Chapter 14

“Darling girl, wake up. I would’ve liked for you to sleep a little while longer, but it seems like you’ve invited a guest.” Jeremy’s soft voice broke me out of my pleasant dream of running a high-profile con with Hayden and Dorian at both my sides, and I sleepily opened my eyes.

“I’m sorry?” I mumbled, apparently not having heard most of his words since I had been… well, sleeping.

“You have a visitor that you asked to drop by tonight?” Jeremy asked, helping me sit up on the bed, though I wasn’t as weak to not be able to do that by myself.

I did? It took a short while for me to dig through my cache of memories of me asking someone by to my place.

“Oh…” I was beginning to say, then I registered the fact that an FBI agent from the New York White Collar Division was here. Right in my apartment. And I had Jeremy right along for the ride. “Do you need a quick getaway?”

There was no doubt that Rainer Clarke would recognise Jeremy, for Jeremy had never been a fan of convincing dress-up. Jeremy usually played cons through low-leveled wannabe gangster, and sometimes, through upperclass businessmen who played dirty hands. The fact that he only had his photo taken by the FBI once throughout his entire career was a point of pride for him, and it was cause of irritance for me by the way he repeated this achievement to me without stop.

“Getaway? What for? Clarke can’t pin anything on me –I’d made sure to that when I prepared to jump on a plane. Besides, my cases aren’t manned by him. If he wanted to put me down, he’s going to have to get through a mess of angry, frustrated FBI agents unable to pin me down.” Jeremy laughed lightly at my worried question, waving my worries away.

“But are you sure you want to stay? He could snap another photo of you.” I teased, but instead of being offended, Jeremy surprised me by puffing out his chest proudly.

“It’s time I gave the FBI a few choice pictures to improve their lousy gallery. It’s time they have some handsome men on their list.” He boasted proudly, as if he were terribly photogenic, even though I knew he wasn’t.

“You really don’t care? You still want to stay, knowing that Clarke can drop by anytime since I’m supposedly an FBI agent now?” I asked skeptically, stepping gingerly out of bed, taking a few experimental steps, smiling when I didn’t feel extremely weak or nauseous.

Jeremy was nothing if not a man who loved his privacy. I couldn’t blame him –this coming from a guy who loved his work, his face and his body more than anything.

“What you should be worrying about, darlin, is how you’re going to spin a tale about me. It’s obvious he knows who I am, and my reputation, so I wouldn’t like you to break you cover by trying to mask my identity.” Jeremy cooed as he watched me totter into my walk-in closet, picking out clothes for the night. It had not helped that Jeremy had forced me to sleep in my day clothes, and my dress was mostly rumped and filled with a million creases.

“Actually, I had it ready before you appeared. I have to answer the way I made Hayden chase after the money Sofia had, so I used unofficial methods that had Clarke looking both into me and Annabel Francis. What better way to solve it than say that I was a low-classed con when I was young before my oh-so-handsome-savior Dorian swept me off my feet?”

“And low-classed con Francis met perfect conman Jeremy Stiles, how?” He asked, making my bed and then plopping to sit on it when I chose my red casual top for the night, matched with a pair of denim shorts.

“I crossed your path, we became temporary lovers, I ditched you after a short while. The way I supposedly dumped Dorian for Hayden in front of Clarke –it probably gave him an idea that Annabel Francis is a fickle woman without a clear idea of love.” I spun the tale easily. One thing about a perfect, almost flawless cover was that I could spin the webs of my past easily without a single fear of giving myself away.

“Make it that I ditched you, will you not? It sounds horrible if word gets out that FBI agent Annabel Francis ditched me, top con Jeremy Stiles.” Jeremy suggested as I got into the bathroom, leaving a hairline crack in the door so that our conversation could continue as I stripped myself naked.

“It can’t answer how you’re back grovelling at my door, Jeremy.”

“Me, grovel? You’re kidding me!”

“Well, you are back in my apartment, taking care of me for at least a month. We can peg that to your remnants of love, and my tendency of taking things to my advantage. It’s not illegal to tap in on the resources of a love-struck conman as long as Mr. Stiles doesn’t cross the line.”

“I don’t like telling Rainer that I’m stupid in love with you, Hays.”

“You think I like pretending to be passionately in love with my brother, Jeremy? It freaks the both of us out, but it’s the perfect cover, so play with me.” I turned on the shower, forcefully letting the water run loud so that our conversation would be interrupted.

Still, I heard a loud sigh from Jeremy just outside the bathroom door.

