Chapter 48 #48
Chapter 48
~Dwayne~
I couldn't sleep.
Again.
For the third night in a row, I found myself standing at my bedroom window, staring out at the darkened grounds of the Belmar manor, my mind refusing to shut off.
Pregnant.
The words haunted me, that baby could be mine.
My brother's wife was carrying a child that might be mine, and I had no way of knowing for certain without exposing everything.
I pressed my forehead against the cool glass, exhaling slowly.
"Fuck," I muttered into the darkness.
The worst part wasn't even the uncertainty about paternity. It was watching Dante touch her. Watching him play the devoted husband while I knew what kind of man he really was. But, these days I've been questioning, I see the gaze of love in his eyes for her.
There might be a big problem. Not that there wasn't before.
But he's crazy. The way he controlled her movements, monitored her interactions, isolated her from anyone who might tell her the truth. The way he'd manipulated her amnesia to rewrite their entire relationship history.
And she believed him. Every word. Every lie.
Because she couldn't remember what he'd done to her.
My hands clenched into fists.
I wanted to tell her. God, how I wanted to tell her everything. About the mask party, about us, about what we'd shared that night. About how I'd been searching for her ever since, not knowing she was right in front of me the whole time.
But how could I?
"Hey, by the way, your husband is a manipulative abuser, I slept with you six weeks ago when neither of us knew who the other was, and that baby you're carrying might actually be mine."
Yeah, that would go over well.
Even if she gets her memory back now. Does she even like me?
I turned away from the window, running both hands through my hair in frustration.
The project wasn't helping my mental state either. I'd been working around the clock on X-Intel, pushing myself harder than I'd pushed in years. The model was good, revolutionary, even. But knowing Dante, he'd find some way to sabotage it or steal credit or pull some underhanded move at the last second.
He always did.
My phone buzzed on the nightstand. A text from my assistant: The morning meeting with board members moved to 9 AM. Patterson partnership discussion.
Right. Jack Patterson. The smooth-talking businessman who'd shown up yesterday with his carefully calculated smile and assessing eyes.
Something about that man set my teeth on edge.
The way he'd looked at Shailyn in the break room, like he was cataloging information, filing her away for future use. The way his entire demeanor had shifted when he'd learned she was married to Dante.
I made a mental note to have someone run a deeper background check on Patterson and his company. If he was here to partner with SentientIQ, I wanted to know everything about him.
…
Morning came too quickly.
I dragged myself out of bed, showered, dressed in one of my usual suits. By the time I made it downstairs, the manor was already alive with activity.
And father was at the head of the table, looking better than he had right after his fall but still moving carefully. He hasn't resumed work yet so he doesn't know about Patterson.
"Morning, Father," I said, pouring myself coffee from the sideboard.
"Morning. Going somewhere?” He looked up with a smile.
"Board meeting at nine," I explained, taking the seat to his left. "A man named Patterson came for a partnership discussion."
Father's expression shifted slightly. "Oh great. What's your read on him?"
I considered my words carefully. "Professional. Prepared. But something feels calculated. Like every word out of his mouth has been rehearsed."
"Most successful businessmen are calculated," Tyler pointed out. "Doesn't necessarily mean he's untrustworthy."
"No," I agreed. "But it means we should be careful."
Father nodded thoughtfully.
Footsteps on the stairs made us both look up.
Shailyn appeared in the doorway, and my breath caught despite myself.
She was wearing a simple green dress that hugged her curves perfectly, her dark hair pulled back in a loose ponytail. She looked tired, dark circles under her eyes suggesting she hadn't slept well either, but still beautiful.
Always so goddamn beautiful.
"Good morning," she said softly, her eyes moving between father and me.
"Morning, dear," Tyler said warmly. "How are you feeling? How's the baby?"
A small smile touched her lips, her hand moving unconsciously to her stomach. "We're good. Just tired."
"Sit, sit," Tyler insisted, gesturing to the empty chair. "Have breakfast. You need to keep your strength up."
She moved to sit, and I found myself standing automatically, pulling out the chair for her.
"Thank you, Dwayne," she said, looking up at me with those eyes that made my chest ache.
"Of course."
Our fingers brushed as she settled into the seat, and I felt that familiar electric charge run through me. The same charge I'd felt that night at the club, when I'd touched her without knowing who she was.
She felt it too. I could see it in the way her breath hitched, the slight widening of her eyes.
But then she looked away quickly, and the moment passed.
I returned to my seat, hyper-aware of her presence just a few feet away. The light floral scent of her perfume. The way she moved her hands when she talked. The soft sound of her breathing.
Everything about her called to me.
Mine, something primal inside me insisted. She's mine.
….
Later in the evening,
I was passing through Dante and Shailyn's room when I overheard the conversation between Dante and Shailyn.
“This is great baby. I'm surely going to win this project. I mean we are a team after all and you've helped me work out the project.” Dante said
What? I was shocked.
Shailyn was brilliant, I'd always known that. Her mind was extraordinary. And Dante was using her, exploiting her talent and amnesia to advance his own position.
"We're a team," Shailyn said simply, and the word made me want to punch something.
Team. As if Dante saw her as anything but a tool to be used.
God what do I do? I need to help Shailyn. She needs to get her memory back.
I went back to my room and the thought didn't allow me to sleep. But I forced myself to because of the meeting tomorrow.
….
The next morning, I went to the company early. The board meeting started promptly at nine.
I arrived to find Dante already there, looking smug in his designer suit. Jack Patterson sat at the other end of the conference table, flanked by his two assistants.
The meeting proceeded as expected. Patterson gave a polished presentation about his company's AI applications in healthcare, proposing a partnership that would integrate SentientIQ's technology into medical diagnostic systems.
On paper, it sounded promising. In practice, something about it felt wrong.
"The profit margins you're projecting seem optimistic," I said when Patterson finished. "Based on current market analysis, I'd estimate at least fifteen percent lower returns in the first two years."
Patterson's smile never wavered. "Perhaps with traditional approaches. But we have... unique methods for market penetration."
"Unique how?"
"Proprietary strategies," he said smoothly. "Trade secrets, you understand."
Translation: he didn't want to explain them.
Red flag.
"I'd like to see detailed projections before we commit to anything," I said firmly.
"Of course," Patterson agreed easily. Too easily. "I'll have my team prepare comprehensive documentation."
The meeting adjourned after two hours. As everyone filed out.
I was heading back to my office when I heard footsteps behind me.
"Mr. Belmar. Dwayne."
I turned to find Patterson approaching, alone this time.
"Can I help you with something?"
"Actually, I was hoping we could chat," Patterson said. "Executive to executive. Off the record."
Every instinct I had screamed warning. "About?"
"The future of SentientIQ," he said. "And the... interesting family dynamics at play."
"I'm not sure what you mean."
Patterson's smile widened. "Come now. It's obvious there's tension between you and your brother. Competition for the chairman position. And then there's Mrs. Belmar. She's quite remarkable, isn't she?"
My hands clenched at my sides. "That's none of your concern."
"Isn't it?" Patterson stepped closer, lowering his voice. "When I'm considering partnering with a company, I need to understand all the power dynamics. And from what I can see, there's quite a bit going on beneath the surface here."
"If you have concerns about SentientIQ's leadership structure, take them to my father," I said coldly.
"Oh, I will," Patterson assured me and smirked darkly.
"But Dwayne? A word of advice. Sometimes the best way to win is to let your opponent destroy himself."
He walked away before I could respond, leaving me standing in the hallway with a sick feeling in my gut.
Who the hell was Jack Patterson really? And what did he want?