SILENT DESIRES

Dash stood under the hot water and cursed until his throat was raw with it. She had been in on it all along.

This woman he had trusted and believed would make the perfect mother for his children was in reality a scheming witch who did not care how she got what she wanted so long as she got it. Where he had seen innocence, there had been deviousness.

He now saw the initial reticence she had shown to his advances as the ruthlessly manipulative tactic that it was. The classic game of playing hard to get refined to the point of deviousness. She had known he had no choice but to pursue her. Yet, she had made the pursuit difficult, knowing his male instincts to hunt would be aroused.

She had done her own part to make sure he was caught in her father’s trap. He had been right to suspect such duplicity and a fool to dismiss the possibility so easily. The knowledge he had been so used to filled him with a desire to do violence.

He hit the tiled wall of the shower with his fist, ignoring the pain that arced up his arm.

He had trusted her. He had believed she was unlike any woman he had ever known. And she was. She was a better liar. A better cheat. And better at entrapment. Many women had wanted marriage, but she had managed to secure his name on the other side of the marriage certificate. Had she begun making her plans before or after that kiss at that party?

No matter what, he was furious at his own gullibility. The pain of betrayal radiated through him and that made him even angrier. He could not feel betrayed if he had not trusted her and knowing he had trusted unwisely was a direct hit to his pride.

He had allowed himself to care for her, to believe in a future together and all the while she and her father had no doubt been laughing over how easy he had been to dupe. Damn! He had even decided not to divorce her because he was worried that he would hurt her. Her feminine arrogance knew no bounds. Telling him that it did not matter how they had come together.

Perhaps that would have been true if she had been a woman worthy of his name and not a lying manipulator. She wasn’t and the fact she had colluded with her father to blackmail him into marriage enraged Dash.

No longer would he withhold his revenge from her. She would learn right alongside her father that he was not the kind of man who would lie down to coercion. He was a man, not a fool, no matter that he’d been behaving like one for weeks.

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Matt stood listening to the doctor tell him that Savannah’s condition was indeed serious. She was on a magnesium sulfate drip to lower her blood pressure and prevent future seizures.Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

Matt dug a hand into his hair and closed his eyes. He’d done this to her. She should have been cherished and pampered. She should have been loved and cared for. She should have been waiting on hand and foot because hell, she deserved it. She had a beautiful heart. Instead she’d been forced to work a physically demanding job under unimaginable stress.. alone. All because he didn’t trust her.

And once he’d brought her back, she’d been subjected to scorn and hostility and endless emotional distress. Was it any wonder she wanted to wash her hands of him and his family?

“Will…will Savannah be alright? Will she recover from this?” he asked, dreading the answer.

He didn’t realize he held his breath until his chest began to burn. He let it out slowly and forced himself to relax his hands.

“She’s gravely ill. Her blood pressure is extremely high. She could seize again or suffer a stroke. That isn’t good for her. We’re doing everything we can to bring her blood pressure down and we’re monitoring her closely. It’s important she remains calm and not be stressed in any way. Even if we’re able to bring down her blood pressure, she should be allowed to rest.”

“I understand,” Matt said quietly. “Can I see her now?”

“You can go in but she must remain calm. Don’t do or say anything to upset her.” the doctor replied.

Matt nodded and turned to walk the few steps to Savannah’s room. He paused at the door, afraid to go in. What if his mere presence upset her?

His hand rested on the handle and he leaned forward, pressing his forehead to the surface. He closed his eyes as grief and regret-so much regret -swamped him.

Finally he opened the door and eased inside. It was dark with only a light from the bathroom to illuminate the room. Savannah lay on the bed, a vast array of medical equipment on either side of her.

He approached cautiously, not wanting to disturb or upset her. He hovered by her side, staring down at her pale face. Her eyes were closed, but her brow was creased, whether in worry or pain he wasn’t sure. Maybe both.

Her chest barely rose with the shallow breaths. Suddenly, everything that had happened caught up to him in one painful rush. Never. Never would he forget her grief-ravaged face as she bitterly told him what his brother had done to her, what she’d tried to tell him a year ago. But he hadn’t listened then. He’d been convinced she was lying.

He pulled up a chair so he could sit as close to her as possible while she slept. Tentatively, he slid his fingers underneath the hand that didn’t have an IV attached and he brought it to his lips, holding it against his mouth.

“I’m sorry, Savvie,” he said brokenly. “I’m so damn sorry.”

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“Matt. Matt, man, wake up.”

The whisper stirred Matt and he opened his eyes and groaned at the monster crick in his neck. Daylight streamed through the blinds on the window and he winced.

His gaze first found Savannah, who was still sleeping, her cheek resting on the mound of pillows. Her bed was elevated slightly so she wasn’t lying flat and some time recently her IV bag had been replaced because it was now full.

Then he turned, his hand going to rub the kinks in his neck. Dash was standing next to the chair Matt had slept in, his eyes dark with concern.

“What the hell happened?” Dash said in a low voice.