“You win, Hays. Oh, the loss of face of being here.” Jeremy grumbled loud enough for me to hear over the sound of water gushing, and I made sure he heard my laughter. The door to my bedroom slammed close as a reply, and I continued my shower in peace, deliberately taking my time knowing that there were two men outside my room, waiting for me. I had no doubts that Jeremy was having his own field day baiting an FBI agent like Clarke, but I wasn’t sure how Rainer would react when I revealed that ‘I was a con.’

I stood in front of the mirror, and left my hair in waves rather than straightening them all out like how I’d done the past few years. My hair had natural curls, but with forcing, I could tame them down straight. Right now, back at Hayden’s side, it made me want to return to who I was. Though I could not show much about myself being Hayley, a little curled hair wasn’t going to make any difference to Rainer Clarke. It would, however, make my little brother really happy to know that another part of his beloved sister was back –even if it was just through the wavy hair.

The sound of the men exchanging words with growls could be heard the moment I stepped out of my room, and I followed the sounds of their argument towards the sitting area.

“Let me remind you, Mr FBI, that Matthew met Rose on circumstances not favoring him. He was drunk and he had money. That was something he didn’t often have at that point of time.” I heard Jeremy’s irritated voice, though there were sounds of chopping too. Was Jeremy preparing dinner?

“But you put fault on Rose Seyfried for meeting Matthew. Rose’s con.” Rainer’s voice was condescending, sounding slightly irritated, but mostly amused. It was the first time Rainer sounded anything more than awkward when talking to someone that wasn’t an agent in our division. Perhaps Rainer was cool around cons –specifically cons that were the top of the FBI’s most wanted list in New York.

“Discussing about the Seyfrieds?” I asked I walked into the room, sounding faintly amused. What could Jeremy be talking to Rainer about my parents? It definitely sounded like they were arguing about something serious.

Jeremy looked up from his work over the kitchen counter, a sly smile spread across his face that only I could see when Rainer turned his head over to take a look at me.

“My darling Belladonna! You’re up and alive!” Jeremy exclaimed, as if he wasn’t the one who had woken me up. I sighed, deciding to ignore him as I took a seat at the armchair near Rainer.

“Ignore him, Rainer. Jeremy’s an egoistical bastard. I’m glad you made it here.” I exchanged a polite smile with Rainer Clarke, shifting a little unsurely when his eyes pinned on me and didn’t leave.

“Your hair… It’s wavy.” Rainer commented like a fixated boy, and I wondered if he had ever had a girlfriend before. Did he usually compliment women like this?

“Um… thanks.”

Rainer smiled distantly and shook his head at my unsure reply.

“I know what Hayden saw in you.” He concluded, and though I was pretty sure he didn’t know the true answer at all, I pretended to be surprised.

“You do?”

“Hayley Seyfried. You have his sister’s eyes and that hair. It’s Hayley’s waves.”

I bit my bottom lip hard before I could spill my next words. I should have known better than the try making small words with Rainer. His mind was forever wrapped up with my little brother and the little figments of information he thought he knew about all things Seyfried. One day, Rainer Clarke was going to get on my toes, and he was going to find out that we Seyfrieds held way more secrets than he ever hoped to find.

“Oh… Um… yeah. But you do realize women are allowed to have waves in their hair when they want to? It doesn’t make me Hayley Seyfried just because of that reason.” I pretended to put a crossed look, but Jeremy saved the day when he reentered the room with bowls in his hand.

“Salad? Really, Jeremy?” I looked up from my bowl up to the guy staring down at me with a smirk.

“Hayden told me about your situation. You need to get as much iron in that system of yours before you begin to lose it all out in a week.” Jeremy leaned over my shoulder from behind, picking up the fork and helping shove a mouthful into my mouth.

“What the-” I asked with a mouthful of lettuce, turning around to see Jeremy already making his way back to the adjourning kitchen.

“What do you mean by ‘lose it all out in a week’?” Rainer asked with a raised brow, sounding genuinely curious. It seemed as if Rainer was better off mixing around with conmen like Hayden and Jeremy than supposed FBI agents like me.

“She’s going to have her period in a week, so don’t expect her anywhere near the building in at least a month, Mister FBI.” Jeremy informed as if he were surprised that Rainer didn’t know, bringing his own bowl out and plopping on the seat beside mine.

“Jeremy!” I exclaimed, blushing up. How could he tell Rainer something so personal? Besides, how did he know about my menstruation cycle?

