up.

I kept banging, as hard as I could. Maybe the other men would come in. There had to be more than Dorian. Sia said there were two. I hit the door with my entire arm, then both arms. I couldn’t yell, so I kicked with my good foot, too.

I whaled on the door until I heard a loud thud on the other side.