Page 57 of Lucas

The words left unspoken were what worried her most as she made her way out of his office, her pulse thundering in her ears. She glanced back once, right before she stepped out of his office, but he had turned the chair around and all she could see was the back of his head.

Her mind and body ached for entirely different reasons but it didn’t change the fact that in less than a day, her entire world might come crumbling down around her and there was nothing she could do about it.

Her future was in the hands of a man that Bria knew could so easily destroy her, both professionally and personally, if he that was what he so chose.

Chapter 2

With her heart in her throat, Bria went back to her desk and gathered up her purse. God she had screwed up bad. Lying on her resume had been a desperate decision to get a good paying job, a risk she’d taken out of necessity.

But she’d been caught because someone had ratted her out.

Bria didn’t even know anyone at the company except for Kassidy, but she’d seen the looks aimed her way. Jealousy, bright and loud, from the same women who wore low cut blouses in the weekly meetings trying to get Ashton’s attention. They saw her as a threat even though she had never done anything to warrant their animosity.

She needed to have a drink or five with Kassidy and try to figure out what she was going to do when Ashton told her she was fired tomorrow. She had lied on her resume and it was a fireable offense. He had every right to enforce that, and the fact that he was even still considering his decision meant she still had a sliver of a chance that he’d change his mind.

It was the reason for that change that still had her blood racing. When he asked for a truth she’d been so caught up in his stare and the way her body was reacting to it, and she had blurted out that she was a virgin.

Of all the truths she could have admitted, that had to be the most humiliating.

She was twenty-one. What modern twenty-one year old woman was still a virgin? He probably didn’t believe her, thought she was lying to him again. There was nothing she could do about it now. Her future was out of her hands at the moment.

With a sigh she made her way to the elevator and then hailed a cab to take her to see her sister.

The long term care facility where Shana had been moved after her accident was on the other side of the city and it gave Bria enough time to compartmentalize everything that had happened with her boss and focus on her visit with her sister. Trying to act cheerful when Shana could barely talk and had a hard time remembering their conversations from five minutes prior was mentally exhausting.

That was the agony of a brain injury. Shana had good days and bad days and the last time Bria had been to see her, it had been a very bad day. Shana had been combative and angry and kept forgetting who Bria was.

It was devastating to see her sister that way.

Maybe today would be better. The prognosis was complicated but the doctors believed that with extensive therapy and the help of meds, she could stabilize. But Shana might never come back to normal. The part of her brain that had been injured would likely never fully recover.

And it was all Bria’s fault.

The cab pulled up to rehab facility and she paid him, then got out. A quick inhale and she pushed through the doors. The cool air was lightly scented like lemons.

“Hi Bria,” Nancy said from behind the receptionist’s desk. “She’s having a good day today.” The smile on the nurse’s face reassured her a little bit.

Good days were all too rare.

“Thanks.” Bria signed in and then made her way down the hall to her sister’s room.

Shana sat in a chair by a large window that overlooked the gardens. Bria had paid a little extra to get this room for her sister, because when they were kids Shana had spent a lot of time in their mom’s garden, smelling the flowers.

“Hey Shan,” Bria said, setting down her purse and walking over to give her sister a hug.

Her sister’s dark hair had grown back over where they shaved it after the accident. It was still very short and a little fuzzy, but it was filling in and almost the same length as the rest that Shana had had cut off. She had lost weight too and was bordering on being too thin, and the sharpness of Shana’s cheekbones made Bria sick with worry.

But she didn't say anything out loud. Sometimes a concerned comment was all it took to set Shana into a mood. It was part of the brain injury, according to the doctor. Shana couldn’t regulate her emotions and they hit hard and fast sometimes.

So Bria put a smile on her face and pretended that everything was going to be alright. And just seeing her sister sitting there was enough sometimes.

“Bria!” Her sister hugged her back tightly then motioned to a seat next to her. “The flowers are so beautiful today. The red ones, the…” Her eyebrows dipped down and she bit her lip. Frustration caused her jaw to tighten. “I’ve been sitting here trying to remember what they are for hours. I hate this.” Her voice had gone soft and Bria could hear the devastation in her sister’s tone.

But she didn’t offer the word. Bria learned the hard way to wait until she was asked for help.

Shana sighed and met Bria’s gaze. “What are they again?”

Bria’s heart broke. “Roses. They are mom’s favorite.”