THE RETURN OF THE HIDDEN HEIR

Chapter 002: Mistaken Enemy

The first thing Ivy Lorenzo felt was the terrible pounding in her head.

She groaned, forcing her eyes open. Sunlight streamed through tall curtains, spilling across an unfamiliar wooden ceiling. She could perceive the strong scent of antiseptic and clean linen as it filled the air.

'Where the hell am I?' she reasoned as she sat up slowly. Then she felt a terrible pain that caused her to wince loudly.

Calming herself down, she looked around once more, noting this time the disheveled clothes scattered on the floor.

She peered closely, her heart lurching as she identified them–her torn blouse, skirt, and a pile of bandages on the chair nearby.

"Something isn't right here," she muttered to herself, a sick fear clawing up her chest. She yanked the covers on her back–and froze.

Completely naked!

She wore nothing, her body marked with faint red welts and the sting of healing salve. Just then, she felt a sharp pain shoot up between her thighs, one that she hadn't felt before, not even during her periods.

Her pulse hammered as a thousand thoughts collided in her mind at a time.

"No...no, this can't be..."

She wasn't the brightest of brains, but she needed no convincing that she had somehow been...violated.

But how could she–the proud eldest daughter of the renowned Lorenzo family be brought to such ridicule and shame? Who could have done this?

The door creaked open.

A tall young man stepped in, a tray balanced in one hand. He looked calm, collected, and almost detached.

The very next second, a glass flew past his head and shattered against the wall.

"You–outrageous pervert!" Ivy's voice cracked. "What did you do to me?"

He didn't even flinch. "You're awake," he said simply, then proceeded to drop the tray on the table close to the door.

"Don't you dare talk to me like that! You touched me–violated me–and I'll sure have your ass in prison before the day's over!"

She snatched her phone from the bedside table with shaky hands.

Derrick sighed, picking up a broken needle and discarding it. "Think carefully before you call anyone, Miss Cameron. If it weren't for me, you'd be lying dead and used in that forest."

Her thumb hovered over the call icon. His words caused her to pause–but only for a heartbeat.

"Nice try," she spat. "Do you really expect me to believe that crap?"

Derrick's jaw tightened. She was clearly frantic and disoriented. A person in that state could surely jeopardize his mission in the city with a single wrong move.

He lifted his hands slightly in a very calm gesture. "Ivy, listen–"

"Stay away from me!"

He exhaled sharply. "I need you to put the phone down," he said slowly, carefully.

She chuckled bitterly. "Oh yeah? Well, good luck telling that to the cops!"

He cursed under his breath and instantly crossed the space between them in two long strides. Before she could react, he caught her wrist and pinned her back firmly against the mattress. Her phone slipped from her fingers and rolled with a dull thud to the floor.

Due to Derrick's sensitive identity, Mr. Rowan had warned him earlier to act discreetly when he was away from the mountain, and getting into legal trouble wasn't part of being discreet in any way.

"Now listen to me," he said, his voice quite low and deep. "Five men ambushed you near the valley road. They injected you with something–some kind of narcotic. I fought them well off, and you were unconscious when I brought you here."

"Lies!"

"Scar across the leader's cheek," he said evenly. "One of them wore a thorn green jacket. Another had a serpent tattoo running up his neck. Don't you remember?"

There was silence, then she looked away from his face.

Taking a deep breath, he let go of her hands. "I... you've got to understand that I–"

"You touched me!"

"It was an emergency," Derrick explained, his voice still calm, but firmer now. "Your pulse was unstable, and your breathing was collapsing. I didn't have time to call a medic or drag you through the unforgiving forest, and if I waited for another method, I'm pretty sure you wouldn't be sitting here arguing with me. I did what I had to do so you'd live."

This made sense to her, and she remembered flashes of her encounter with those guys. So she could tell that his description of them were accurate, and it could mean that he saved her life too.

Her defiance wavered, the fury in her eyes dimming into shock, then confusion. "You're... you're telling the truth?"

"I have no reason to lie. Not anymore at least," Derrick said, stepping back. "I've told the shameful part already."

Heat flared in Ivy's cheeks–part humiliation, part shame. She turned her face away, muttering. "You could have helped without touching me. And I didn't ask for your help in the first place."

"You're right," he said quietly, "and I'm willing to take full responsibility for my actions."

He reached into his coat just as Ivy turned back to face him. Bringing out a card, he placed it beside her.

"I'm new here in New York City, and there are matters I need to settle urgently. However, I must make up for...taking advantage of you. Now if you happen to run into trouble, contact my deputy. He'll handle everything."

She blinked, reading the name printed in silver.

'Dominic Santiago–Executive Director, Blacksite Ops. '

Her eyes instantly went wide. "You expect me to believe this? We all know Dominic Santiago, and he surely doesn't take orders from some black–alley drifter who lacks self control!"

Derrick scoffed, folding his hand and looking down at her. "You know him?"

"Well, everyone in the city does. I mean, even my grandfather–the great Lorenzo, might not have the status to associate with Santiago. And you here, no matter how good you are in fighting off five men in the forest, there's still not even an ounce of chance that you personally know someone of that status."

"Don't think–"

"Hey, I'll tell you what I think," she interrupted, getting up on her feet and using the bed cover to wrap herself as she continued, "what I think, is that you're putting on bleeding airs. A typical conman. Gosh!"

With that, she tossed the card into the nearby trash and turned around. "I'm leaving!"

Still stunned at this, Derrick watched as Ivy put on whatever was left of her clothes on the floor, and left.

"Bloody–"

"And one more thing," she interrupted as she stepped back into the room. Her expression was way darker this time, her eyes deeply conveying threats even before she voiced out. "If you dared to speak a word about what happened between us to any soul–living or dead, you'd dearly pay for it."

With that, she dashed out, leaving Derrick totally speechless.