“It doesn’t take a lot for me to find out, Anna. You’re FBI now, but I’m still a conman by nature. I can tell you exactly what date its scheduled to come, but I don’t think your boss wants to know.” Jeremy raised a brow, tilting his head over to Rainer, taking a bite from his spaghetti, which had me both jealous and curious.

“Wait, you have spaghetti, and I have salad?” I asked, looking over to Rainer’s bowl. Apparently Hayden’s handler had spaghetti too. “And Rainer too?”

“Like I said, you need iron. Now stop arguing and eat, or I’m going to call Hayden here to feed you.”

I sighed, flipped him off with a middle finger, and turned attention back to Rainer.

“Just ignore him. I can’t be bothered with him. I can’t believe Hayden called him here.”

“For Hayden to call him, I’m not surprised. But I’m surprised at how calm you are about having Jeremy taking care of you. You do know of his reputation?” Rainer asked curiously, almost inhaling the spaghetti in a few seconds. I wondered why he wasn’t afraid that Jeremy had poisoned the good.

“Alleged.” Jeremy put in, but with a glare from me, he shut up right away.

“Of course. Who doesn’t know about Jeremy Stiles’s reputation?”

“Thank you, ma’am.” Jeremy put in again, and I sighed internally. I didn’t need to be stroking Jeremy’s ego at a time like this.

“One more word from you, Jeremy, and I’ll kick your ass to Hayden’s.”

Jeremy raised a brow. “Actually, it sounds perfect. I have plans to set with Hayden.”

“Anything illegal?” Rainer and I had a rare moment of unison, which had Jeremy’s amused smirk flashing right out at us.

“Do you want it to be?”

“Hell no.” Rainer and I echoed again, exchanging looks now.

“Then it won’t be. Relax, it’s gonna be about Anna. I’m gonna leave before you guys declare yourselves soul sisters, so bye. Anna, call me when the FBI’s gone.” Jeremy ducked out of the apartment with his spaghetti before I could say more about his inappropriate words, and his rushed footsteps away from the door echoed.

There was a moment of silent awkward eye contact between Rainer and I before we went back to our food.

“So… How do you know Jeremy?”

“A guy from my past. I’m sorry for not telling you about this beforehand.”

“No worries. But you don’t have to tell me everything.”

“Even if I have a close friend that’s the top con in FBI? It makes me a double agent. But I swear I’ve done nothing to help Jeremy.”

“We can’t pin anything on him –that’s his talent. I don’t believe you have done anything to clean his name. But I’m curious, how did you get to know of him?”

I chewed my bottom lip, pretending to look shameful.

“That’s what I asked you here for. I know you’ve been looking into my file… There are something things that are not in there, that I think you need to know. If you trust me enough to tell me about Hayley, if you trust me enough to cover me because I’m going out with Hayden, I need to tell you about my past.”

“Your past? What do you mean?” Rainer Clarke took some time to comprehend that I was taking a sudden leap into the deep end of the pool, and he seemed to be taking his time in following after.

“My past.” I repeated, watching confusion cloud his eyes. “My past is a murky depth that you can only peer on the surface when you read the FBI profile on me.”

Rainer carefully put the bowl down on the table, interlocking fingers and placing hands over his abdomen while leaning back, trying to portray a deceiving look of comfort. Knowing an FBI agent like him, he was probably ready to bounce up and scamper away like a scared bunny anytime.

“That sounds like something Hayden would say to me, Francis –something a con would say.” Rainer commented, as if hinting that he knew something about it. I wondered if Dorian had already gone down to work, setting in the evidence of my supposed past. If he already had, then Rainer most probably knew a slight inkling of something.

“Exactly. You need to know, Rainer, that was before I was FBI, I was a con.”

In that moment, I understood how Rainer managed to keep his post and position, how he managed to keep Hayden still by his side as a CI, how he managed to keep Hayden on his leash. Rainer showed no surprise, nothing. The only sign of shock he showed was a single moment of held breath, a single milisecond’s worth of a flash of surprise through blue eyes. That was all.

“You were a con?” He asked without even a flicker of an eyelid, watching me watch him back.

“When I was younger, yes. I had picky fingers and a knack for taking things that wasn’t mine, and replacing them with other things. I stole none, but misplaced everything, causing chaos. My teenaged years were spent conning and stealing. I grew up, forged my credentials. I met Jeremy when I was twelve. He taught me –the apple of his eyes –how to be a perfect con. We got off on the wrong boat afterwards, and we went our separate ways. I got into big trouble afterwards and turned myself into a CI. Then I pledged myself to FBI, used Dorian’s help, got me a place in Bronx Homicide. The rest… It’s up in the files.” I explained, pretending to look ashamed of my past. Oh, if my mother knew of this, she would be rolling in her grave! Mum had never wanted me to be anything else, for to her, if you were a con, you could be anything else you wanted to be.

