HIS STRIPPER, HIS WIFE novel Chapter 106

Chapter one hundred and six

Bianca

He stepped back, running his hand over his jaw, his eyes moving from me to her and back again like he didn’t know which fire to put out first.

I didn’t give either of them the chance to say anything first. “I’m so sorry for disturbing your private moment,” I said, keeping my tone light even though my chest felt tight. “I just really need to take something important. I’ll be out of your way in a minute.”

I walked past both of them and went straight to my old desk, I pulled the drawers open one after another, my hands moving quickly through old files and stationery, but my diary wasn’t there. I frowned, pushing things aside, checking under a stack of papers just in case, but it was nowhere in sight.

“Sir, did you see my diary anywhere?” I asked, turning to look at Adrian, forcing myself to keep my voice steady.

“Ohh,” he said, and he walked over to his own desk, opening one of his drawers. He pulled the diary out and handed it to me without a word, his fingers brushing mine for half a second as I took it from him.

I opened it immediately, flipping through the pages until I found the card pinned right in the middle, exactly where I remembered leaving it. “Thank goodness,” I said under my breath, feeling very relieved.

I closed the diary and turned to leave, ready to walk out of that office as fast as my legs could carry me, when Victoria’s voice stopped me.

“Are you leaving already?” she asked, tilting her head, I could tell she was about to start with her silly conversations

“Yes,” I said simply, not bothering to give her more than that.

“A hospital card?” Adrian asked, his eyes narrowing slightly as he caught sight of what I was holding as I turned. “Are you okay?”

I just smiled, I was not in the mood to explain myself to him, not with Victoria standing right there watching. “Thank you, sir. I’ll be on my way,” I said, already turning toward the door.

“Let me see you off,” Adrian said, taking a step forward.

“Don’t worry, sir,” I said quickly, waving my hand slightly. “I can manage on my own.”

Before he could respond, Victoria let out a small laugh, folding her arms across her chest. “You want to leave me here for her after that sweet time we just had?” she said, her eyes moving toward Adrian with a smile that made my stomach turn.

“Oh please, shut up, Victoria,” Adrian said loudly, but I wasn’t in the mood to stand there and watch whatever was happening between them play out any further.

I turned and walked out of the office as fast as I could, my footsteps hurried as I moved past the secretary’s desk. She looked up at me with a worried expression, but I only managed a small nod before continuing toward the elevator. My head was pounding harder now, like something was pressing down on my skull from every side.

I pressed the button and the doors opened almost immediately. I stepped in fast, just wanting the doors to close and take me far away from that office, but before they could, Adrian pushed his way in right behind me, forcing himself between the closing doors.

“Sir, what are you doing?” I asked, stepping back slightly.

“What you saw back there doesn’t matter,” he said, moving closer to me, his eyes searching my face like he needed me to believe him. “Victoria pushed herself on me. I wasn’t the one who started that.”

“You don’t have to explain anything to me,” I said, trying to keep some distance between us, but the elevator wasn’t big enough to give me much room to move.

He kept coming closer anyway, his hand reaching out slightly like he wanted to hold mine, or maybe touch my face, I wasn’t even sure, but I turned my head away and put my hand up gently against his chest, pushing him back just enough to create space between us.

The car ride felt longer than it probably was. Every bump in the road sent a fresh wave of pain through my skull, and my stomach kept twisting uncomfortably, like it was trying to decide whether or not to make things worse for me. I closed my eyes, trying to breathe slowly, trying to focus on anything other than the pain building behind my eyes.

I pressed my fingers against my temple, trying to rub the pain away so I could just hold it a little longer until we got to the hospital. My ears started to feel strange too, like there was a soft ringing building somewhere deep inside them, drowning out the sound of the radio the driver had playing low in the background.

“Ma?” the driver called again, his voice sounding farther away than it should have.

I tried to answer him, tried to tell him I was fine, that we just needed to get there quickly, but my mouth wouldn’t cooperate properly. The words came out slurred, barely making sense even to my own ears.

Just then, my phone started ringing inside my bag, the sound cutting through the fog building in my head. I fumbled for it slowly, when I finally got it out, I saw Amanda’s name flashing on the screen. I forced myself to sit up a little and picked up.

“Hey, did you get the card?” Amanda’s voice came through, a little rushed, I could tell she was still out with the team.

“Yeah,” I said, trying hard to sound normal even though my voice was coming out weaker than I wanted. “I’m out of the building now. Heading to the hospital.”

“Okay, good,” she said. “Call me once you get there and let me know how it goes, okay? I’ll try to swing by your place later.”

“Okay,” I mumbled, the word barely making it out before the phone started to feel too heavy in my hand.

“Bianca?” Amanda’s voice came again, “You still there?”

I wanted to answer her, wanted to tell her I was fine, but my head felt impossibly heavy all of a sudden, tipping slightly to the side against the window, my grip on the phone loosening until it slipped from my fingers and landed somewhere by my feet.

I could still hear Amanda’s voice, faint and far away, calling my name through the speaker, and the driver’s voice rising in panic beside it, calling out ‘ma, ma‘ over and over, before the car swerved sharply and everything around me went completely dark.