Picture Perfect (Book 2 of the Billionaire Bad Boys)

10

Lance opened his eyes and flinched when he tried to move. His side hurt. He lifted the blanket and moved his hospital gown aside to look at the stitched wound. It hurt like hell. Lance laid back and looked at Cassia sleeping in the chair next to his bed. He was glad to see she was unhurt.

“Oh my god!” He heard his mother cry as she and his father came into the room. Her cry woke Cassia as his mother rushed to his bedside. She stroked his hair and looked like she wanted to cry. “My baby.” She whimpered. “Are you ok?” She asked hugging him.

“I’m fine.” He said prying his mother off him. He flinched when her hand touched his side. “Easy.”

“The hospital called us, and we flew out right away.” She said adjusting his blanket and fussing over his pillow trying to care for him.

“Eve, honey leave the boy alone. I’m sure the hospital is taking care of him.” His father said pulling his wife away from the bed. “How do you feel?” He asked.

“Like I’ve been stabbed.”

“What happened?” His father asked.

“We were mugged,” Cassia explained. “Lance fought him off.”

“What the hell were you thinking?” She snapped. “When you get mugged you give up your wallet. It’s not worth dying over.”

“He was protecting me,” Cassia said. “The guy was going to rape me.” Then Cassia smiled at him. “He’s my hero.”

His mother looked thoughtful, considering this new information. “The important thing is the doctor says’ you’re going to recover. He says the knife missed everything and it was a shallow wound. You’ll be up and walking around in no time.” His father said.

“Are you comfortable?” His mother asked.

“Yes.”

“Are you hungry?”

“No.”

“You should at least drink something. Damien, go get him some water.” She ordered.

“Mom,” Lance said grabbing her by the wrist. “I’m fine, really I am. Please quit fussing sit down.”

“I’m coming home with you. Someone has to take care of you.”

“I’m a grown man Mom; I don’t need a babysitter.”

“Obviously you do, you went and got yourself knifed in a fight.” She scolded. “You need someone sensible looking out for you.”

“I’ll be happy to take care of him.” Cassia offered.

Eve glared at Cassia. “No.” She snapped effectively silencing Cassia. “I’m his mother. I will take care of him.”

“Eve-” Her husband began to be instantly silenced by a look.

“Mom I swear to god I’m fine. I don’t need you to take care of me.”

“Don’t sass me.” She barked. “I expect a stupid stunt like this from Lucas, but I thought you were smarter than to get yourself into a situation like this. You could have been killed.”

That look in her eyes, the tone of her voice always managed to make him feel like he was five years old. He was a grown man, and she still managed to make him feel like a child. “I did the right thing. I couldn’t let him assault Cassia. Dad would have done the same thing.”

He looked at his father for support but saw him back down when Eve looked at him. Damien Sanchez was a strong man but when it came to his wife he always wound up backing down. Eve Sanchez ruled the roost, with her husband and children under her thumb.

Lance placed his hand over his side and cringed. “Oh god, Mom would you please find the nurse. I need something for the pain.” She stroked his hair once more and then went in search of a nurse. Once she was gone, Lance looked up at his father. “She’s not coming home with me.” One of them had to grow a backbone and rein his mother in. Lance was hoping it wouldn’t have to be him.

“You know your mother she means well. She’s just worried.” He knew exactly how she was. His mother was overprotective. Like a lioness, she wouldn’t hesitate to rip the throat out of anyone she thought meant her children harm.

“I’m twenty-seven I don’t need my Mommy fussing over me. She’s not coming home with me. Say something.” He demanded.

“You know I can’t control her.”

“Dad.” He insisted.

Damien sighed. “Ok I’ll go talk to her and see if I can’t get her to stay at the house in Malibu, but you know she’s going to insist on checking in on you. You won’t get rid of her completely.” He warned and left the room.

Lance then looked at Cassia who had been fairly quiet. She looked distressed. “I don’t think she likes me.”

“My Mom doesn’t like any of my girlfriends. It’s not just you. She seems to think I’m going to ruin my life with some gold-digging tart.” And so far, she had been right which annoyed him. He hated when she was right, and in his experience so far, she was always right. He had a feeling though that Cassia was different, then again, he had that feeling a lot and he was usually proven wrong, only this time he wasn’t letting his guard down.

There was a knock at the door to his room. In came two officers. “Mr. Sanchez?” The tall skinny one asked.

“Yes.”

“I’m Officer Heart, and this is my partner Officer Reynolds. We have some questions if you feel up to it.” Lance shifted in his bed trying to sit up. Cassia wrapped her arms around his shoulders and helped him up. “We already have Miss. Dillinger’s statement but we would like to get yours. Can you tell us what happened?”

