Chapter 30 The Taste of Desperation
CHAPTER 30: The Taste of Desperation
Silas
The air on the rooftop shifted the second Vera’s lips crashed into mine. I was momentarily stunned. My hands hovered, my fevered mind barely managing to reconcile this impulsive, desperate girl with the quiet guarded woman I had married.
But i didn't have too much time to be shocked, then, the fire hit.
I felt my body react dangerously…instinctively, a low, possessive thrum vibrating through my veins.
The tides changed.
It wasn’t Vera taking the lead anymore. I took charge, my hand lifting moving from my side to slide under the coat, then clamp around her minute waist like a vice.
She made a sound in her throat, and tilted her head slightly, affording me more room to devour her.
And I did.
I tasted her. Sweet, frantic, and laced with a terrifying desperation that she was trying to drown out with my touch.
She clung to me, gripping my lapels, like she was holding on for dear life out in the cold.
Vera trembled beneath my hands, a fragile vibration that snapped my restraint, and brought me back from the madness that was about to engulf me.
I remembered the child she carried, the exhaustion she must be feeling, and the fact that tonight must have been deeply overwhelming for her, and she may be hanging by a thread.
The rational part of my brain, cold and demanding, forced me to stop.
I pulled back, my breath coming in ragged hitches.
Her eyes remained shut for a few seconds. And even when she opened them, she took a glance at me, and lowered her gaze.
Her cheeks flushed with a deep rosy colour that had nothing to do with makeup, but the ravishing kiss…and shame.
She stared at the ground, her fingers twisting the fabric of the coat I’d draped over her.
The tension and awkwardness was so palpable you could touch it.
“Let’s go,” I said, my voice like iron.
She followed me without a word. Quickly bidding our goodbyes to the host, I guided her out of the hall.
The car ride back was suffocating and mostly passed in silence. I watched when she thought I wasn't, noting the way she twisted the silk of her dress, the trembling in her hands, and the frantic movement of her pulse in her throat…even the way her eyes never left the window.
My new wife was a mass of distress, a woman obviously drowning in a sea of secrets I hadn't yet mapped.
But I would.
Ordinarily, I shouldn't care what my new bride was hiding. Especially, since after tonight, I was sure that the partnership with LutherCorp was a done deal.
Yet, I was interested enough to want to find out what she was keeping away from me.
“Silas?” she whispered, tearing her eyes from the window, the silence finally breaking. “I... I’m sorry. About…earlier.” She swallowed heavily. “The…the kiss.”
My jaw locked. My hand clenched into a fist.
“I didn't mean to cross a line. I was just—"
“Forget it,” I snapped, the apology irritating me in a way I could neither understand nor explain.
I dismissed her coldly, turning my gaze to the window.
“It was a momentary lapse on my own end,” I said coldly. “It's forgotten.”
On the outside, it was a picture of calm and control. But internally, my mind was racing. I knew she was hiding something; I had seen the man exit the roof before I arrived. He had breezed past me in the semi dark stairwell, so I couldn't see his face.
The state I found her in on the rooftop, her lie about not seeing anyone up there, and then…the kiss.
Something was going on.
I was no fool, and my new bride was going to understand that, clearly, soon.
Vera
The moment the car pulled into the driveway, Silas was out of the door. The protective heat that had emanated from him from the moment we left earlier tonight, till the rooftop, had vanished, replaced by the familiar coldness.
As we walked up the stone steps into the grand foyer, he was scrolling away on his phone, cold, detached…not sparing me a glance.
“Get some rest," he ordered, not even looking back as he took a detour towards his office. “I have some work to do.”
He disappeared behind the huge dark wood of his study before I could even find my voice.
Standing idly in the expansive hallway, I cursed the impulsiveness and desperation that made me kiss him.
Maybe he was furious despite my apology.
But he had kissed me back. So fiercely and fiery, with an intensity that threatened to burn me alive.
Or did I just imagine or hallucinate it as a result of Damien induced panic?
With that thought in mind, I turned around and rushed toward Lily’s room, my heart hammering against my ribs.
I knocked and when there was no response, I pushed open the door. It was empty.
My heart plummeted into my stomach. She was supposed to be back by now.
I dialed her number, my hands shaking so badly I almost dropped the phone.
Pick up, Lily. Please, pick up.
Nothing.
An ugly and scary thought that I didn’t want to entertain, arose in my mind.
Had Damien gotten to her? What if he had hurt her?
Just as the panic began to choke me, the front door creaked open.
Lily walked in, humming to herself, looking entirely too normal for the agonising nightmare I had been living all night.
“Lily! Where have you been?” I snapped, rushing to her. “Why didn't you pick up your phone? I’ve been trying to reach you. Do you have any idea what time it is? You were supposed to be home hours ago.”
She jumped, clutching her chest. “Vee! Goodness, you scared me,” she shrieked.
“You’re late. It's not safe out there,” I chided, desperately.
She rolled her eyes,and dropped her purse on the bed.
“Relax, Vera. My friends wanted to hang out longer, and my phone was at the bottom of my bag. I didn't even hear it.” She dropped onto the bed, sitting in a cross legged pose. “Why are you so worked up?”
She stopped, her eyes widening as she took me in. “Wait... look at you! How was the gala? You look incredible.”
I sighed, exhausted.
I opened my mouth to reply, but then her gaze dropped to my neck, locking onto the diamond necklace Silas had draped over me earlier that evening.
“Oh my gosh," she breathed, springing up and reaching out to touch the stones. “Is that real?”
I nodded, once. Twice.
Her eyes widened, swirling with astonishment.
“It’s... it's breathtaking. Vee, let me see it. It would look so much better on me,” she grinned widely. She pouted, making her famous puppy eyes. “Can I try it on? Please?”
My mind was spinning, the $5 million figure looping in my head like a death sentence. I should tell her what was going on. But I didn’t know how to burst her happy bubble.
So, I reached up with numb fingers, unhooking the heavy diamonds and handing them to her.
Lily squealed and hurried to the mirror. She draped the jewels over her neck, and giggled, tilting her head from side to side to watch the light dance off the facets.
"I knew it would look better on me,” she said, throwing me a playful gaze through the mirror. “Just kidding,” she laughed. “How do I look?”
I forced a smile. “Beautiful. As always.”
She beamed, pleased.
“I can't believe this is our life now,” she whispered, her eyes bright with wonder. “We're finally safe, aren’t we? Silas really did save us.”
I watched her reflected joy, the sight of the diamonds around her neck making me feel physically ill. It suddenly looked like a lie.
A big lie.
We were not safe.
The threat was too real.
I couldn’t keep pretending all was well anymore.
"Lily," I said, my voice sounding like it was coming from the bottom of a well.
My sister turned, her smile faltering as she saw the look on my face.
“Damien has found us.”