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CHAPTER 34
Drawn to the woman he loved like a puppet on a string, Damien approached her hospital bed with caution. Sitting in the chair beside her wouldn’t do it. He needed to be near, to touch Regina and assure himself that she was okay.
The doctor said they only wanted to monitor her oxygen, but the need remained. Her body was so still. Was she sunk deep in the healing sleep she so desperately needed? Or was she pretending to sleep so she didn’t have to deal with him at all?
Taking a chance, Damien settled on the space beside her in the bed. There was just enough room for him to sit, his thigh resting along the curve of her back as she faced the opposite wall.
Testing his welcome, he lay his hand on top of her hip. Sure enough, her body jerked
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She was on her knees on the floor, in front of her open closet… Crying over her clothes… She missed Damien. He was always busy, but until today, always within reach. She missed arguing and the comfortableness of working together. But, above all, Regina missed the intensity of his passion and the feel of her soul mingling with his. The days were torture. The nights were devastating. They went to sleep, each on their respective sides of the bed. Some nights, lying there feeling useless and empty, Regina thought she’d give anything to have him curled against her back like he had that night in the hospital. Sure enough, by morning they would be tangled together, and her heart broke all over again. Something had to give soon because having him close but not having him for real was killi
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Damien Kennedy suppressed a shiver that had nothing to do with the afternoon thunderstorm raging all around him. For a moment, he remained as if rooted to the spot, staring at the elaborate scrolls carved into the heavy oak door before him. A door he’d promised himself he’d never pass through again… At least, not while his grandfather was alive. ‘I should have come back here only for you, Mother… Only to see you…’ But he’d sworn never to let himself be locked inside the walls of Kennedy Mansion again. Damien had thought he had all the time he would need to make his absence up to his mother. But fate slapped him hard… In his youthful ignorance, he hadn’t realized everything
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Oh, he remembered her… Only too well. And from her ramrod-straight back, Damien gathered she remembered his little nickname for her. That stubborn I will get my way look brought it all back. Regina Duquesne used to look at him that very same way when they were teenagers after he’d brushed her off like an annoying mosquito, dismissed her without a care for her feelings. Just a pesky little kid always hanging around, begging his family for attention. Until that last time. The time he’d taunted her for trying to horn in on a family that didn’t want her. Her tears had imprinted on his conscience, permanently.“Damien,” she acknowledged him with a cool nod. Then she turned her attention back to Theo
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Regina listened to the men spar with one another as if from a distance. Shock cocooned her inside her own bubble of fear. As he spoke, Damien’s gaze tracked the lawyer’s movements, but Regina remained focused on Damien. The impenetrable mask of rebellion and pride that shielded any softer emotions. The breadth of his shoulders. The ripple of muscles in his chest and forearms, reminding her of his strength, his dominance. Could a man that strong prevail over someone with Theodore’s history of cunning maneuvers, both business and personal?“Well, old man… Why don’t you just lay it out for me,” Damien said, his voice curt, commanding the immense space of the master suite. A shiver worked its way down Regina’s spine.“The condensed version, pl
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“Oh, that’s so sweet of you, young lady, but maybe you should wait, since I have one last thing to add...” When spoken by Theodore Kennedy, those were not the words Regina wanted to hear. Yes, she said Damien she’d marry him, but now she wasn’t so sure about it… Not when Theodore was preparing to throw another bomb. Regina eyed the door to the suite with longing. Only a few more feet and she’d be free... From the old man and his grandson… For now...“Just wanted to let you know that a platonic relationship between you two isn’t acceptable. My goal is a legacy. I can’t get that with separate bedrooms or no sex between you.” Panic bubbled up beneath the surface of her skin until Damien replied with a droll.“O
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