“And how do you have your past wiped out from the files?” Rainer seemed to be taking everything in well, which had me wondering exactly how much Dorian leaked out about Annabel’s ‘past’.

“When I first became a CI, it was by extreme reluctance. It was CI, or die. I wanted to run when the ones who were chasing me got pushed behind bars. I erased my info from the FBI files, and waited for the day that I would run.”

“And what happened that made you stay?”

“Dorian. I met Dorian undercover, and we fell for each other. He begged me to walk the straight line, I complied. It was Dorian Renay after all. There was a time where Dorian’s words were my life. Then things got bland and well, Hayden happened.”

Rainer took a long moment this time to digest things in, eyes pinned on me judgingly, as if he was beginning to condemn me.

“I’m not proud of my past, Rainer. I’m not proud of how I left Dorian. But I can’t stay around a man I don’t love. I cannot say for sure if Hayden will end up the same way, but while I still love him, I will do anything –anything at all, to save him.” I proclaimed, but it took me a long moment to realise that I’d spoken the wrong thing.

“Save him?” Clarke gave a curious look, suspicion flaring in those mesmerising blue eyes. Oh, if he wasn’t such a perfect FBI agent, he would have made such a model.

“From his sister,” I rushed to say. “If what you said was right, Hayley wants him back to con. I can’t let him go down the road we both walked before. Fate made us both change profession, made us together in FBI. I’m not going to let Hayley spoil that by making him go back to conning.” It most definitely felt weird referring to myself as a third person, but it was definitely needed.

“You seem hesitant.”

“I’m not sure if I want to go up against Hayley Seyfried. She’s one of the best few cons around the world (yes, I am giving a self-praise here)… and if what you said to Hayden on the day of my interview is true, then it means Hayley is back for sure to get Hayden. She never gives anyone Queen of Spades unless she wants contact, or she wants to con. I am still con enough to know of Hayley and what she can do. If she’s half as protective as what you say, I’m in for a rough ride.”

“And you’re telling me this because…?” Rainer prompted, looking only slightly convinced –which had me doubting myself. Rainer had been controlling the conversation so far, but only because I let him. But he didn’t seem taken in at all.

Had my short break from California and meeting Hayden again blunted my conning skills? Was I turning out to be what Tyler Yule wanted me to be –a useless con, clinging to her past glory? Was I going to end up like what Dorian initially warned me –that I was going to be clumsy if I dealt with Hayden’s problem head-on? Perhaps it was the curse of the Seyfrieds, not only Hayden, for us to lose our heads when we were emotional. But exactly how emotional was I now? I felt nothing –perhaps just a little tired and physically weak.

“You’re Hayden’s handler. I’m Hayden’s new girlfriend. Hayley Seyfried is back, and either if she wants to kill Hayden or get him back, we’re her perfect target. Not so much of you, but me. I love Hayden, but I know enough that I’m going out with a dangerous man –at least a man who was dangerous before FBI.  You’re Hayden’s friend and handler –I know you will work with me to get Hayley away from him. I need all the help I can get, Rainer.”

He blinked deliberately slowly, as if he were the one truly in power. He had been baiting, watching me suspiciously, asking. He had been taking control of the conversation while I fed him information, albeit fake ones, after information, and here he dared, sitting in my room, demanding more?

“And you think I can help?”

That was it. There was a limit of sarcasm and suspicion that a woman would take, and that was it. No one needed to know that the person you were trying to convince was unwilling to trust you.

I placed the bowl in my hands on the tale, the abrupt movement taking Rainer’s attention. As if gving an abrupt halt to our unlikely conversation, I pulled out my phone and dialled a number.

“Jeremy, are you at Hayden’s?”

“Anna? You sound pissed.”

I gave Rainer the evil eye, then deliberately dropped his eye contact, turning attention away from him.

“I’m sorry to bother, but please come over now. I need you to escort someone out of the house. About what we talked…. I will need help from you. If Rainer doesn’t want to help, I have to rely on you.”

“Wait, Francis-“ Apparently Rainer wasn’t as cold-hearted as I thought, for he tried to interupt my conversation with Jeremy.

