Chapter 6 

*Unexpectedly Connected

"Don’t try to push this off on me Braylin you couldn’t leave this alone. You said you wouldn’t interfere.   Did you have Jen send her roses or is she one of your mixed bouquets?   Oh nevermind that, she’s definitely a mixed bouquet we haven’t got her building yet.”  Aaron rolls his eyes at Braylin  slamming the new contract offer on the conference table. 

“Maybe you forgot Aaron you were supposed to buy that property three years ago.  I didn’t interfere in the deal then and I’m not interfering now.   Don’t blame me because you didn’t get it done.”  Braylin barks at him. 

“Braylin didn’t you say she thinks you and Aaron both tried to trick her?  Will you two stop arguing over women?  God, I’m glad I’m married.”  Cameron Hurst gets up from his seat to pick up the newly proposed contract.  “It’s a good offer Aaron.  You should have offered her this to begin with.” 

“Oh don’t you start on me too.  You two always do this.”  Aaron bellows. 

“Well maybe if you would listen to us sometimes we wouldn’t have to make counter offers.”  Braylin criticizes. 

“Alright, alright, stop it.  We’ve got to figure this out.   We need that building and obviously she’s had an effect on both of you.  I can’t remember the last time you two were attracted to the same woman.  She sounds like a fireball as dad would say.” 

Aaron shrugs his shoulders and smiles looking at Braylin.  “She does have a mouth on her.  Man she cut me down quick, Lester was laughing at me the whole time.”  

“Well that definitely leaves you out of future dealings with her.  Bray, what about it.  You want to take the new offer to her?”  Cameron pushes the portfolio toward him. 

Braylin shakes his head no.  “Why do I have to do it?  Let Lester offer it to her?  He pouts.

Cameron is sitting next to Aaron.  Both stare at Braylin surprised he doesn’t want this opportunity to see her again.  “What’s going on Bray?”  Aaron leans on the conference table to ask.  

“Nothing is going on.  I didn’t sleep with her that night at the hotel.  We talked, that's all.  She’s had a rough time.” 

The conference doors swing open.  Lester rushes in his arms full of magazines.  “Hey, I think you need to look at these.”  He throws them in the middle of the conference table.  They all have pictures of Kara and Braylin.  Two of the covers are of them entering the Peninsula Hotel.  Aaron picks up  one with a cover showing Braylin and Kara kissing in the doorway of her restaurant. 

“I thought you said you didn’t sleep with her?”  Aaron holds the magazine cover up showing it to his brothers and cousin. 

“Wow, this looks…..this looks like. This one says you took your girlfriend to the hotel to have makeup sex after an argument in front of our building and this one has you engaged to her already.  I thought you only seen her twice.”  Cameron adds standing up to reach for another magazine. 

Braylin picks up one of the magazines to look closely at the cover, his anger is building.  He’s going to destroy whoever did this.  Rubbing his forehead with his fingers, he wonders if Kara has seen them. 

“I didn’t, I don’t know where this all came from.  I kissed her at her restaurant that night and I left.  I told you about the hotel.  I had to take her somewhere so I took her to the Peninsula.  They don’t have much of a lobby, I thought it would be discreet.”    

He rakes his hands through his hair feeling frustrated.    “Find out who did this.  I want every copy removed.  I can’t believe this shit is happening.  She’s never going to give us that damn property.”  He throw the magazine back on the table in anger.    

“Ahem…..we’ve got to do some damage control on this.”  Cameron  reasons. 

“Well, let me handle that since I have the most experience at it.  Usually it’s me who’s doing the damage but I got to say Bray, you really stepped in this one.”  Aaron's turning the magazine to the side trying to get a closer look at their embrace.  "Nice hold on her ass, you really got in there." He grins.

“Shut up.”  Braylin glares at his younger brother. 

“I’ve already started on getting these pulled.  I think you need to call her.  Based on what you’ve told us she’s going to be in shock and pissed when she finds out but it won’t have as much sting if she knows it’s coming.”  Lester advises. 

“Go see her, tell her face to face.  We need to try to salvage what we can to get that property.  We’ll change the contract and offer her more.”  Cameron replies taking the magazine out of Aaron's hand to close it.

“Offer more, hell no.  She’s going to have people lined up at that restaurant when they read these rags.  Women are going to go there just to see what she’s like and you know it Cam.  She’s going to make money off of this, how do we know she didn’t have something to do with it?”  Aaron comments. 

“Aaron, she’s not like that and you know it.”  Braylin responds with a glare at him. 

