From Deadbeat To Doting; Something Is Wrong With My Husband!-Chapter 45: Then Bring My Wife To Me

Brianna knew it was over when she felt the first stroke of wet, rough heat across her palm.

She simply closed her eyes and gave up.

After the last stroke of wet, rough heat left her palm, Lucian leaned back into his pillows with a sigh of primal satisfaction.

The predatory tension in his shoulders had been replaced by a relaxed glassy look in his eyes.

"You’re all clean now," he murmured.

Brianna remained frozen for a long beat, holding her hand away from her body as if it were a piece of contaminated biohazard she was ready to dispose of.

She was medically unable to explain what had just happened.

The next sound that was heard in the room was the restroom door clicking shut. Brianna leaned against the sink, gripping the porcelain with trembling hands.

She looked into the mirror and felt a surge of unfiltered loathing; not for Lucian, but for herself.

Her eyes were still swollen and traitorously red; an obvious reminder of the tears she had shed over a "corpse" that wasn’t actually dead.

’Vulnerable. Pathetic,’ she thought, glaring at her reflection.

Because of her degree, she knew the mechanics of shock, but as Brianna, she couldn’t forgive herself for letting that toxic man see her break.

Letting the icy water flow, Brianna scrubbed her hand until it felt clean, then she splashed water repeatedly over her face. When she finally pulled back and patted her skin dry, she looked again.

Even disheveled and exhausted, her beauty was undeniable.

It wasn’t the kind of beauty found in a bottle or a ten-step skincare routine; it was in the bone structure, the porcelain-fair skin that bordered on translucent, and the intelligent curve of her eyes.

Brianna noticed her lips were dry and starting to crack. She hadn’t had a moment to think about her usual products or the simple act of hydration.

She bit her bottom lip feeling the sting form where the skin had split, and for a second, she just stared at herself.

Her hair was a mess, tied back in a failing ponytail.

She looked like a tragic painting of a woman pushed to her limits but still holding onto a little sense of regality.

’Get it together, Brianna,’ she commanded herself. ’He’s alive. The ’mess’ is back. Now, you handle him clinically and you leave.’

Brianna straightened her spine, preparing to limp back out and face the man who had turned her into a "psychotic" experiment.

Reaching for the handle, her mind was already forming the cold sentences she would use to dismiss him.

"President Lucian, thank God... I just heard the news of the accident."

Brianna’s hand stayed on the cold metal. The sound was familiar like that of Thomas.

Leaning into the silver of the door that was slightly ajar, she narrowed her eyes at Thomas standing by Lucian’s bed.

"Everyone was shaken by the news of the accident. I’ve handled the immediate fallout and filled in for you at the meeting. The shareholders were told it was a minor exhaustion issue to keep the stock from fluctuating. Also... I’ve dealt with the matters regarding the Iris Becca project. Everything is settled."

Lucian lay back against the pillows looking utterly bored. "Okay."

Clearing his throat, Thomas’s tone shifted. "I informed Miss Iris about your condition. She was... incredibly distressed. She’s been waiting outside for hours, refusing to eat or leave until she sees you. She’s truly worried." He let his gaze wander around the empty-feeling room. "Unlike certain wives who don’t even have the heart to stay by a sickbed."

It had been a loud murmur Brianna heard perfectly.

"President Lucian, she doesn’t care enough to be here. She’s probably off tending to her own affairs while you’re lying here. Should I let Iris come in?"

Leaning against the cold wall inside the restroom, Brianna felt a glimpse of cold irony. She had been the one to find him. The one to endure his "psychotic" possessiveness. And yet, in the eyes of his loyal dog, she was the heartless absent wife!

Lucian’s head suddenly turned toward the restroom door, anxiously. "What is taking Wife so long?" He ignored everything Thomas said about Iris. "Is she... gone?"

"Sir, as I was saying, Iris is—"

Brianna decided she had heard enough. Pushing the door open, the sound of the hinges cut Thomas off mid-sentence.

Even though she looked pale and disheveled standing by the doorway, her eyes locked into Thomas was lethal and daring.