I raised up a hand to stop his coming words, giving him my pissed off look. My anger at him wasn’t entirely fake –for I had really been offended by his hard-to-get ploy, but of course, it was mostly because of show, but who had to know?

“Wait, you want me to help you get Hays off Hayden?”

I frowned slightly. There was no doubt that Rainer was going to tap in on Jeremy’s or my phone number, and here Jeremy was, using the nickname that only my family members –and well, Dorian –used. That was going to pop up problems if we weren’t careful.

“Don’t call her that unless you want to be back beside her. I need you to make your stand: Hayley or me?” I said sternly, and it got through to Jeremy that I was chiding him for the mistake.

“Okay, geez. I’m sorry, alright? Hayley was my best buddy, I can’t help but call her that.”

“Best buddy, or me?”

“You, darling girl. You know the answer, so you don’t have to ask me. alright, I’ll start asking around. Do you want to meet Hayley, or make me the go-between? I can’t say for sure if Hayley won’t try anything funny.”

I pretended to give it a moment’s worth of thought. “You be the go-between. If Hayley wants to kill, you’ll be the first anyway.”

“Alright. You seem to be throwing yourself deep into this pit, Miss con-turned-FBI.” In that one sentence, I was pretty sure Jeremy had set up bugs in my own apartment, and was tapping on me constantly.

“Blame Hayden. He just has to be a Seyfried.”

Jeremy laughed through the phone, perhaps for the irony of a Seyfried blaming her brother for being a Seyfried too.

“Blame yourself, darling girl. Blame yourself for falling for a Seyfried. Dorian was okay, you know? Rich –like me. Charismatic –like me. And he could take care of you –like me. It’s obvious why you clung to him for so long.” I sighed obviously into the phone. Jeremy just couldn’t stop harping about Dorian, for he hadn’t met the guy yet, and had been excited to see what I saw in Dorian.

All this while, Jeremy had been going by the description of Dorian from the general con public, never meeting him at all.

“Firstly, Jeremy, stop being an egoistical ass. Secondly, stop talking about Dorian. We’re over.”

“Okay, okay. You don’t have to be all growls to me. No Dorian, no Hays. Got it. Anything else?”

I deliberately gave Rainer a look, as if I were considering something about him.

“Nothing. Don’t tell Hayden about this.”

“You do know he can tap this conversation in a blink of an eye?”

“Don’t give him reason to. Come over, I’m not up to chasing people away with a broom at the moment. This is probably your only chance to chase an FBI out of the place without be charged.”

“Right. I’ll be over in a minute. Can’t miss the opportunity.”

Upon snapping the phone shut, Rainer took it as the cue to start protesting for his previous behaviour, as if he hadn’t been the one playing hard-to-get. He had had his chance, and he had ruined it.

“Francis, I-”

“Save it. Pretend I never asked for you help, or told you anything. And it’s Annabel while we’re not on duty.”

“I just-”

“How about you learn some inter-personal skills with your free time and leave me alone? You were the one to approach me – I didn’t approach to you for help. If you just cared about my well-being, then thanks, but I have Hayden and Jeremy.”

“But you-”

“If you’re agraid of cleaning up my ass, then I’ll assure you that I won’t do anything illegal. I will get Hayley myself. Consider her my side, off-duty case.”

“You’re not supposed to-”

“I’ll talk to Barrett. I’ve closed enough cases to start my own off-duty ones.”

“But you need-”

“Help, I will get from Hayden and Jeremy. Jeremy has money and contacts. If he does anything illegal, I’ll be the first to put him in cuffs. He knows it.”

Perhaps I was on too much of a roll that I realized that I was interrupting his every sentece with passion. He seemed to realize it at the same time, for he kept silent, taking only my eye conatct, as if waiting patiently for me to calm down.

“Can I speak now?” He asked after an uncomfortable moment between us, and I nodded, blushing a little. I rarely snapped at people with such intensity as that, and there had surely never been anyone who had been as patient as Rainer. He didn’t even seem offended, just wanting to explain himself.