“We had stopped for dinner and were walking back to my car when someone coldcocked me from behind. I blacked out for a moment and when I came to this man had Cassia at knifepoint in the alley. It looked like he intended to rape her. I got up and jumped him. We struggled for a moment, and then he stabbed me and ran off.”

“Did he take anything?”

“No.” Now that he thought about it, that did seem strange. Why rob someone and take nothing, especially when he had so much to take?

“Do you remember what the guy looked like?” Officer Reynolds asked.

Lance tried to think back. It was dark, and it happened so fast it was hard to say. “He was a white guy, about my age. He seemed strung out, like an addict. He was tall, very thin. He wore baggy clothes, bargain basement sort of things. Jeans, an undershirt, and an open plaid over shirt. He had on one of those knit caps I think it was grey.”

“Can you remember his face?” Officer Heart asked as he jotted down everything Lance was saying in his notepad.

“Thin oval face, freckles over the bridge of his nose, his eyes were brown and shadowed. He was pale, and he had a long nose, thin lips. He had a cold sore on the right side of his bottom lip near the corner. I’m sorry I don’t remember anything else.”

“Don’t worry that was a better description then we usually get. The doctors have given us the knife so we will be dusting it for fingerprints. Hopefully, he’s in the system. When we make an arrest, we will need you both to come down and identify him in a lineup.”

“Most defiantly.”

The officers were walking out just as his parents were coming back in. “What did they want?” His mother asked.

“Just a statement.”

“What are they doing to find this guy?”

“I have faith they will find him,” Cassia said.

“I don’t have much faith in law enforcement as you do. Cops are useless.” Eve said looking Lance. “The only thing they can sniff out is a doughnut.” His whole family had no faith in cops. They had most certainly never been any help in the past, but there was nothing any of them could do about it. It wasn’t like they could find the guy on their own. It had been a completely random attack by a stranger. His could do nothing at this point then get on with his life.

The nurse came into the room with a needle in her hand and a smile on her face. She came to the bed, and his parents moved out of her way. “I think it is time for you to leave. This will put him to sleep.” She said inserting the needle into the IV in his hand. “In a moment you will be feeling no pain.” She promised as she pressed on the plunger.

A numbing feeling washed over Lance, and his eyes felt heavy. The last thing he saw was Cassia’s face.

***

Just as the nurse said, Lance was asleep in seconds. “Come on Eve let’s go home,” Damien said escorting his wife to the door.

“I’m not leaving my son.” She protested.

“There is nothing we can do for him. Let the hospital staff take care of him. It’s why we have health insurance.”

“But he needs me.”

“He needs sleep. Cassia will take care of him.” Damien said looking up at Cassia. She saw kindness in his eyes and scorn in the eyes of his wife. Eve continued to complain as her husband walked her out of the room. It bothered her that Lance’s mother didn’t like her. She was almost certain the woman blamed Cassia for Lance’s condition.

“You too Miss.” The nurse said.

“Oh, please can I stay I won’t be in the way I promise.”

The nurse looked at her and then her expression softened. “Ok, I suppose you can stay. Just let him rest.” She said leaving the room. Cassia decided to go down to the gift shop and buy herself a book. She wasn’t sure how long Lance would be asleep.

She was going through the books in the store when she caught a glimpse of that morning’s newspaper. Lance was on the cover. She picked up the paper and read the headlines when she opened the paper and began to read the article.

“If you’re going to read that you’re going to have to pay for it.” The clerk demanded.

Cassia selected a book and paid for both and left the store. She read the article as she made her way back to the elevator. She had just reached Lance’s room when she noticed a man inside taking Lance’s picture. “Hey what are you doing?” Cassia demanded.

He then took out a tape recorder and held it in her face. “Miss. Dillinger, what can you tell me about Mr. Sanchez’s condition? Have the doctors declared him stabilized yet?”

“Who are you?” Cassia demanded. “Nurse!” She yelled for the hospital staff.

“What can you tell me about the mugging?” He asked getting in her face.

“Nurse!” The nurse appeared in the room and started yelling for security. The reporter then ran out of the room pushing Cassia aside as he made his escape. Cassia stepped into the hallway to see the security guard chase the man into the stairwell.

“Damn paparazzi.” The nurse huffed. “This always happens with celebrities. We’ll have to post a guard at Mr. Sanchez’s room.” Yes, that would be a very good idea.

It was four hours before Lance woke. When he did, she immediately showed him the paper and told him about the reporter security chased out. He didn’t seem the least bit surprised. He just shrugged it off and tried to get out of bed.

