ROSES & THORNS

- 2 6 -

- A D A M - T H O R N E -

How could someone hurt such a beautiful and good soul?

We reached her house but I didn't have it in me to wake her up, so instead I got out of the car carefully and opened her door, then held her in my arms and carried her up towards the front door which was lighted faintly. 

Someone came out the moment I reached the door, and I recognized him as the butler, Mr. Baker.

"She's asleep, I didn't want to wake her up." I told him and he quickly opened the door wide and gave me space to get in.

I followed him up the stairs and into a far corridor of the estate and opened a room which I figured was hers. He stayed outside while I went in and put her on her bed carefully, making sure not to wake her up.

I pulled the blanket on her after taking off her shoes and sat down on the edge of the bed, close to her.

I watched her breathing evenly and pushed her hair to a side so they wouldn't come on her face. She stirred a bit and and laid on her side, facing me. I was about to get up from the bed when I heard her say my name.

"Adam, please don't leave. I'm scared... Please, stay with me." She whispered, her eyes squinting to look at me in the dark as I reached out to hold her hand and kissed the back of it.

"I'm right here, it's okay." I whispered to her and she smiled faintly before going back to sleep.

I'm going to kill that man.

A while later when I felt she wouldn't wake up, I got up from her bed and opened the door to her room and saw the butler still there.

"Could you get me a rose?" I asked him as I remembered I saw roses out in the front outside.

He smiled at me and nodded then left, and I went back inside the room to grab a pen and paper from her desk, and wrote a note on it for her.

'Take some medicine when you wake up and don't work today, just rest for the day. I'll see you tomorrow. - Adam'

Folding it, I put it on her bedside table, and looked around her room. One of the walls was covered with shelves filled with books, while another with beautiful paintings signed with her name on them.

She must like to read and paint. 

I admired the beautiful paintings of landscapes then looked at her books that were arranged according to authors, the majority romance, and I chuckled.

So she's a romantic.

I then walked over to a shelf which had framed photographs of her with her father, her brothers and a woman which I assumed would be her mother because of her striking blue eyes and beautiful features, just like hers. 

None of these pictures held Josephine or Olivia anywhere and I figured they must have a strained relationship.

No shit.

Then the door opened and Mr. Baker walked in with a red rose in his hand and handed it to me. I looked at it, turning it around in my fingers and smelling it, closing my eyes.

Perfect, just like her. 

I set it beside the note and kissed her forehead, then left the room to see Mr. Baker standing outside, worried.

"Is everything okay, Mr. Thorne? Why did you bring her home? Where is Mr. Edward?" He asked.

"Not really. They told me to take her home. There were some... uh... problems." I said and he raised his eyebrows. 

"Who is Michael Woods to Belle?" I asked suddenly, curious and I could see him scowl at the name.

"Come, let's sit and talk." he said and I followed him into a large room which I figured must be the drawing room.

"He was there at the party." I told him as he poured a drink for me and just nodded.

"Mr. Woods was... Ms. Edward's ex-boyfriend.." I flinched when he mentioned 'boyfriend'. 

He then sat down across me, handing me my drink which I drank slowly because I felt I would need it.

"They were together for a year, and Isabelle was head over heels for him. She would talk about him all the time and he even came here several times to meet her brothers and father." He said.

"Her brothers are very protective of her and didn't let any boys come near her, but she met Mike when she went to do a designing course in England." I listened to him silently, not taking my eyes off the drink in my hand.

"Mike was an exception and her brothers seemed to like him. But then nearly two years ago he left her for some model when he was touring Europe." He said with distaste. 

"She was heartbroken when he left her, and I can't put it into words. But thankfully Lance and her friend Taylor helped her out, so did Arthur and Tristan but they had to go away regarding business in England." He explained.

"That's why he's so protective of her." I said and he nodded.

"He loves Isabelle a lot and he was heartbroken when he couldn't help her get better." He sighed deeply. 

"She's been at home ever since. Refused to come out of her room or eat anything. It's only been a month or so that she went of the house." He said and my grip on the glass tightened dangerously.

"Lance and Taylor helped her in her darkest times. She became quite famous because of her Boutique which she had only opened for a few moths before she closed it and because of the family business as she was the only heiress. But her beautiful and striking blue eyes are what drove people crazy. " He chuckled to himself, making me smile faintly.

Well that's true, they've driven me crazy every time I look at them.

"Poor girl had to go through so much. But you, she seems to like you. And you seem to like her too, don't you?" He asked me, which made me look up at him.

"I don't know." I answered. I didn't know. 

"Maybe I do like her." I smiled a bit, surprised at my own words and thoughts and he returned my smile.

"Well, whatever it is, please don't hurt her. She has already been through so much lately and I don't think her heart could take any more." He told me, and it seemed like a sincere request.

Now I know why she's so reserved and why her brothers hover around her all the time. They worry for her, and rightly so.

"I will never hurt her. I promise." I told him and he nodded.

'Oh and before I forget, please don't mention our conversation to her, or that I carried her to her room unless necessary. I don't think she'll like the whole... carrying part." I smiled sheepishly at him, and he nodded in understanding.

Getting up I shook hands with him and bid him goodbye, then left, and all I could think of was her innocent face as she slept.

She's like a fragile rose. 

My rose.

* * *

Adam thinks Belle is a fragile rose, but does he truly know what she is capable of? What does he think of her and her brothers after finding about her hurtful past?

Keep reading to find  out!

Question of the Day: What colored rose is your favorite?

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