Sage Slade
Sometimes, when I close my eyes, I see my mother.
Her long flowy blond locks, gentle green eyes, and a warm smile. I remember the smell of laundry detergent she used to have and her giggle. All of it comforts me in the most horrible situations.
Tonight, I didn't see her.
My vision is blurry, all I can see are bright lights and I think about the people above me. We're in a hurry. I can tell from the sound of wheels being pushed against their limit beneath me and from how I shift from left to right repeatedly.
"Sage!"
Mom?
"Is she alright?"
No...that's Greyson.
"Sir, we're going to have to ask you to calm down," one lady said.
"I'm her fucking fiance, don't tell me to calm down!" Greyson growls.
I try to regain consciousness, to see his face, to see the living face of someone I recognize. When I manage to see more details, I see Greyson, he's over me, our eyes meet instantly. Relief flies into his silver gaze and my chest tightens.
When was he able to look at me like that?
"You're going to be alright, Sage." He grabs my hand. "You're going to be alright."
I've got to respond, to reassure him that I'll be fine, but for some reason the words won't come out. All I could do is take in that look in his eyes. Of torturous worry. Is it bad that I want to always keep this image in my head? This is the most care he's ever shown me and I can't help but feel a tinge of happiness from it.
"Sir, this is as far as you can go." The nurse says to him. Greyson frowns, his jaw tightens, but he stops at the door without saying another word. When he was finally out of sight, I stopped fighting the sleepy feeling that was taking over me and drifted off.
*******
"She sprained her left arm and we checked her head for any signs of a concussion and there weren't any. However, we'd like to keep her here for the next day or two to watch over her just in case." I heard a lady's voice.
I groaned, feeling a sharp pain in my head.
"Sage?"
My eyelids fluttered open, Greyson was right in front of me, his piercing eyes met mine. There's something about him like this that almost makes me think he could be a decent human being. He's genuinely worried about me, it's almost like the past two years I've been with him have been an act and he's really a Prince Charming.
"Wh-What happened?" I muttered, leaning up. The nurse and Greyson look at me, then I immediately remember. "Dad." I say. "Dad, is he okay?" What the hell is wrong with me? Here I am thinking about Greyson for whatever drug-induced reason and my Father was lying in a pool of blood the last time I saw him.
The nurse cleared her throat. "Miss Slade, your Father is in the O.R. right now, he's lost a tremendous amount of blood. He has multiple stab wounds." My stomach drops and suddenly I feel my nose begin to sting. "Sta-Stab wounds!" I yell. Greyson tenses up next to me, anger exuding from him. "Wh-What? How? Who? Why!?"
"Could you please leave us alone for a moment?" Greyson asked and the nurse nodded her head. "I'll be back to update you about your Father. I will head to the O.R. now." Then she left the room and I couldn't stop the overwhelming amount of tears that poured out of my eyes. It's like a stab to my chest hearing that Dad was treated in such a horrible way.
I looked at Greyson. "Who would do that?"
"Sage, the Police are in the lobby waiting for you, you encountered a man, right?" It looked like every word that came out of his mouth felt like his teeth were being pulled. Greyson is trying to stay composed and he's doing well, yet from the wrinkles on the sheet he's gripping onto, it's a different story.
I gulped down the block in my throat. "N-No he was wearing a mask, everything's hazy." This was the truth, after he popped up out of nowhere about to strangle me. I forgot everything prior to that. All I knew at that moment was the cold-blooded hatred in his heart. He looked at me like I did some injustice to him that could never be made up. Like murder.
"It's alright," Greyson says softly, when was he able to speak like that? "you don't need to push yourself." I didn't like hearing him so kind, it felt misplaced. I'm not a masochist or anything, but Greyson Blackstone has never treated me this way, even before I knew his true nature. This is something I'm not really comfortable with but can't help but enjoy it.
"Thank you...Thank you for coming to me." I said, my eyes on my lap.
