Authors note: Hello, everyone. For those that dare to read my rambling words, I hope you enjoy the Final instalment of the Patchwork Princess. As always, if you enjoy it, please comment and vote. If you hate it, please do neither, ~ellie.
Patchwork Princess 4.
The devastation Holly had felt in watching her business be destroyed, albeit at the rear of the building they had cleaned out of anything important earlier, was just as heart-rending as if she had truly lost everything. The news the following morning showed the fire service and police bathed in the red and blue lights from their vehicles as they sorted through the charred wreckage after the explosion and fire. She'd fought so hard to make a new life for herself, and now these women were trying to take it away because of the revenge Teddy had taken on her behalf.
Over a week later, it was still difficult to say how she felt. She was angry at the situation and unable to do anything but sit and wait. It was hard to be mad at Teddy, who had reacted out of grief. She could even see that grief drove the woman making her life hell. The difference was that Teddy acted when his grief was raw and clouding his judgement. These women had planned their revenge and were calculating and manipulative in their attempts to threaten and scare her. Still, she felt sorry for them rather than angry because she knew now that threatening one of the Steel Heart Brotherhood meant a world of pain for whoever was stupid enough to do it, not that the women would have known that was where their plans would have taken them.
"What the hell?" she asked the empty room as there was a loud banging on her door before it was pushed open from the corridor.
"Seems you had a visitor who didn't want to be announced and made their way up the fire escape," Declan, one of the men assigned to watch her apartment, announced as he pushed the middle-aged woman into the room.
"Magda?" she asked, not truly surprised by the woman's appearance but by the anger she saw in Declan's face and the two men who followed him inside.
"Teddy is on his way back now with Beau and Saxon. The exterior is on lockdown, and the rest of the crew are on alert for anyone who may have been watching her back," Aggro, another of the men with Declan, reported.
"Magda, come on in and sit down. I'm sure this has just been a misunderstanding. People are a bit on edge since the accident at the shop, so finding someone not checking in at the front desk can make my guard dogs worried," Holly soothed gently, leading the older woman to a couch. "Their bark is much worse than their bite, honestly. Would you like a glass of water? You look a bit pale," she offered.
"Thank you, Holly. I was so worried when I saw what happened to your shop, and then I couldn't get hold of you or Carter, so I came to see if you were alright and not working late that night. I would never forgive myself if you got hurt so badly again," Magda rambled. Her eyes darted worried looks at the men who had spread out around the room, leaving only one to guard the door and prevent her escape.
"Again?" Holly asked, her hackles raising as she realised once and for all that Teddy and his brothers were right and she was part of a group trying to scare her or worse.
"You were hurt a long time ago. I think Carter mentioned something about terrible scars when you refused to try something I had brought especially for you to wear," she waved her hand as if dismissing the idea.
"You need to try again because my best friends don't even know about that," Holly said in almost a whisper. She stood and moved away from the woman, a look of horror on her face.
"No, you don't understand," Magda started to get up and follow Holly, but a large hand landed on her shoulder, frightening her enough to scream and make Holly flee to the kitchen to catch her breath.
"Here," Declan said, handing her his phone.
"Holly? Talk to me, baby, please," Teddy said in an anguished tone. "You are safe, and you are loved. That witch is the one who is not safe there, so fuck her and the broom she rode in on!"
"I'm okay," Holly said with a soft laugh. "She just ...." She paused, considering the conversation. "She seemed upset that I might have been hurt again. Again! That was what she said like she was there the first time."
"Fuck! We are about five minutes from your building. Let the guys handle her until we get there. Please don't talk to her again. I'll get them to take her across the hall," Teddy said, sounding frustrated.
"Gotta keep them apart," Beau's deep voice sounded from near Teddy.
"No, don't. I'm fine now," Holly breathed. "Besides, she might let something slip if I feed into her concern. I'm okay now that I have heard your voice, and know that you'll be here in a few minutes anyway."
"Okay, give Declan back the phone," he said with a large breath, half sighing and half frustrated.
"I love you," Holly whispered to reassure him. Then she handed back the phone and poured a glass of water for Magda and one for herself.
"I'm sorry about that," she announced as she walked back into the living room, placing the glass of water in front of the woman and taking a seat a little further away so there would be no chance for low-voiced conversations that the men in the room wouldn't hear.
"Thank you," she said, leaning forward slightly to take the glass and sip at it.
"The torture and subsequent medical procedures that were almost as bad still affect every moment of my life. The scars pull and twist when I move; while the pain is bad, it's not as bad as it used to be," she said, exaggerating her suffering a little. "Still, I'm lucky to be alive, so I shouldn't be so sensitive about it when it happened so long ago, and so many weren't as lucky as me."
"Torture? Come now, you expect me to believe a sweet girl like you was tortured?" she gave a brittle half-laugh.
"Oh, so you don't know the whole story?" Holly tilted her head and narrowed her eyes. "It's too late now to play innocent. That bomb was delivered with your order. You had my number to send me those threats, I don't know that I can prove the package containing the doll was you, but you're about the right build for the person we got on the camera feed."
"Ah, not so sweet after all," she shrugged. "None of those things was my doing, but I will admit that I knew about them and did not lift a hand to stop them. However, I was concerned when I thought you had been injured in the blast. Not that you believe that, and I expect my life is forfeit now anyway."
"Then why come here, now? Just to taunt me one last time?" Holly accused.