“Look, it’s not that I don’t want to help. I stepped out of me boundaries when I made friends with Hayden. I know perfect well that deep down, that man is still a con. It is in his blood. But if he wants us to push it down, if that is what he wants, I’ll help. I cannot afford to lose him as a friend. Ever since he got conned in love, I’ve never seen Hayden going out with any woman. Flirt, yes. But never as serious as he is for you. The fact that you’re FBI… it makes things worse. Hayley will try to use you to make Hayden turn his back on the FBI, on you, and hate us all. I’m sorry if I offended you or anything –I’m naturally cautious, and I just wanted to see how sincere you were-”

“Cut to the chase. Do you want to help me or not?” I interrupted impatiently. It wasn’t fair how he had been so patient, waiting for his turn to speak while I interupted him, but hey, life wasn’t fair. The doorbell rang, followed by impatient knuckles hitting the door. Outside, I heard Jeremy humming to himself, strangely to the tune of the Phantom of the Opera.

“You have one minutes before Jeremy gets panicked. Are you going to help me?”

Rainer’s eyes flickered over to the door, then back on me. A thousand colours flashed past the blue eyes, and I marvelled silently at the rainbow changes while Rainer thought hard.

“Alright, I’ll help.”

I nodded, a smile finally spreading across my face. Step 1: Success.

“Anna? Are you dead in there?” Jeremy asked from outside, and I sighed, though still holding on to my satisfied smile. Jeremy had perfect timing –which made me believe with more conviction that he had a bug tapping in on our conversation this entire time. That sneaky bastard…

“Come in. You would be the happiest if I were dead, no?” I called from where I sat, holding Rainer’s eye contact.

Those eyes were a deep colored blue, its translucency almost tuned on high as those intelligent eyes pierced through me. Despite his lack of social skills, Rainer had eyes that could capture and ensure, eyes that a woman would kill for. Those eyes seemed faintly familiar, with it’s roundness, compete with a conniving little pointing edge. It was easy to remember another pair of eyes that was similar to this, except in lighter colours. Those eyes… looked like Neal’s eyes.

“Anna?” The unison of voices of both Jeremy and Rainer brought me out of my reverie, snapping me back to reality.

“Yeah, yeah. I’m sorry… Jeremy, please escort Rainer out for me. I need a rest.”

“Are you okay?” Jeremy asked worriedly, and I felt a concerned hand feeling my forehead for a fever.

“Yeah, I’m alright.” I said, pushing his hand away, but it came back quickly, this time with a hand at the side of my neck.

“You’re kidding me. You’re burning up, darling. Hayden’s going to kill me if something happens to you.” I wasn’t feeling anything much, maybe just a little cold and clammy.

“I’m okay. I just need a little rest.”

“No, you need the doctors. You have severe lack of blood, Anna. A fever can kill you now. Now, be a good girl and stop arguing with me.”

I removed his hand from my neck, feeling exactly how weak I was in that tired movement. My body must finally be punishing me for roaming around NYC while I was supposed to obediently be locked at home. Jeremy removed his hand from my neck, but arms came now, picking me up from the armchair from behind. Jeremy must have worked out some bit since I last saw him, because he manhandled me comfortably into his arms quickly, without any grunts of effort.

“Jeremy!” I exclaimed, but everyone could hear how tired I was, despite already having had a nap before this.

“Now, don’t you ‘Jeremy’ me, darling girl. You’re going to the doctor’s and that’s that. I’ll call Hayden on the way there.” He said sternly, and there was no changing the mind of a con who had been taught by a Seyfried.

“I’ll let myself out, then. Take care of her, Jeremy. She’s an asset that we cannot lose.” Rainer stood up, understanding his need to leave at the moment.

“Yeah, you do that. Of course, I’ll take care of her. She’s the only sweet darling who hasn’t succumbed to my charms yet, and actually chose Hayden over me. I mean, she really must be blind.” I made vomitting face at that sentence, but Jeremy glared at me while we watched Rainer get up.

“Then… I’ll contact you sometime later, Annabel. Have a smooth recovery and come back soon.” Rainer wished –this time, finally, sincere.

I nodded and gave a smile, though I could see worried eyes on me. Did I really look very pale and weak?

“Yes, thank you for dropping by. I’ll keep in contact as best as I can.” I promised, and Rainer was out of the door in a blink.

“Put me down, Jeremy, I’m fine.” I said crossly when Jeremy began gathering his things –with me in his arms.

“I wasn’t kidding. You’re going to the doctors. And I’m making sure you go to the doctor’s. Hayden’s meeting Dorian to set up the next phase of the plan, so we don’t want to be disturbing them. How about you be a good girl and work with me?”

“You know I hate the doctor’s.”

Jeremy grinned as he carried me out the apartment, locking the door behind him.

“Then you’re in luck. I’m going to be right by your side, so you can stare at a pretty face like me and imagine that I’m your doctor.”

This time, I really almost fainted.