When The Wrong One Loves You Right 3: Forever And Always

Chapter 45: Lost

I walked around in the dark for a while before I gave up and dropped myself on a downed tree. I folded my arms on my legs and dropped my head. My feet were numb, cold and bleeding. I was done. I was ready to give up. I was tired, cold, alone and lost.
I sat in the dark crying for a long time. A flash of light caught my attention and I looked up to see a man in a long coat walking toward me.
"Ana?" He asked.
"Yes." I answered mopping my face. "Who are you."
"My name is Vladimir, I'm Ron's brother." He said walking over to me. "Can I take you back to the house or are you going to take off?"
"I want to go back to the house." I said.
"Can you walk?" He asked.
"No." I said gesturing to my feet.
"Are you cold?"
I nodded. He took his trench coat off and wrapped it around me.
"Can I carry you?" He asked.
"Yes."
"I've got her." He said pushing a button on his earpiece and lifting me up.
"Thank you." I said quietly.
"Not a problem. Why did you run off?" He asked lifting me up. "They didn't give me details when they asked me to help look for you."
"Daniel scared me. He's never yelled at me before. I didn't mean to go so far into the forest. Before I'd realized I had, I was already so far in I didn't know where I was."
"All the trees here look the same. You actually weren't that far from the house. You just need to know which way to go."
"Is Daniel mad at me?"
"I think he's more worried than mad. He wants to keep you safe and you're not make it easy."
"I don't try to make things difficult. He was being a jerk."
"Daniel can be kind of an asshole sometimes. He's always been that way." Vladimir said. "He's been a lot more patient with you than I've seen him with any other woman."
"He shouldn't have yelled at me."
"He yells when he is frustrated."
"Why is he frustrated?"
"His brother is missing and Roman was murdered. Two bullets in the chest, one in the head."
"Who did it?" I asked.
"It's a mystery. As far as I know Daniel's father was on a video conference call with the heads of the different families. Everyone that had a reason to kill Roman was on that call, including Roman."
"My husband?"
"All of the Italian's were on the call. Except one, but he was seen by one of our London informants at that time."
"Then who?"
"Like I said, it's a mystery. Roman was murdered while everyone else watched."
"That's crazy."
"Whom ever it was was really pissed at Roman and his brother, Igor."
"Did they shot Igor too?"
"Yep, same call. Seconds apart."
"Scary. Maybe Baba Yaga did it." I said.
Vladimir chuckled. "Maybe."
"How close are we?" I asked.
"About fifteen minutes. If you want to take a power nap you can. They've been looking for you for about three and a half hours."
"They, not we?"
"Yeah I just go here maybe half an hour ago. I need to talk to my brother about some family drama back in Russia. Close your eyes and relax we will be home soon."
I didn't protest I closed my eyes and slipped away until we got back to the house. I woke up when he started up the stairs to the front door. I didn't open my eyes even though I was awake. I was afraid Daniel was waiting for me and he'd yell at me again.
"Give her to me. Give her here." Daniel said, his voice full of panic as we walked in the house.
Vladimir passed me off. Daniel held me tight like I was his missing child that was gone for days as he walked to the office and sat on the couch. He brushed my hair back and held my head between his hands kissing the top of my head.
"She must really mean something to you. I've never seen you so worked up when your pet disappears."
"She's not my pet and she means the world to me." Daniel said defensively.
"Thank you little brother. You just saved us a full night of searching." Ron said distracting his brother from the ensuing argument.
"It wasn't a big deal. Why'd she run?"
"She was bored." Ron said.
"She wouldn't have taken off if you wouldn't have yelled at her." Vladimir said to Daniel. "She told me she doesn't like to be yelled at. It scares her. You may want to take a look at her feet. I noticed they were pretty cut up when I found her."
I stirred when I felt Ron messing with my feet. I kicked his hand away.
"Ana, hold still. I need to look." He said.
I opened my eyes grumbling my protest and cuddled in to Daniel's chest.
"Is that the reason you ran from me, because I yelled at you?" Daniel asked me quietly.
I nodded against his chest.
"I didn't mean to raise my voice." Daniel said. "I'm sorry if I scared you Ana."
I didn't say anything. I turned to straddle his legs and buried my face in his shoulder, tightening my arms around him.
"I need to go get my tool. She has rocks stuck in her feet. I'm going to have to pick them out one at a time."
"I'm sorry." I said to Ron. "I'm sorry I caused extra work for you."
"I don't mind the extra work Ana. There is no good reason for you to be hurting here. We just want you safe. Let me go grab my tools and I will fix this so you can walk." Ron said standing and walking out of the room.
"Thank you. You didn't have to help me." I slipped Vlad's coat off and handed back to him.