****
Two days later, I got the O.K. to leave and spoke to the police. I was free but hesitant to go, but when the doctors reassured me that my Father would have made it through the worse and would be back to normal within a few weeks, I couldn't argue. Plus, Dad was getting angry with me for not getting a decent rest since I was watching over him for the last forty-eight hours.The good side is that my Dad will be fine and so will I.
The bad side is the outcome.
Unfortunately, Grandfather heard about the incident and, since my Father won't be out of the hospital for a while, he doesn't feel good about leaving me at home alone. Neither does Greyson. That's why they both gave me no other choice but to stay at Greyson's condo for a while. Grandfather originally wanted me to stay with him but Greyson said and I quote...
"Excuse me for my rash behavior, Mr. Emerson, but if I am the fiance of your granddaughter, it is only fit for me to be the one she stays with. And before you protest, my condo does have round-the-clock security from the most serious and professional men out there. No one knows if I will stay in that condo because I haven't been inside it for a year and, if you ask, I only have it as a precaution just in case something happens in my permanent living arrangements. Either way, the condo is comfortable, I have a maid who comes in once a week to keep it neat, and I personally will fill the fridge."
And when Grandfather asked about how to keep our relationship discreet, he answered.
"Simple, Miss Slade will only leave when she gets the okay too, which is for school and special events only. I will have her driven in a separate town car as I, with Walter as my most trusted escort, and we will continue our daily lives just living together. And if you're worried about me doing anything to her, trust me sir, I assure you I'm not interested in girls as young as Miss Slade. I only worry about her protection."
Grandfather really couldn't argue with that, plus he wanted Greyson and I to get more acquainted. He feels that if we were to live together, our bond would strengthen. Whatever that means. Either way, I couldn't find a way out of this, so I agreed. Nevertheless, I will now be staying at Greyson's for the next few weeks until my Father is in tip-top shape. Now we're walking into the luxurious lobby of Greyson's multi-million dollar condo. He wasn't kidding about the security, there were hordes of them walking around, most of them were scary too. I wouldn't try anything here with guys like that crawling around. "Sage, pay attention." Greyson snaps me back and leans on the front desk. "This is Charles." He points to the guy behind the desk. "He's going to be the one who let's you into the building, he does not trust anyone, unless I myself or whoever lives here gives him the clear. I already told him about our circumstances, so all you need to do is check in every time you leave and come in. Understood?"
I nod.
"Hello, Miss Slade, I'm Charles." The man smiled. "Your safety will not be an issue here, Mr. Blackstone is correct. We tend not to trust anyone unless we are given the clear too by the owner. So, unfortunately, that means if you have friends, I have to run that through Mr. Blackstone before allowing them in."
I nodded again. "It's okay, I understand."
"Great." He says. "Well, please enjoy your stay and if you need anything, don't hesitate to ask."
Before I could thank him, Greyson snaked his arm around me and pulled me close. "That'll be all, we'll be heading up now." Without warning, I was taken to the elevator and when the door was closed, Greyson released me. He pressed a key card into the elevator and it automatically went to his designated floor.
His condo was on the hundredth floor! What..but...how...why!? "Greyson, that's pretty high, I'm not comfortable with being so high up." I tell him, my voice cracking from the nervous and anxious feeling I'm feeling now. Greyson looked at me and sighed, then grabbed me and wrapped his arms around me. So that is what it's like to get embraced by him, it was warm and comfortable. His entire body engulfed mine and slowly the fear melted away and I relaxed. "Slade, I'm going to need you to be a brave girl for me, I refuse to have you anywhere else but here." He tells me softly. I want to stop this, to stop him from being kind, but I can't. Something inside me craves more attention.
Does this make me a bad person?
The elevator lets out a ding and the doors open. We reached his condo...
Oh my gosh
His condo
The realization hit me like a truck. This whole time, my mind had been on other things that I didn't think about the one thing that would be the biggest problem.
That I'll be...I'll be living with Greyson...
Alone!