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Lillian grunted in reply. “I wouldn’t go that far, but thank you. Where’s Oliver?”
“He had to go to work, and after everything that happened yesterday, he didn’t want to leave you alone. He asked me to sit with you while he’s … otherwise engaged.”
Not exactly thrilled about having a babysitter but knowing now Ronnetta could no more refuse an order from her alpha any more than she could an order from the president, Lillian forced a smile. “I appreciate it. Thank you. If it’s all the same to you, I’d like to call my boss and check in on her.”
Ronnetta rummaged through her purse. “Yeah, of course! Do you need my phone?”
Lillian shook her. “No. I had mine in my pocket last night. Thanks, though.”
She scrolled through her recent calls until she came upon Berline’s name. It rang and rang until Lillian was certain her boss wasn’t going to answer. Just before ending the call, Berline’s voice sounded through the phone.
“Hello?”
“Berline! Thank God. I’m just calling to check in on you and the gallery. I’m so sorry. Are you okay? Were you hurt?”
“No. I’m fine,” Berline said sadly. The despair in her voice resonated through the phone, and Lillian felt her heart sink a bit. “I’m just devastated over all the art lost. I have insurance so at least we don’t have to worry about that, but all the finished pieces that were up and the current projects everyone was working on are gone. Up in flames. I’m just … heartbroken.”
“Oh, Berline. I’m so sorry. I feel terrible. Is there anything I can do? Was anything salvageable?”
“Literally nothing. The entire building was devoured by the fire. And we just had eighteen hundred dollars’ worth of oil paints shipped here last week. The kicker is I had every intention of taking those paints home with me on Monday, and I thought, fuck it, I’ll just have to transport everything back here.”
Berline sighed loudly. “If I had just taken the damn paints with me, at least I would have managed to save something. I’m so pissed at myself. Isn’t that ridiculous? I’m pissed that I didn’t take those paints home.”
Lillian knew that Berline’s anger and sadness had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that she failed to transport the oil paints home on Monday. She was devastated over the loss of her gallery and all the beautiful artwork that went up in flames.
No matter how one looked at it … when a fire consumed an entire building, it was a catastrophic loss. It was traumatic.
Lillian felt so incredibly guilty that she had a hard time keeping the tears from rolling down her cheeks. If it wasn’t for her, Uziel never would have done this. While they had no proof it was him, he was the only culprit that made sense.
She knew deep in her bones that he set the fire. She had rejected him, and now he was angrier than ever. Clearly, he would stop at nothing to destroy her life and the lives of those around her.
“We can rebuild,” Lily said gently. “And I’ll help you any way I can. If you need anything at all, I’m here for you, Berline. Just let me know, or even if you want to talk. I’m so sorry. I feel just awful. This is all my fault. If it wasn’t …”
“You stop that right now,” Berline snapped. “This was not you. This was most definitely Uziel. And trust me, he’ll get what’s coming to him. Between pissing off Oliver’s sleuth and my cougar pride, it’s only a matter of time.”
The vehemence in her voice sent a shiver down Lillian’s spine. It didn’t do much to ease the guilt she felt, but it did lessen the weight on her shoulders to know that Berline didn’t blame her.
“Hopefully, we can put a stop to this soon,” Lillian said. “Until then, just be careful. And like I said, if you need anything, give me a call.”
“Will do, Lily. And you do the same. Take it easy. I’ll talk to you soon.”
The women hung up, and Lily turned to face Ronnetta. She gave Lillian a soft smile and moved her chair closer to the bed.
“The nurse was in here earlier while you were still sleeping. She said if you wanted to shower when you woke up, just press the call bell so they could take out that IV, and you’d be good to go. I did bring you clean clothes. Oliver mentioned you needed some stuff. It's mine, so it might be a little big on you, but it’s clean. Other than that, we’ll lay low and wait for Oliver to get here.”
Lillian thought a shower sounded wonderful. “That’s so thoughtful. Thank you.”
She was looking forward to washing the smell of smoke from her hair. The nurse came in to take out the IV, and before long, she was standing underneath the warm water.
She washed quickly, making sure to scrub her hair well before getting out. By the time she was back in her bed, the nurse was there with discharge papers.
“Oliver wants us to head to his place and wait for him there,” Ronnetta said.
Lillian grimaced at the prospect of being in his house without him. “I feel awkward going to his home when he’s not even there.”
Ronnetta looked slightly taken aback by her announcement. “You definitely shouldn’t feel uncomfortable. As far as Oliver is concerned, you’re his mate, and his house is your house.”
After ensuring that she had all of her belongings, Lillian followed Ronnetta to her car. Ronnetta drove the speed limit to Oliver’s house, and the women chatted about the bear sleuth. Lillian had questions, and the other woman had answers she was only too happy to provide.