Cassia insisted he stay in bed, but Lance was adamant about getting up. He had to use the washroom and refused to use the bedpan. A man of pride he would kill himself before he admitted his limitations. So, Cassia wrapped her arms around his waist and his arm over her shoulder and helped him from the bed and into the private washroom. She left him to do what he needed as she waited outside.

He came back out, and Cassia suggested he get back in bed, but he refused. Instead, he made his way over to the window and looked outside. Cassia came to his side and looked out. On the street, she could see people with cameras just hanging around waiting for a chance to get a good shot of Lance coming out. They had probably ambushed his folks too earlier that day.

This was crazy; Cassia couldn’t believe what Lance had to put up with. “How are we going to get out of here?” She asked.

“We’ll go out the back.”

Cassia looked up at him. “Just sneak out?”

“You got a better idea?” He asked with a smile. “My family’s been ducking out the back door for generations. Believe me, we got dodging paparazzi down packed. It’s like fine art.”

“You should get back into bed and rest.”

“No,” He said limping away slowly. “I need to walk it off.”

“This isn’t like walking off a punch Lance; you were stabbed. You need to rest.”

“I’m fine; you heard my Father it was a superficial wound. I’ll live. I want out of this hospital. I want to go home.” She could see it in his eyes. Lance didn’t like hospitals. She wasn’t yet sure why.

“Come on relax.” She said taking his arm and ushering him back to his bed. “It’s just for a few days until you’re back on your feet.”

“I’m on my feet right now. Besides I’ve spent enough time in hospitals when I was young, I don’t need to be here.”

“Where you a sick child?” She asked easing him back into bed.

“I was a premature child. By two months. I spend the first eight weeks of my life in an incubator fighting for my life. Then with Lucas, we were in and out of hospitals all the time. He was always hurting himself. He’d broken every bone in his body by the age of sixteen. Some twice.” He said as she tucked him in. “I hate hospitals; I want to go home.”

She could see keeping Lance in bed was going to be difficult. The next two hours were crazy. Lance kept ringing the nurse’s call bell demanding to see the doctor. When the doctor finally showed up, he became a belligerent patient. Getting verbally nasty about wanting to leave.

“Mr. Sanchez, even though the wound is not fatal I do recommend you stay in bed, so the stitches do not tear.” The doctor said.

“I can stay in my bed at home.” He said sitting up.

“I must recommend against leaving.”

“Am I going to die if I leave?”

“No.”

“Then I’m leaving.”

“If you do it will be against doctor’s orders.” The doctor stressed.

“I can live with that.” He said climbing out of bed. “Where are my clothes?”

The hospital staff gave up on trying to change his mind. Lance got dressed and signed himself out. They went down the stairs slowly until they reached the hospital kitchen. Then they snuck out the delivery door. Lance waited in the loading bay while Cassia went and got the car.

She returned shortly, and Lance opened the driver’s door. “Move over I’m driving.”

“No, you’re not,” Cassia argued. “I’m driving you just relax.”

“It’s my car.” He reminded her.

“You are injured, you can’t drive.”

They argued about it for ten minutes, and then Cassia gave up and moved to the passenger seat. Lance was stubborn when he wanted to be.

He drove them home. He parked his car and Cassia helped Lance into the building. As they came into the lobby, they were met by someone Cassia didn’t want to see. Andy had been sitting on the floor beneath the mailbox. He looked like he had been sitting there all night.

Andy rose to his feet, and he and Lance shared a less than friendly look. “Andy, what are you doing here?” She demanded still supporting Lance, his arm around her shoulder and her arms around his waist.

“I wanted to see that you were ok.” He said tossing the newspaper at her feet. Her picture was on the cover with Lance’s. “The paper says you were attacked. It didn’t say much more. I was worried.”

“I’m fine.” She assured him. “Please leave.”

“I’m not leaving until you talk to me.”

“Who the hell is this?” Lance asked with some aggravation.

“Lance this is Andy, Andy this is Lance.” She quickly introduced them.

“I’m her boyfriend,” Andy said firmly.

“Ex-boyfriend.” She reminded him.

“Move along Jethro.” Lance snarled and stood up a little straighter. “I’m her boyfriend now.” He said with a mocking smile.

Andy turned up his nose. “But you’re so old.”

“I am not.” Lance snapped.

“You got to be like ten years older than her.”

“Nine.”

Andy laughed. “Oh, big difference.” He then looked at Cassia. “Are you dating this guy? What does he have that I don’t?”

Lance started laughing. “Prestige, fame, money.” He listed just a few. “A four hundred-thousand-dollar car, a private jet, direct connection with the world’s most popular designers… I can go on.” He bragged. “Just what do you bring to the table?”

