WOLF and the Runaway Heiress.

Chapter 10

RIO

I didn’t let David finish before running out of my bedroom and rushing out of the house. David was right behind me, but managed to grab my shoes and purse on the way.

I sped through the opening gates, tears blurring my vision, but I wasn’t going to slow down.

I was supposed to meet her in another hour for lunch and shopping.

She just got back this morning from an out-of-town meeting with friends. How could this be happening? My mother was in perfect health. We ran together most mornings and ate healthily.

She just had her annual checkup. Fit a whistle, she told me. I don’t get it.

“Rio, you need to slow down,” David yelled, his knuckles turned white as panic gripped the door handle and tightened the tension of his seatbelt across his waist and chest.

“Shut the f***k up, David! Don’t like my driving, jump the f***k out!” I roared back in absolute fury and fear.

I won’t slow down, not until I get to the hospital.

The only sounds that filled the car the rest of the way were David's gasps or occasional whimper when I took a turn or we swerved around potholes and in and out between slower cars.

When we arrived at the hospital, David was the first to jump out, and he dropped to the ground in relief.

Fu.cking crybaby!

I didn’t wait for David, I left my car where it was, and ran into the hospital.

The front desk receptionist watched me with wide eyes as I rushed over to her.

“Evelyn Ricard, where is she?” My words jumbled together through panic, fear and shortness of breath.

The receptionist took deep breaths as an attempt to calm me down subtly, but I didn’t give a crap about the breath techniques; I wanted my mother. Now!

“Where is my mother, dammit!” I yelled, slamming my fist onto the countertop.

Several of the waiting patients turned and looked at me because of my outbursts, but I ignored them.

“Miss, I just need you to take some deep breaths and calm down first, or I am going to have you removed from the building.”

David finally caught up. He wrapped an arm around me in an attempt to pull me away, but I shrugged him off and shot him a vicious glare.

“I want to see my mother; her name is Evelyn Ricard. Tell me where she is, or I will pull all of our f*****g funding for this hospital. Do you understand me?” I growled.

I watched the receptionist signal something to the security guards approaching me, and that was when I pulled out my phone.

I called the only person who could provide me with the information I needed.

My mother's personal assistant.

“Danny, it's Rio. I’m in the hospital, and now security is about to drag me out. They won't tell me where my mum is. Call John from the financial department and pull the funding for this place. I want every dollar donated pulled!”

The receptionist's eyes widened, and I watched her make a call on the desk phone. She raised her hand to stop the security guard and told me someone would be out to help me in a minute.

I was still on the phone with Danny, who was also apparently at the same hospital.

“Come and get me. I am at the front entrance. Call the financial department, have them pull it all.” I hung up the call.

Three security guards were surrounding me, and David was stuttering, trying to calm everyone down.

The spineless bastard didn’t even try to help me find where Mum was.

I saw Danny come running down the left corridor. He was in his typical tailored and pressed suit, his features were flawless, as always, and he was holding a folder in his hands.

“Danny,” I yelled out.

The security guards held out their hands and stopped Danny from reaching me. While they did that, I noticed a group of five businessmen approaching from the opposite side as Danny had.

“Miss Ricard,” Danny called out, but the security guards blocked his path again.

“That’s enough,” one of the businessmen called out sternly.

The guards took a step back, and Danny huffed as he walked up to me.

“Miss Ricard,” Danny started, but was cut off by the businessmen.

“Miss Ricard, my name is Alexander Marten. I am the head of this hospital and would like to personally apologize for the treatment you received here today. This must be incredibly troublesome." He extended his polished hand to me.

I didn't accept the offer. I focused solely on Danny.

“Danny, where is Mum? They wouldn’t tell me, they wouldn’t let me pass this point.” My lip trembled as I watched the emotions flash in Danny’s features.

It was bad news.

“Miss Ricard,” one of the other businessmen attempted to interject.

“Shut the f***k up, I am talking to my mother's personal assistant.” I snarled.

It felt like something was trying to tear through me. Like a caged, wounded beast was begging to be released and planned to leave nothing but absolute carn.age in our wake.

“Rio,” Danny switched approaches, and I knew what he was about to tell me. “I’m sorry, but your mother was pronounced dead on arrival.”

Everything around me was muted.

I could see the mouths of everyone around me speaking, and I could feel their eyes on me. I shrugged off anyone who reached out to touch me. Their touches irritated my skin.

I needed to shred my tainted skin. I needed to escape this twisted reality; this couldn't be real. My mother wasn’t dead.

My mother promised to always be there for me. She wouldn’t leave me.

Not now! Not ever! It was always she and I against the world, setting an example and being the voice of a new future. A better world.

How could I possibly do that without her?

There was nothing without my mother by my side.

I crumbled. I didn’t want to show weakness, but she was the foundation of everything in my world, and now she was gone? That’s what they all rushed down here to tell me?

The hospital officials came here to offer their condolences for a moment and then ask for a handout.

David crouched, wrapping his arms around me, and just something fierce came over me.

I pushed him away with more strength than I realized I contained. I could tell by his expression that David was also surprised. But I didn’t want anyone to touch me, not when I felt this exposed and raw.

Only my mum.

I looked up at Danny with blurry, tear-filled eyes. “What happened?” My voice broke like a wounded kitten.

Kitten.

That was what she always called me—her little kitten.

Danny cleared his throat, which was thick with emotion. I knew that Danny and my mum were close. He’d been her assistant for years. He was a good man. Just one of the many people to be given a second chance by the generous and kind Evelyn Ricard.

“I found her only an hour ago in her office. She was unresponsive and on the ground, around the desk. No one knew she was in there because of her position behind the desk. We never saw her come in all morning and thought maybe she had delayed her flight back from her overnight in Alberta. There was no answer when I tried to reach her throughout the morning. When paramedics came, I tried to reach you, but couldn’t get through. I called David, knowing he was at the company and could help reach you. When we arrived, they announced that she had had a heart attack hours ago; no one knew she was even there, Rio.” Danny choked on his guilt.

“I am so sorry, Rio. I wish I had gone into her office sooner.”

“If it were a heart attack this morning, it wouldn’t have helped.” One of the hospital bigwigs cut in, and I silenced him with a chilling glare.

“My mother was in perfect health. This very hospital just did her annual physical last week. Funny how she had a heart attack suddenly.” I hissed in a slow, deliberate tone.

“Miss Ricard, if you’re implying—”

I cut him off and rose to my feet. “I’m not implying anything. I am telling you that a perfectly healthy woman who just had a physical, passing it with flying colours, doesn’t randomly have heart attacks.” I turned to Danny. “I want a full examination and autopsy done. I am not buying a natural death. Something isn’t lining up with this.”

I didn’t wait for a response. I couldn’t.

I needed air, I needed to run. I needed our treehouse.

As I rushed out of the hospital, I brushed past Bree and Liam, running in to come and find me. I was sure that David would let them know what had just happened, but I also didn’t care.

I would only stop for my mother, and that was unlikely to happen. I needed to breathe, and I couldn’t do that around others.

Something in me was clawing to get out, and I was afraid my fury would sever any relationship I had left at this point.

It felt safest to be away from everyone at the moment.