Watching her running figure disappear, Aiden stood by the open door until his eyes couldn't see her anymore. Once she was out of sight he turned to look at Lily. He let his eyes settle on her for a bit before he turned to face Ben that had been standing next to him.
"Aiden Villan." He introduced himself while reaching his hand out to greet him.
"Ben Clarkson. Madam Collins butler. It's a pleasure to meet you." Ben shook his hand while slightly bowing.
"Don't bow to me Ben. I can tell you're much more than just her butler. The pleasure is mine." Aiden gave him a knowing grin. He knew that if she trusted the man enough to look over Lily, he was much more than a mere employee.
Without waiting for Ben's response he took out a business card from his pocket and gave it to him. "That's my personal and office number. If any of you need anything, don't hesitate to call. I hope we'll be seeing more of each other Ben."
As soon as Aiden finished talking to Ben he started to leave the hospital. He got into an elevator and dialed a number on his cellphone while the doors closed and started to go down to the main floor.
It rang twice before the person on the other line picked up. "Good evening Boss." The man answered groggily as if he had just woken up.
"I need you to look into something. Get your ass into gear. I want answers by sunrise." Aiden ordered as the temperature inside the elevator dropped.
By the time Claire reached the room in the ICU unit, she was panting and out of breath. She had been hastily running all night and it was finally catching up to her.
She took a deep breath in front of the door trying to settle her nerves. Nobody had told her exactly what condition he was in, but judging by how much time Colton's operation took, nothing good was waiting for her inside the room. And although she was imagining the worst, nothing prepared her for what she saw once she opened the door.
Claire trembled. She grabbed onto the door frame to steady herself since she felt like her body was on the verge of collapsing. Tears started to flow down her face like a waterfall as she silently looked at her brother. She could've sworn she heard her heart crack.
Colton was lying in the hospital bed with Anna sitting right next to him. Holding his hand. His face was bruised and had stitches on his forehead, his left leg and arm were in white casts and his waist was wrapped in bandaging. He had his eyes closed and was breathing with the help of a machine.
The beeping sounds coming from the machines he was attached to echoed in the room as neither of them spoke. They simply stared at the battered face of the man before them. The same man that once seemed indestructible, was now being assisted to breath as he laid there unconscious. Without the signature smile on his face.
Claire stood there for a few minutes as she gained back her balance. She took a step inside and closed the door behind her. As she walked towards the bed she pulled a nearby chair to sit next to Colton. She sat down and wiped her face before holding his hand.
Being so close to him she was devastated even further by what she saw. His ashy red hair was a mess, his lips were starting to crack from lack of moisture, his forehead was covered in stitches and the whole left side of his face was covered in small cuts and black and purple bruises.
Claire took a few deep breaths to control herself from having another breakdown like she did before. Colton hated it when she cried, so the least she could do was try not to. And even though it was all she felt like doing, she knew there were things that had to be done. Looking up at Anna she felt her heart sink again when she noticed the state she was in.
Anna's eyes were red and her complexion was paper white. She stared at Colton as she absentmindedly stroked his hand with her thumb. Her head was being flooded with bittersweet memories that made the face she was currently looking at seem like that of a stranger's.
She could hear someone was talking, but she was too lost in her own head to pay attention. It wasn't until she heard Claire raise her voice that she snapped out of her thoughts forcing her to look up at her.
"Anna, what happened?" Claire asked her. She understood why Anna was in that somber looking state. Having to make her talk about the situation right now was making her feel even worse than she already did, but she needed answers.
Seeing as Claire was waiting for her to to talk, Anna tried to compose herself. She had the answers Claire needed to start moving. And every second she wasted was a delay.
Taking a deep inhale she looked up at the ceiling to avoid her tears from falling. After a few deep breaths she faced Claire and started to talk.
"After you left, Lily woke up again. He and Ben tried everything to make her fall asleep but couldn't manage to keep her down. So they decided to do as usual and have her take a car ride. Colton drove around for about twenty minutes before she finally fell asleep and started heading back." Anna spoke with a hoarse voice.
"About a mile away from the villa's front gates their security detail noticed two black SUV's speeding towards them. It was a blind spot so Colton didn't have time to react before they blocked him from moving. Nine men got out and started to shoot at the car. By then our guys had already started to finish them off when..." Anna gritted her teeth before she kept talking. "When one of the SUV's rammed into Colton's Jeep. The guys managed to take the driver down but they were too late. He had already managed to repeatedly ram into them."
She looked at Colton while continuing to give Claire all the details she had. "Colton jumped to the back seat to cover Lily from the impacts. His abdomen was perforated by the cars bent metal and had both his left limbs crushed. When they finally took them out, they were both already unconscious."
Claire was silent as she let all that Anna just told her sink in. The gears in her head were quickly turning as the flames in her eyes started to rise at an alarming rate. She lifted her hand and started to gently stroke the side of Colton's face.
Anna broke the silence between them as she spoke again. "The cars were heavily modified Claire. They knew exactly when and where to strike and they didn't even try to escape after being surrounded. Even if our guys had done everything right they still wouldn't have been able to save them in time. It was a suicide mission." She looked up at Claire and felt a shiver run up her spine. The look on her face was one she would never get used to. It was the kind of expression that made a persons blood freeze still.
"It's a shame don't you think Anna?" Claire said without looking up from Colton's face and with a sinister grin spread across her own. "Big bro is gonna miss the show."