Andy just looked back at Cassia. “We have a history.”

“You are history.” Lance corrected him.

“You’re lucky you’re injured, or I’d knock your block off,” Andy warned.

“Whatever makes you feel better, at the end of the day I get to go to bed with her.” He said making for the elevator with Cassia’s help.

Andy grabbed Cassia by the arm. “Cassia we can make this work. I know you think I don’t understand this model stuff but I will do anything to help you realize your dream.”

It hurt her to tell him to go away. She didn’t have feelings for him. Besides, Lance was way more equipped to see her dreams come true than Andy was. “Andy it’s over. Please go home.”

“Cassia-”

Lance pulled away from Cassia and stood under his power which she knew in his state wasn’t easy. “Andy is it? The girl said it over; accept it with a little dignity. Begging is pathetic.”

Andy looked Lance dead in the eye. “You’re never going to make her happy.”

“I already am.” His confidence never wavered. Then he offered Andy a cruel smile. “I’ve already got her screaming my name.”

Cassia’s jaw dropped, he did not just say that. Cassia quickly came between Lance and Andy before Andy struck him. Lance was in no condition to get in a fistfight. “Andy, leave now.” She ordered and pressed the button for the envelope. When the door opened Cassia pushed Lance onto the elevator and pressed the fifth-floor button. Finally, alone she punched his shoulder. “What the hell was that about?”

“What?”

“Why would you say that to him? That was embarrassing and cruel.” Andy was having difficulty letting her go he didn’t deserve to have her new romance thrown in his face.

“Why keep coddling him, unless you’re still tending a flame for him. Are you?” He asked as they got off the elevator.

“No, but I don’t want to hurt him. I was trying to let him down easy.” She said walking him to his couch and easing him down on the cushions.

“I’m telling you guys like that only understand direct methods, no beating around the bush. Their think headed and a little slow. You got to be brutally honest.”

“Andy is not slow.” She snapped; although he was thick headed and stubborn. “He’s a very nice man.”

“Nice guys finish last.”

“They just say that it’s not true.”

“Sayings are sayings for a reason because they are based on truth; people just don’t want to admit it.”

“You’re a jerk.”

“And I’m on top.” He said as if she had just proven his point for him.

“Do you get kicks from picking on weaker men? Are you that insecure?”

“I’m not insecure. I’m Lance Sanchez I have no reason to be insecure.” He growled back at her.

“There you go hiding behind your family name like because you’re your father’s son that makes you something special.” His arrogance was infuriating.

“I am someone. I’m the top of my field. Enough of this, I’m finished fighting.” He then pointed to the treadmill. “You owe me an hour.”

Cassia looked at the treadmill. “Are you serious?” He just looked at her and nodded. “After everything you are still going to make me do that?”

“I’m serious. If you want the Venus shoot, you have to fit in the clothes. Get running.”

“We’re not done talking about Andy.”

“I’m done.”

“So, it’s over because you say so?”

“Yes.” She saw red. “Now get running.”

That was the last straw. “I’m done taking orders from you.”

“If you want to be a model you’ll do as I tell you. Remember no questions do.” Cassia went into the kitchen and took a bottle of water from the fridge and quickly made a sandwich. “What are you doing?”

Cassia brought the water and food to Lance and placed it on the coffee table within his reach then she handed him the phone and the remote to the TV. She then went into the bedroom and came back with a pillow and a blanket. She placed them both next to him on the couch. “There you have everything you need. I’m leaving.”

“You’re just going to leave me?” He asked surprised.

“You’re the great Lance Sanchez,” She mocked, “you don’t need me.” She said and left. She was done with Lance. She wanted to be a model but not this way.

“You can’t just leave me.” He called after her. “I took a knife for you, and you’re just going to abandon me?”

“Call your mom she’s dying to take care of you.” She said getting on the elevator. Lace needed a reality check. He couldn’t treat people the way he did.

***

Cindy tossed the newspaper in Marcus’ lap. “Your man screwed it up. He stabbed the wrong person.” She hissed. Not that seeing Lance get what was coming to him wasn’t appealing it had been that little tramp she had wanted to be taken out. She was the competition, not Lance. She was the one that was taking her booking, the one overshadowing her popularity. “That slut is still free to do the shoot. There are only three more days before that plane leaves, and I better be on it or so help me god you will pay for your incompetence.”

“Look, Cindy; I’m doing my best. It’s not easy to find someone to do this that won’t lead back to us.” He said.

“I don’t care. Shoot her yourself if you have too but get me that gig.” She should have never left Lance, at least with him she was working.