“I don’t know anything.  I only met her twice,  she sure didn’t treat me the way she treated you.  Aaron responds.  “I get that you like her, but we’ve got to protect ourselves.  Other women might see this shit and try it.  I’m not up for that.” 

“Unfortunately he’s got a point Braylin, some of our foreign investors are still nervous about us because of what happened two years ago.  They still think we’re just playboys dabbling in the big league since your father’s death.  We need these people to take us seriously.”  Lester tells him. 

The conference room phone rings and Cameron hits the speaker button.  “Yes, Amanda, what is it?” 

“Mr. Hurst, I just got a call from a tabloid.  They want a statement about Ms. Santino being taken to the hospital early this morning what should I tell them sir?” 

“What!  Braylin jumps from his chair taking over the call.  “Transfer the call in here Amanda.” After she transfers the call Braylin turns the phone toward him. 

“Hello, this is Braylin Hurst.” 

“Hello Mr. Hurst, I was wondering if we could get a statement regarding the attack of your girlfriend at her restaurant last night.  We understand the suspect is still on the loose and your girlfriend is still in the hospital.”  Lester pushes a shocked Braylin down in one of the chairs.  Aaron leans onto the edge of the conference table to listen to the call. 

Cameron takes over from a shook up Braylin to do the talking.  “Excuse me, I didn’t catch which magazine you’re calling from?” 

“Daily Star Mr. Hurst.  My name is James sir.” 

“James my assistant is going to give you an official statement from our company regarding Ms. Santino. On a personal note, please know that I am caring for her and we are going to be working with the police to catch whoever did this.” 

“Yes sir, thank you sir, can you confirm or deny that it was a robbery instead of an assault sir.  Our sources are telling us that it was a personal attack?” 

“Got dammit….”  Braylin grabs the phone and throws it hitting a picture on the wall.  The picture falls to the floor with a loud crash the phone breaks, the line goes dead. 

“Braylin we don’t know.  Calm down, we just don’t know yet.”  Cameron grips his brother’s shoulder trying to calm him down. 

Aaron is already at the door.  “Amanda find out what hospital she’s at and call us from the car.”  He holds the door open waiting for his brothers.  “Come on, Lester you drive Cameron and I will make some calls.” 

When they get to Lenox Hill they are escorted through a special entrance away from the media waiting outside.  Lester finds out what room she’s in and they take the elevator to that floor.  The elevator doors open and the nurses all stare at the four business men getting off on their floor.  Braylin approaches the nurse’s station giving Kara’s name.  An older nurse tells the other eager to assist nurses to stay put and she escorts them down the hall.  

Mica, Casey and Darla who’s crying sit in the waiting area.  Two police officers stand nearby and a third stands in front of Kara’s hospital room. 

“You can wait here Mr. Hurst with the rest of her family and friends.  The doctor will be out to talk to you all shortly.” 

Mica stands and introduces himself.  Braylin introduces himself, Lester and his brothers. 

“I’m sorry, we didn’t call you.   We didn’t know you would want to know about this.”  Mica explains by way of an apology. 

Cameron, Lester and Aaron feel uncomfortable and Braylin let's out a heavy sigh.  “It’s alright.  Can you tell me who found her?”  Braylin ask sitting down in one of the waiting room chairs. 

Darla starts to sniffle and Casey holds her hand.  “Darla called her to see if she was still at the restaurant.  Kara has a habit of staying late into the night to clean up.”  Casey tells them. 

“Why does she do that, don’t you have people to do that after you close.”  Aaron seems not to understand. 

“Kara had to let some of the staff go when her father died in order to keep operating the restaurant.    She stays late some nights to clean the ovens.  It was almost mid-night and I knew she was still there she forgets about the time.    I called to tell her to go home.  I heard this scream then the line went dead.  It sounded like her,  I wasn’t sure I had dialed the right number so I waited a few minutes then I called back.  She  was crying when she answered.   I heard this scuffling, I could hear him hitting her.  He….he….said he was going to take her upstairs and….”  Darla starts crying again unable to finish. 

“We haven’t been told much.  Darla called the police then called me.  I live the closest and I got there just as the police were pulling up.  They brought her here a little after mid-night.”  Mica tells the four men. 

“Braylin is gripping the arms of the chair.  He’s so angry he wants to lash out at someone  His pounding of his fist on the chair makes Darla jump.  He gets up to walk down to the nurse’s station. The nurse that assisted them walks back down the hall with him.  She goes into Kara’s room while Braylin paces in front of her hospital room door. 

