The Secret Billionaire

Chapter 17

ERIS

I woke up to a consistent aggravating noise. Beep. There it is. The room was bright, and it smelled funny. Beep. I opened my eyes entirely and noticed that I was in a hospital room. Beep. At least I knew I was alive because that irritating beeping noise was my heart monitor.
"Don't move. Let me call the doctor," I turned to see Nathan's figure walking away. I looked down and winced when I moved the arm with a needle. This is uncomfortable. He came back in with a doctor in a bright white coat.
"Eris? Do you know where you are? Do you remember what happened?" Doctor white coat asked as he examined me.
"Yes," I looked at Nathan. "Where is Stacy? Is she okay?"
"Your friend is doing well. Thanks to you," The doctor replied, and I sighed. "Everything seems to be normal. As soon as you're feeling well enough to go, just let the nurses know," Nathan walked him out and closed the door.
"What happened?" I asked. He walked over to me and grabbed my hand.
"The sniper aiming at Darius couldn't get a clear shot with all the movement. When he fired, the bullet grazed your shoulder and hit him in the chest,"
"Is he dead?"
"Unfortunately, no. They performed surgery on him, and as soon as he is feeling better, the cops are taking him in,"
"Can I see Stacy?"
"She should be coming in soon,"
There was a knock on the door, and she peaked in with a smile. Nathan excused himself from the room, and she sat next to me.
"How are you feeling?" She asked, and I smiled up at her.
"I'm fine. It barely hurts. I don't know if it's because I'm drugged or..." I laughed.
"Thank you, Eris, you saved my life, and I can never repay you for it,"
"Don't worry about it. You should've never been caught up in this,"
She waved me off and clapped. "Let's stop it with the sappy sad stuff. Now tell me, how's it been going with Nathan? He sure is a yummy-looking thing," She said, and I laughed. "You know, he looks very familiar. What's his last name?"
"I have no idea."I furrowed my eyebrows.
She looked at me as if I had grown a second head. "You're living with a guy whose last name you don't know?"
"He doesn't know mine either, so it's fine," I shrugged. "and he's different. He makes me feel safe. I can trust him. I don't need to know his last name. Although I should find out" She chuckled and shook her head.
"I just don't want you getting hurt again,"
"This would've been a different story if he intended to hurt me," I commented.
She pointed at my arm and asked, "Do you think that'll scar?"
"I don't think so. It's just a nick, barely even a cut," I said.
While Nathan handled some work situations, she spent the rest of the time here. When they discharged me, we dropped Stacy off and made our way home. I wanted to ask Nathan about Darius, but I didn't want to stress him out.
"What happened to the meeting you had? Did you go?" I asked Nathan as soon as we sat on the couch. It was more promising than the hospital bed.
"No, I had someone else do it,"
"How's that? I thought you were the secret boss man's right-hand man?" I laughed.
"Yes, but someone else was working on the deal with our partners, and I asked them to take care of it."
"What is it exactly?" He turned to look at me, confused. "Your work. Can you talk about it?"
"Not really,"
I sighed and pursed my lips. I really wanted to learn what he did as a career.
"What's your last name?" He turned his attention to the t.v. Why was he constantly dodging the question? It's not like I would make fun of it for him. Unless it was something like Badder, it sounded like bladder. Nathan Badder. "I mean, we are dating and don't know each other's last name. Don't you think that's unusual?"
"Why don't you go first?" He asked without moving his gaze away from the screen.
"It's Cadieux," I said, and he looked at me.
"Fitting," He commented. "Strong little fighter. It suits you,"
I nodded, "Your turn,"
"It's Rylan," He searched my face as if looking for a reaction.
"Nathan Rylan?" I questioned, and he nodded. It did sound familiar, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it. "It's nice,"
He looked surprised. I'm not sure if I was supposed to know who he is; now I feel bad. I don't know what kind of reaction he expected me to have. He turned his attention back to the t.v. and I remained quiet. For the first time in days, I felt relaxed knowing Darius was not running free searching for me.

~

The next day Nathan left early again. He didn't want to leave, but he had to deal with an important matter. I texted Stacy his last name, and she was going to look into it. She made it seem like she was with the FBI and was hunting down a criminal. He could have enough money to cover up his crimes. I was washing the dishes when I got a message from Nathan himself.
Dinner tonight? Anywhere you want to go.
I smiled and replied to him.
What's the occasion?
No occasion.
Alright, I'll see you later.
I placed my phone down and did a little happy dance. Nathan got home earlier than expected and stepped into the shower. He said we weren't going anywhere fancy, so I didn't have to get ready. I got a call from Stacy, and I picked it up.
"Guess what," I told her. I felt all giddy.
"I also have some news, but you go first,"
"I'm going on another date with Nathan tonight," I squealed, and she stayed quiet.
She sighed, and there was a shuffling noise in the background. "What are you doing right now?"
"Stacy, you're scaring me. Is something wrong?"
"Have you searched up who Nathan is?"
"I haven't had the chance. Why? Is he a serial killer?" I asked half-jokingly. My smile dropped when she didn't say anything.
"No, When you gave me his name, I remember one of my friends had mentioned his name. I asked my friend, the one that got us into that club, and she said he was some big shot multi-billionaire,"
I took a seat on the couch as she explained to me.
"No, it's not possible. Nathan said he was the assistant to the owner. The owner is some grumpy old man,"
"I searched up his name after she told me said that to me about him. I couldn't find him when you first told me because his full name is Nathaniel Rylan. CEO of Rylan Enterprises."