"Yes," the nurse readily agreed, her eyes gleaming appreciatively at the handsome young man. "You are right. You have a handsome boyfriend."
Giulia tried to shake her head and winced at the accompanying pain.
She wanted to scream at the nurse and tell her that she had made a huge mistake.
Even in a fantasy world, Beau would never be with a girl like her.
Unlike Finn, who seemed fun, warm, and humble. Despite finding out he was actually just scum, he at least pretended to be kind. Beau had no qualms about being looked at as the villain.
He was an ice prince who believed he was too good for the ground everyone walked on and would not hesitate to remind everyone that he was better than them.
He seriously rubbed Giulia the wrong way, and the only reason she stayed was her admiration for the work being done there.
Everyone who worked around or with Beau knew he could not stand women who tried to cling to him. There were even stories of how he had treated the women brave enough to profess their love for him, leaving them crying and humiliated.
'Welp! I guess that's goodbye to my job then.'
Sadness rose, clashing with the intoxication from the drugs, and she sighed.
'Just as I had started to really enjoy my life here.' She thought wistfully and stared at Beau's closed-off face while wondering why he had spent the entire night by her side. He even caused the nurse to think he was her boyfriend.
She couldn't help wondering if he'd only stayed out of guilt. The accident had happened at the office, after all.
'He's probably worried about a personal injury lawsuit that can be filed against his precious company.' Giulia eyed him speculatively.
"Is she... fully awake?" Finn asked, his voice gravelly. He didn't look at Giulia. He looked at the nurse.
"Awake and quite chatty!" the nurse chirped, patting Giulia's arm. "In a minute, I will go get the discharge papers started, since her 'hero' is back to look after her."
The nurse went on adjusting the IV, seeming not to sense the tension in the room while Beau gingerly walked towards the bed, as if approaching what might be a venomous creature.
"So, there are no problems?" His gaze flickered everywhere but Giulia's face. "I mean, is her head okay?"
The nurse smiled at Beau's concern.
"The doctor said she might experience temporary amnesia," she explained and added. "But it is nothing to be concerned about."
She looked from Giulia's loopy smile to Beau's confused face.
"She called me her boyfriend," Beau said softly, almost too softly to be heard.
He drew closer to her and bent low as if to take a better look at Giulia.
"Miss Cabot," Beau ordered carefully. "Look at me."
She could not.
To her astonishment, Giulia felt his finger lift her chin so that he could look at her. They stayed in that position, noses almost touching, when suddenly the door opened, and Finn walked in. Behind him trailed Abby, Giulia's only friend in Lumia.
Everyone froze at the scene in the room.
Finn's eyes flicked to Giulia and Beau's positions, then they hardened.
"What is happening here?" He demanded.
"She seems to have some form of temporary amnesia," Beau explained calmly and straightened up.
Finn's gaze darted between Giulia and Beau. His jaw tightened for a split second.
Then, unexpectedly, the tension melted into something else. A slow, calculating smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.
"Fortunately, it is only temporary," the nurse said, nodding. "It will last for a couple of weeks at most."
"Well, I'll leave you all to it then," the nurse said, her eyes darting between the tense figures in the room. "Buzz if you need anything."
The door clicked shut behind her, and the silence that followed was suffocating.
At the sight of Abby moving closer to Finn and curling her hand possessively around his arm, a thousand questions rushed through Giulia's head, but she kept her face carefully blank.
"So," Finn leaned closer to her. "Do you know who I am?"
"No, am I supposed to know who you are?" Giulia was curious to see what her answer would lead to.
Finn looked satisfied with her answer before he straightened up with a gleam in his eyes. He glanced at his brother, then at Giulia before saying.
"I am your boyfriend's brother." Then he pulled Abby closer and kissed her while his eyes remained on Giulia as he waited for her to throw a fit.
The quick, possessive press of lips sent Giulia reeling, and she barely managed to keep her cool.
'This cheating bastard,' she mused.
For some reason, she felt no ache at Finn's betrayal. If anything, she felt relieved.
While disgusted at how he was behaving, she was glad to be rid of him. It was even better that he was the one causing the problem.
As Giulia watched Finn and Abby being affectionate, she wondered if it was some twisted little game that Finn and Abby had been playing all the while.
When she remembered that Abby had only become friends with her shortly after Finn displayed an interest in her, Giulia wanted to smack her own head for being so oblivious.
A glance to the side reminded Giulia of Beau's presence, and a mischievous thought crawled into her head.
She almost smiled.
"Giulia, sweetie, you remember me, don't you?" Abby rushed to the bedside, her eyes wide and innocent, a performance that made Giulia's stomach turn.
"I am sorry that Finn and I took so long, but he insisted on staying with me." She paused, then added with a sly smile, 'You know how he gets when he hasn't had enough sleep.'"
Then she straightened up abruptly, her eyes going wide as she covered her mouth.
"Oops, you wouldn't know, since he isn't your boyfriend but mine."
Abby continued, "But I'm sure you did not miss us at all, seeing as Beau spent the whole night beside you."
"Devoted as always," Abby said, turning to Beau. "Brother-in-law…"
"Enough!" Beau ground out, and the room became quiet. Abby nervously inched closer to Finn.
Then Giulia broke this silence with her words.
"So this is my boyfriend?" she asked.
Beau, his face darkened, took a step towards his brother. "Finn, what is the meaning of…"
Finn grabbed Beau by the arm and looked at Giulia with fake concern.
"You are going to break our heart, Giulia," he said, his voice dripping with false sympathy.
"You have been with Beau for about two years. We are even just waiting for wedding bells, but all it takes to forget him is a little fall?"
Giulia waited for Beau to say something, to refute their lies and reject her, but he remained silent. Seemingly agreeing with his brother's scheme.
The silence stretched, and with it, her frustration grew.
Fine. If they wanted to play games, she'd give them a show
"Don't you love me anymore?" she suddenly started to wail, then she threw herself in Beau's arms.
She braced for his next actions, expecting him to shrug her off, to push her away with cold disdain.
But instead, his arms came around her. Gently. Warmly. He held her close, one hand stroking her hair as he tilted her neck so she could look up at him.
"Give me a moment, okay?" he said gently. "I want to speak to my brother."
Then he pressed a tender kiss to her head, and Giulia completely forgot how to breathe.
He was holding her like she was the most precious thing in the world. Beau Orsini did not pet women.
He did not even let them come anywhere near him.
She watched as he straightened up and turned to Finn, whose expression was a grimace masquerading as a smile.
"Outside. Now," Beau ordered.
The door slammed shut behind them, and the silence that followed was deafening.
Giulia was left alone with Abby.
And Abby was smiling, the innocent expression now wiped off her face and replaced with a venomous one.
"So," she said softly. "Are you going to keep pretending you don't remember?"
Giulia's blood ran cold.