"It real wasn't a big deal. Next time don't go in the woods though. It's not safe." Vladimir said.
"Nowhere is safe." I said annoyed. "Is there something I can help with Daniel. I don't want to sit in here and do nothing, it's torture."
"I can see if I can find something for you to do. If not I will assign a couple of my guards to take you to do something." Daniel answered.
"Thank you." I said looking up at him for the first time since We'd come back in the office.
I pressed my lips to his, stealing a kiss and wrapping my arms back around him. Ron walked back in the office with his bag. He pulled out a bottle of peroxide, gauze, and tweezers. I turned and Ron went to work removing the rocks from the bottom of my feet. It hurt, a lot.
"Ouch." I said and quickly pulled away.
"I'm sorry but it's got to come out or it will get infected." Ron replied.
"Are you almost done?" I asked.
"With one foot. Then comes the hard part."
"Dare I ask?" I said.
"I'm going to pour peroxide over your feet to remove any infection."
"I might cry."
"We will do the peroxide over the kitchen sink." Ron said. "I'm going to get some guys to hold you down."
"Were you going to talk to me about this?" Daniel asked.
"No, I knew you'd say no." Ron said. "I was going to have you and my brother do it by the way."
Ron picked the rocks out of my feet. Then Daniel carried me in the kitchen and set me on the island. As soon as the peroxide touch my feet I screamed. Several people, most of the guards, ran in the kitchen, Matt among them.
"What's going on?" Zavior asked.
"Ana went for a walk without shoes." Vlad said.
"Do you need help?" Matt asked.
"No." Daniel said quickly.
"Yes." Ron and I both said over Daniel.
I reached my hand out to Matt. He stepped forward and took it.
"Your not going to like this." He said looking at Daniel.
Matt climbed up on the counter and sat on my thighs so he was facing me.
He took his tie off and rolled it up.
"Open." He commanded.
I opened my mouth. He pressed it inside.
"Arms around me Angel. Take a deep breath. Are you ready?"
I nodded and closed my eyes tight.
"Whenever your ready grab her legs." Matt said.
I noticed the pissed off look on Daniel's face as a briefly opened my eyes. He and Ron exchanged looks and they grabbed my legs. As Ron started pouring the peroxide on my feet I screamed and started to cry. Matt held me tight. I buried my face in his chest.
"Breathe Angel. It's okay." Matt said. "Deep breaths. It will be over soon."
He cocooned his arms around me tighter holding me so I couldn't move my arms. He dropped his weight on my legs a little more felling me move under him. The burning was almost unbearable.
"That's it, I'm done with the peroxide." Ron said. "I just need to wash the dirt off and wrap them and I'm finished."
"Is it going to hurt her?" Matt asked still holding me while I cried, my feet still burning.
"No, the water may sting a little if it gets in her cuts but I plan on being very carful not to do that."
Matt let go a little and I looked up at him. He pulled his tie from my mouth. He took my face in his hands and brush his thumbs over my face smearing my tears. I closed my eyes and wrapped my arms back around him, letting my head tip down against his chest. My breathing was heavy while Ron cleaned my feet up and wrapped them with gauze.
"I'm finished. I don't want you to walk anywhere for at least a week if we can help it. Someone will have to be with you until this heals a little. I want to keep them from bleeding if we can. I want you to keep your feet dry Ana. There are a few places I had to stitch closed."
Matt climbed off me and stood next by the counter.
"So I'm going to have a babysitter because I messed my feet up." I said.
"Even if you hadn't cut your feet up, someone is still going to, as you put it, babysit you because you ran." Daniel said. "I'm going to increase the amount of security I have through the house now too. That was the only opportunity you will have to do what you did."
"I'm sorry." I said quietly looking down for a moment before looking back up at him with a sad look on my face. "I'm sorry I upset you."
"I have a video conference that I need to be on early tomorrow morning." Daniel said much calmer than I expected. "I'm going to have Ron stay with you all morning. After my meeting is finished we will discuss who gets to follow you around for the rest of the time we are here."
Daniel walked away without giving me time to respond. I looked up at Ron.
"He's really mad at me isn't he?" I asked.
"He's pretty pissed at you. Just hope it doesn't last to long. I normally watch the call in my private office so I know what Daniel and I are discussing later. It's boring business but your family will be part of it if you want to watch with me."
"I do, I want to." I said. "Can I print out my journals while we watch."
"Yes. I have a printer setup."
"Where is your office?"
"I'll show you." Ron said slipping his arms around me and lifting me up.
"Can Matt come with us?"
"I don't care. You both need to be quiet though. After I show you we all need to get some sleep."
"Is Daniel going to let me sleep in his room?" I asked.
"He would but I think it's best if you stay away until after he is finished with his meeting in the morning. It's smarter to let him cool off a bit."