After two hours, another cup of coffee, her back starting to ache, and her eyes burning with exhaustion, Amberleigh dropped the witness statements from those other employees in the La Riviera the night Adam died. She leaned back with a groan, trying to work out the aches in her exhausted frame. This immediately caught Grayson’s attention and pulled him back to the den. They’d barely spoken to each other in a while as they’d fully immersed themselves in the task. Neither of them had been able to open the photos of the accident scene. And she hadn’t found anything else that screamed cover up either.“I’d say it’s time we call it quits for the morning,” said Grayson glancing at his watch, “we’re supposed to have Leo at Doc Corbin’s in four hours.”“I’m guessing you didn’t find anything else, or you would have told me.”She yawned and his brow furrowed.“That’s it. Get to bed and no fucking excuses. We can pick this up tomorrow evening after you’ve had some proper rest.”Grayson set his o
Amberleigh felt like an awful person after she’d gotten off to her ex-lover then laid down and cuddled with her current boyfriend. Even worse, she slept like a baby afterwards until Grayson roused them around six am. They had to get their asses in gear to get ready and make the thirty minute drive to The Fringe. Leo looked well refreshed with a good morning smile, while Grayson appeared as though he hadn’t gone to bed at all, and Amber was fucking hating life.Grayson offered to accompany Leo to his procedure and allow Amber to stay behind to catch up on her sleep. The look she gave the billionaire made him not bring it up again and hand her a cup of coffee. It seemed both of them would be relying on the caffeine to get them through the morning. Leo was in a good mood, especially for someone about to be sedated, sewn together, and for someone not allowed to eat or drink anything.Neither Amber or Grayson liked the way Leo winced and tensed after a night of no pain meds in his syst
Grayson had rented a grey Toyota Corolla to drive to The Fringe. It was nearly comical to Amberleigh that the fourth richest person in the city was driving a car more typical for college students, as he seemed to belong behind the wheel of a car with a six-figure price tag. Amber didn’t have a license nor own a car. In this city with its plethora of transport options, she’d never needed to learn. One night when Jackson had been drunk and forgotten his own rules of never allowing anyone to drive his Porsche, he’d let Amber take it for a spin in a deserted lot down by the docks. That was her crash course in driver’s ed. Jack had passed out drunk in the lot after they had sex in his Porsche.Amber had worried that Jack obviously wasn’t safe to drive himself home that night nor did she know who to call on his behalf. She convinced her foster sister Rachel to come down to the docks and drive Jackson’s drunk ass home. Rachel was a year older than Amber and newly licensed. She’d been a nervo
The Doc and Cori were all set up and waiting for them. Cori launched into standard questions about when the last time Leo had something to eat or drink, before Doc went over today’s procedure with them.“So, the plan today is to give Mr. Clemonte an IV sedative. Then numb his abdomen with local anesthetics. We’ll pull the drain, clean out the wound thoroughly, then close it with staples. Give him a dose of IV antibiotics. We’ll watch him for a few hours after.”“Will he need a breathing tube again?” asked Grayson.“No. We hope to avoid that. It’s a conscious sedation which won’t inhibit his ability to breathe on his own.”“And he won’t feel anything?” asked Amber.“He’ll likely sleep through the procedure,” said Cori.“Good. And I’m assuming you have all the necessary equipment in place should any complications arise?” asked Grayson.Leo put a hand on his tense friend’s shoulder.“Just let them do their job. I’m confident they have it handled G-Man. Would you like to wait in the other
Leo started to come around within the hour, but the chef was as high as a kite and loopy as fuck. Upon immediately waking, he decided he was now the world’s best free style rap artist and gave them all quite the entertainment. Amberleigh especially loved the rap he wrote just for her.“Girl your body is banging. You’re hot too. I wanna put my baby in you. Drive you down to Malibu.”Amber kissed him and laughed, “It’s nice to see you feeling good babe.”“How did I land you? For real though. Girl, you’re so much hotter than me.”“I guess you’re just lucky,” teased Amber.“Fo’ sure. Imma lucky bastard.”Grayson snorted, “Who has magically awaken with an accent you didn’t have before. How are you feeling Leo?”Leo grinned, “Like a million fucking bucks bro. Hey, don’t worry L-Dawg’s got a rap for his boy too. Imma hit you with it now. G-Man rich as shit. But that ain’t the half of it. He’s got a mean ride and a banging crib. I’m a freeloadin’ off him. Sucks ass at fightin’. But he’s my bo
Grayson and Amberleigh somehow managed to get Leo’s ass into his bed. As Amber was pulling his covers up, he grabbed her hand and kissed it.“Girl, I know you too fine for me. But I need to put a ring on it before someone else does. Will you marry me?”Grayson sighed behind her and Amber smiled down at her chef.“Aw, I love you too babe. But remember when doctor lady gave us instructions that included not making any important decisions for the next 24 hours following anesthesia? I think this counts as an important decision.”“I don’t need to think about this one. I love you Amberleigh and I want to marry you girl. Just say yes and I’ll get you a fat rock.”She kissed him on the cheek, “Take a nap and when you get up, I’ll give you my answer.”He grinned widely, “Ok girl. Holla at you later.”“You do that babe.”Amber turned away from Leo’s bed. She wondered if he meant it. If he was really ready to propose to her or if it was just the drugs talking? But more importantly would she
Amberleigh was honest to God surprised she pulled off preparing the lunch without burning anything. She’d exaggerated her solo skills in the kitchen to say the least, always having her favorite teacher by her side in the past while preparing the cuisines. Her favorite chef was currently sleeping off the good meds while Amber turned on some tunes and danced her way around the kitchen as she made the magic happen.Amber heard the doorbell ring just as she was turning off the burner beneath her one skillet chicken. It looked amazing and smelled divine if she did say so herself. No one needed to know she’d sampled the chocolate soufflé more than once or that her avocado salad looked enticing even to herself and she usually had an aversion to green leafy things. She’d fucking outdone herself as she started dishing out the salads, her hips swaying in time to the beat.She heard someone clear their throat and she turned to see Grayson with a bemused expression.“Getting an early start on you
Karim watched Leo’s naked rap concert with an amused expression while he sipped his red wine. Elton had no fucks to give about the situation as he meticulously folded a dinner napkin and rearranged his place setting. Grayson set the tray of food down on the table, still flushed and speechless. Amberleigh walked around to the table to where Leo was using a thin crystal vase like a microphone. He gave her a big grin and stopped mid-rap.“Hey girl! This next one goes out to you!”Amber smiled back, “Hey babe, whatcha doing?”“He’s feeling good,” said Karim, “I’ll take some of whatever my man Leo had.”“What’s the thread count in these napkins?” asked Elton, “I doubt these were made in an environmentally conscious factory. All the materials are likely not biodegradable either.”Amber ignored Elton and gave Leo a patient smile.“Babe, why are you not wearing any clothes?”“I got hot,” he said nonchalantly like it was a perfectly reasonable explanation.Grayson rubbed his fingertips over hi