The nurse comes out of the room followed by a doctor.  “Mr. Hurst, I’m sorry to meet you under these circumstances.  I’m Dr. Kramer.   Ms. Santino is in critical condition at this time.  She suffered a severe concussion during the attack.  Our test results reveal some swelling.  She is unconscious and we are closely monitoring her.   She has a sprained wrist and some other cuts and bruises.  There is a deep cut near her left temple that required several stitches.   I understand  you and her friends have been here for a while.  We will let you in to see her shortly however I do not want you to disturb her and I ask that you understand due to the type of attack she suffered her face has been altered.” 

The entire time the doctor is talking tears run down the faces of Casey and Darla as they listen.   The other men all stand around the doctor hanging on his every word.  Braylin is having a difficult time.  He’s shocked by the extent of her injuries.  He wants to know if she was sexually assaulted but can’t bring himself to say the words. 

How did his life change so quickly.   How did he affect someone else’s life so much that it came to this.  He and Kara don’t know each other and yet he feels like they have already made such a strong connection.  He thinks about her every day and this morning was no different.  He needs to find out more information about her attack.  His feelings of responsibility is running deep.  He needs to know what to do to take care of her. 

“Thank you.  Dr. Kramer I need to know….was she….did he….”  Braylin can’t get the words out.  The doctor places his hand on his shoulder in understanding.  

“No, her rape test are negative.  We don’t know yet if she suffered some other trauma.  She does have some bruising between her legs and scratches under her nails.  We believe she fought him off.”  The doctor explains in a comforting manner. 

Braylin releases the breath he was holding nodding his head in understanding of the doctor’s words.  Cameron puts his arm around Braylin’s shoulder for support.   Aaron and Casey fall into the nearest seat while Mica and Darla are holding onto each other’s hands already seated. 

Is there anything I can do?  Whatever she needs….”  Braylin ask in a voice feeled with concern.   

Mr. Hurst, I would say take care of yourself.  Head injuries are unpredictable and she will need support.  We will move her to another room shortly.  We can set her room up for your visits.  We will keep you updated on her condition of course.”  The doctor explains.  

After the doctor and nurse leave, Casey, Mica and Darla go in to see her.  Braylin stands alone by one of the windows.  Lester brings him a cup of coffee. 

“Here drink this.  I spoke with the detective assigned to her case.   They want to talk to you but I did manage to find out they think this was personal.  Nothing appeared to be taken.  All the money she collected that day was still in the cash drawer and the safe had not been tampered with.  One of the police officer’s told me they are looking at her ex-fiancé for this.   Lester tells him as both his brothers’ stand next to them listening. 

“That bastard she broke up with?  I want one of our people here guarding her.  I’ll talk to Mica about the restaurant.   Get somebody over there to help them out.  I need to find out what they need to keep things going.”  Braylin tries to think what needs to be done but all he can think about is her. 

“Braylin, don’t worry about all that.  Let us take care of that.”  Cameron responds and the brothers and their cousin hug. 

Casey and Darla are holding onto Mica as they come out of Kara’s hospital room.  All three are distraught.  Braylin holds back approaching them, not sure he wants to see their upset faces.   Aaron and Lester go over to talk to them and they all walk down the hall talking.   Cameron stays with Braylin. 

“You ready for this?”  He ask him. 

“I don’t know.  I don’t know if she wants me here.  I just returned a ring to her Cam, I didn’t expect all of this.”  Braylin responds leaning on his brother. 

“We’ll handle this the way you want.  I understand you just met her but Braylin you spent the night with her talking.  Obviously you’ve had an affect on each other.   Either way we’ve got to deal with the fallout that’s going to come from this.” 

“Yeah, Okay….Let’s go see her.  Braylin rubs his eyes then starts walking toward Kara's room. 

The first thing Braylin notices is how small she looks in the bed.  Her head is wrapped in a bandage and her wrist lays on top of the covers also wrapped in one.  Her face is swollen on one side and he can see the bruise marks already formed around her neck.  The bastard tried to choke her he realizes letting out an angry grunt.  Aaron and Lester enter the room but stay quietly at the door with Cameron letting Braylin walk further into the room to stand at the foot of the hospital bed. 

They allow Braylin as much time as he needs to be with the woman that has stirred something in him.  Cameron can see the depth of responsibility his brother is feeling and although the tabloids may have gotten the true status of their relationship wrong, there is a something between them.

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