“Dominic.”
“And my name?”
“Elizabeth.”
“Very formal.” I chew on that for a moment. “Is that what you call me?”
He hesitates, then finally says, “Liza. I called—call you Liza.”
I smile, absurdly loving the sound of that on his lips and feeling like I’m about to cry at the same time. “That’s lovely,” I whisper.
“I’m the only man who ever called you that,” he adds, searching my face. “Don’t you remember?”
I’m probably disappointing him. He seems so determined, as though he can just will me to recall everything. Should I tell him that it’s futile? That he can’t just force me to do what he wants?
“We didn’t detect any anomaly, and none of the tests show any problem. My guess is this is a temporary memory loss, and it’ll come back with some time and patience,” Dr. Raydor says.
I smile at the doctor, but Dominic’s mouth grows tight, his eyes narrowed. Maybe he’s annoyed. I don’t know how long he’s spent by my side, but it has to be at least several days from his thick growth of beard and the way his blue eyes have sunken into his absurdly handsome face.
I pat his forearm. “It’s okay. The doctor said it’s temporary.”
“How long?” Dominic asks.
“Pardon me?” Dr. Raydor blinks.
“How long is it going to take before she regains her memory?”
“It’s hard to say.”
Dominic bites back a curse, then huffs out a rough breath. Visibly reining in his temper, he turns to me and gentles his voice. “Liza, do you remember anything about the accident?”
I hesitate. This is important to him, but I’m not sure exactly what he’s looking for. I choose my words with care. “What accident?”
Chapter Eight
Dominic
Elizabeth doesn’t remember the encounter with the creep that landed her in the hospital in the first place. I don’t want to say much. She’s just woken up, and I don’t want to traumatize her any more than necessary.
“I want to go home,” she announces suddenly.
Dr. Raydor hems. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. You haven’t fully recovered.”
“But you also said there’s nothing physically wrong with me,” she points out. “If you aren’t going to operate on me or put me through some type of physical therapy, I’m not sure how my presence is required at this hospital.”
“Still…”
“If you’re worried about follow-ups, I’m sure there are qualified hospitals and doctors near my home.” She turns to me. “Aren’t there?”
Shit. I can’t have her return to L.A. She doesn’t remember who tried to hurt her, and my guess is the perp is someone close to her, not some stranger. Most crimes against women aren’t random. There’s a reason cops put a female victim’s exes and current significant other at the top of the suspect list. Then there’s Tolyan. Once she’s in L.A., he’ll make sure we never see each other again, not to mention all the poison about me he’ll spew. He’s never bothered to hide how much he disdains me, and I loathe the territoria
l way he positions himself around her like an overprotective Rottweiler.
“We’re actually on a long break,” I say, thinking on my feet. “We were planning to go to our vacation home on a private island.”
She tilts her head, blinking fast. “Our vacation home…?”
Dr. Raydor shifts his weight. “I don’t know if it’s a good idea—”