Chapter Eight

William Caddel

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“I don’t think the wheelchair is necessary.”

“Shut up,” I said easily. Her knee was hurting badly and she was limping. If the wheelchair wasn’t present, she’d have to lean on me and I didn’t want her to touch me.

She remained quiet as I rolled her wheelchair out of the hospital. When we got to my car, I stared at her and she stared back at me. I exhaled. I guess I’d have to touch her anyway?

However, before I could carry her out of the chair and into the car, she held onto the side of the car and stood up by herself. I breathed in relief as she closed the door after entering the car. It wasn’t like she repulsed me or anything. I just couldn’t afford physical contact with her. It was dangerous for me.

As I rounded the car to enter from the other door, my driver came out to take the wheelchair back in.

“No offense but, you’re pretty rude, you know that, right?” She asked while we waited for George to come back.

“If you think it’s going to be offensive, then it’s best not to say it, don’t you think?” I never understood why people did that. If they wanted to say something offensive, they should say it straight up and own up to it.

She stared at me for a few seconds and looked away, shaking her head. I held back a smile at that action, knowing she had more to say but was keeping it to herself.

George came back and started driving and she was still quiet. It sounded quite weird but I wanted to keep hearing her speak. I sneaked a glance at her. “You haven’t contacted me yet.”

Eliana visibly winced. “I promise I’m not trying to run away. I’m just trying to find an apartment, settle down, and see what I’ll have left.”

I was intrigued by that information. “You’re currently homeless?”

For a second, she merely stared at me like she couldn’t believe I just said that. I didn’t mean it in a bad way though. I just wanted to know what the situation with her was. “I’m staying with a friend, so yes. Emily is going to show me a few more apartments tomorrow, so we’ll see.”

I made eye contact with my driver through the rearview mirror and he nodded subtly, getting the hint to find who Emily was and contact her. Since the problem with the apartment was now solved, I wanted to know what else was bothering her, but I couldn’t ask her directly. I was still a stranger to her after all and she wouldn’t spill her guts to me.

Fuck, this was so hard.

“What happened to you by the way? What were you doing there?”

She bit down on her bottom lip as though she didn’t want to relive the memory, but the action had me looking ahead. I was supposed to be at work at the moment yet there I was, acting like a chauffeur for a woman.

“I went for an interview but my bag got stolen.”

I felt the hairs on my arm raise in alarm. “They injured you?”

“No, I was just running after them and fell down. Bad idea, I know.”

“It’s never a bad idea to fight for what belongs to you. I’d never judge you for that.”

“Oh.” She said quietly, leaving us in an awkward silence.

I hated this. I hated how I was acting. After years of being in business and talking to various clients, I’d never been awkward in front of anyone, but I just didn’t know what to say to this woman. The things that came out of my mouth sounded very rude to her and when I did try to be nice, it made things weird.

I rested my head back and took a deep breath. I was just going to stop trying. Silence wasn’t so bad after all. I was going to see her again anyway.

The rest of the ride to her friend’s apartment was silent. The only time she spoke was when she was thanking me as she got out of the car. I offered to help her but she politely refused and limped into the apartment building.

“I texted Duke to find Emily. What apartment should we get for her?”

I stared at him blankly.

He smiled sheepishly. “Got it.”

Duke was my assistant while George was my driver, but they were the closest friends I had. George wasn’t around much because I loved driving, but I paid him biweekly anyway.

“Don’t you think you’re doing too much for a woman that only knows your name?” He asked as he started driving to the company. We had done a little detour because of Eliana but I had work to do at the end of the day.

“I pay you to keep your mouth out of my business.”

“That’s pretty hard since you involve me in everything that concerns you.” He shrugged. “If someone was all over my daughter the same way you’re hovering around her, I’d be very worried.”

I scowled at him. “I don’t intend to harm her.”

“She doesn’t know that.”

“She doesn’t know anything.” I countered.

“Exactly.”

I gritted my teeth, not replying to him, knowing he was only trying to get a rise out of me, and it was so damn easy for him to irritate me.

I didn’t blame him though. He was very protective of his daughter, like any other father. He had gotten a woman pregnant a few years back. Now, he had a seven-year-old at home that he took care of by himself because her mother abandoned her and ran off. She had a nanny but he was very much present in her life and I was proud of him for that.

I was also very protective of his daughter and would never let anyone harm her, but that had nothing to do with Eliana. It was a different case and again, I had no intention of doing anything bad to Eliana. I just happened to… run into her several times.

George and I attended college together. He wasn’t just my driver. He was also an artist and had a few famous works. I was certain he enjoyed driving me just so he could know what I was up to. Also, it gave him something to do when he wasn’t holed up in his studio with his clothes downed in paint.

Duke, on the other hand, was still young. He was nine years younger than us and started working as my assistant as soon as he was done with college and I took over as CEO of Cadd Medicals. I had offered him a promotion a few times but he declined because he was happy where he was at. For some reason, he wanted to remain my assistant and I didn’t mind because he was very capable.

“You talk too much,” I told him as he pulled over in the underground parking lot. “Just learn to keep your mouth shut when she’s around and we won’t have problems.”

“Sir, yes sir.” He mocked.

I shook my head with a sigh. Hopefully, he kept his mouth shut. I didn’t need him ruining my plans before they even began to unfold.