Chosen (Partners in Crime Book 1)

Chapter 10

Dominic didn't know if his heart would ever stop racing. Chloe had been taken into the ICU, and nobody had told him what was wrong.

He paced in front of Chloe's room.

A nurse came out, pushing Chloe's now bloodstained gurney.

She cast him a sympathetic look, "Don't look so worried. She will be fine."

He pointed to her gurney, "You call that fine?"

The nurse looked at her feet for a moment, "I see a lot of things in the ICU. Blood is one of them. And death. But I know for a fact that your girlfriend will not die."

"She's not my girlfriend."

The nurse raised a brow, "Your sister says otherwise."

Dominic rolled his eyes. Leave it to Nicole.

The nurse continued, "You can go in there. You'd probably rather hear the details from your sister."

He nodded and went inside Chloe's room. Nicole was sitting next to her, holding Chloe's hand. The sheets were up to Chloe's waist. A bandage was wrapped around her abdomen underneath the hospital gown and her eyes were closed. She was breathing in deep, slow breaths.

Dominic glared at his sister, "My girlfriend? Seriously?"

Nicole stuck her tongue out at him, "What? You kissed her. Seems like a girlfriend to me."

"How did you know?"

She shrugged, "We don't keep secrets in this family. And besides, it's not like it matters anyways. You're keeping her and that's that."

"Who told you?" Dominic crossed his arms.

"Grace. Said you kissed her before you left for work."

"On the forehead."

"Still a kiss."

Dominic groaned. He would never win. Women were too smart. He sat down on the chair opposite of Nicole's and ignored the smirk plastered across her face. He didn't really feel like asking her what happened to Chloe. She'd probably make it a dramatic love story. He was grateful she was using up her break to sit with him and Chloe. It stopped his emotions from rolling out.

Eventually, Chloe's eyes opened and her body stirred. "Wh-where am I?"

Nicole squeezed her hand, "In the hospital."

"Nicole? Is that you?" Chloe closed her eyes.

"Yep. It's me. Your boyfriend is here too."

Chloe's eyes opened and she smiled, "I like the sound of that."

Dominic reached for her hand, "So do I."

Nicole cleared her throat and stood, "Well I'm gonna go..."

Chloe laughed. "Thanks for using up your break on me."

"No problem. Glad to see you're feeling better. Oh and Dominic, in that red folder is her information."

"Thanks sis. Love ya."

"Love you too." And she walked out.

When Dominic was sure she was out of earshot, he leaned in and whispered into Chloe's ear, "You had me worried there for a bit."

                                                                                         ~~~~~

His breath tickled her ear. "I had me worried too."

He laughed and so did she. Their laughter stopped abruptly when she grabbed her side and winced in pain. Fire shot up her body.

Dominic's expression turned solemn, "Are you all right?"

"For the most part." When he cocked his head, she sighed, "Fine. My arm hurts like crazy and my side burns like fire. Better?"

"No. Not better." He tucked a loose strand of her hair behind her ear. The action left her nerves tingling. "What happened out there?"

"Something I'd rather not repeat, thank you very much." She turned away from him.

"Chloe-" He tried to get her to look at him.

She ignored it, "I'm not safe anymore. And neither are you." Realization dawned on her and she tried to stop a tear from escaping. "You have to go." she added in a whisper.

"What? Why? Chloe, look at me."

She did. Her eyes glistened with tears. "You can't stay here. And neither can I."

"What's wrong?"

"He's back."

"Paul?"

"Yes." She shuddered. "When I went to the office to grab my things, Grace and Cole watched the perimeter. I was to go in, grab my things and leave out the back door. I was about to leave, when my coworker, Angela, told me there was someone waiting in the lobby for me. I assumed it was you, by the way she described you so I went to the lobby. You were nowhere in sight. Paul was though. He turned around and pulled a knife out on me. He said if I won't love him, then I can't love anyone. He was going to kill me but..."

He wanted to punch a wall, "But what?"

"I think Cole felt that something was off, so he called my name. I answered him. He could probably sense the panic. Paul did too. I tried to run, but Paul had me backed against a corner. As I ran, his knife caught me in the side and I went down. He must have ran because nobody knows where he is. I'm in the ICU because I almost died of blood loss." Her voice was flat, drained of all emotion.

He moved to sit facing her on the edge of her bed, "Chloe, I'm sorry. But you're safe now."

She locked eyes with him, "No, I'm not. You aren't either. He will try to kill me if I won't love him. Or he'll kill you."

                                                                                           ~~~~~

Dominic knew the threat, but it was his job. He would be fine.

"Dominic, he'll come after you. I don't want that. At all."

"I'll be fine. It's you who we're worried about. I can take care of myself. You could but not in this condition. That is why I have self appointed myself as your personal bodyguard."

The edges of her lips twitched. "Self appointed? Can you do that?"

"Probably not."

She laughed, "Well, I'm okay with it."

He smiled, "Good. And don't ever worry about me. Right now you are the top priority. Especially to me."

"Okay. Thank you for being there for me. It means a lot."

"I wouldn't think anything else would be an option." He leaned forward and kissed her. Not on the forehead. She leaned into the kiss, and when he pulled away, she was glowing.

Chloe rested her head against the pillow and closed her eyes. The pain meds were kicking in and her breathing turned slow and deep.

Dominic held her hand and sat back down in his chair.

His life just got a whole lot better.