Thomas cleared his throat, unable to maintain eye contact. "Mrs. Colburn. We... were just talking about you."

Brianna cocked a single cold brow. "We? Or you, Thomas?"

The stillness in Brianna’s eyes was so cold, Thomas found it intimidating. He never knew Mrs. Colburn could be so... scary!

Still, he tried to cover it up by dropping his gaze to her feet. "How’s your—How’s your foot?"

At the mention of that, Brianna turned to Lucian whose eyes dropped to her feet. She sighed an exhausted one, knowing this would fuel another round of possessiveness she wasn’t mentally prepared for.

"Wife, you can’t stand on that foot. I completely forgot I shouldn’t have let you walk. Come sit on my lap. No! Stay there, I’m coming to carry you." He began pulling at the IV drip in his arm as if he intended to rip it out to reach her.

"Sir, I don’t think that’s advisable." Thomas intervened to pin Lucian’s shoulder down.

"Then bring my wife to me."

Brianna raised a hand that stopped them both. "Don’t bother. Don’t come any closer. I’m leaving."

Lucian struggled against Thomas. "Wife, no. You stay. You stay here!"

Ignoring him, Brianna limped to the door. The scent of oud in the room was being replaced by a ringing in her ears. Placing both hands on the threshold to balance the sudden spin.

’I just need to breathe,’ she thought. ’Just one step into the hallway...’

She watched her own fair and pale hand on the doorframe.

Then, the hand wasn’t there anymore.

...

Beep. Beep. Beep.

"Ugh, what is that horrible sound?" Brianna groaned, blinking her eyes open.

The scent of the VIP suite hit her before her vision could even clear. Where was she? She was supposed to be on her way out?

It was only when Brianna thought about getting up that she felt a weight on her hand and a strange sensation against her scalp.

When she looked up, her heart nearly stopped!

Lucian was leaning over her, his eyes dark and fixed on her face with a wide, creepy smile that didn’t reach his bruised forehead.

"You’re awake," he murmured hoarsely, moving his hand with a slow delicacy as he brushed a stray lock of hair behind her ear.

"Why am I...?" Brianna tried to sit up, but the IV drip in her arm and a sudden wave of nausea pinned her down. She looked back at Lucian, uncomfortable, then at the nurse adjusting her drip.

"Nurse, please, fix my husband. He’s not right."

The nurse gave a sympathetic and slightly nervous smile. "It’s just the concussion, Mrs. Colburn. President Lucian is experiencing some mild behavioral shifts. He’ll be back to his usual self in about seven to ten days. Until then, he was very adamant that you remain right here."

Brianna tried to maintain her unperturbed voice, despite the IV drip tethering her to the bed.

"Nurse, I am a psychologist. I’m quite familiar with my own vitals. A vasovagal episode from minor exhaustion doesn’t require overnight hospitalization, let alone in a private wing I didn’t authorize. I’d like to sign a LAMA form and go home."

The nurse glanced nervously at Lucian, who was still idly brushing a strand of Brianna’s hair, his creepy smile never wavering.

"I’m afraid President Lucian has already settled the paperwork, ma’am," the nurse whispered. "He’s listed as your primary guardian and emergency contact. Under his instructions, and given the concussion protocol he’s currently under, the hospital is not comfortable releasing either of you until the 7 to 10 day observation window has passed."

Brianna rubbed her forehead, exhaustedly. "He is concussed! His ’instructions’ are the result of a traumatic brain injury. Don’t tell me with all your professionalism, you are actually letting a man who doesn’t even know his wife has a twin sister dictate my medical freedom?"

"She’s so lively when she’s angry," Lucian ran his thumb over her jawline. He looked at the nurse with a chilling, filtered focus. "She stays. If she leaves this bed, I’ll find a reason to buy this hospital and fire everyone who let her walk out that door. Do you understand?"

The nurse nodded frantically and rushed out of the room, leaving Brianna trapped there with her "monster."

Brianna looked at the man she once tried to "kill" and felt a new kind of dread. Pushing his hand off, "You’re acting like a lunatic, Lucian. Let me go."

"No," he whispered, leaning in until his forehead touched hers.