Silent Desires (Shattered Silence Duet Book 1)
Silent Desires: Chapter 47

“Malishka, wake up,” I feel a soft kiss on the top of my head and strong arms surrounding me, making me feel warm and protected. Atlas. My strong protector is here. I snuggle into him, seeking the comfort he provides, and he chuckles.

“Come on now, I need to see your beautiful eyes and make sure you’re okay.”

Why wouldn’t I be okay? I try to remember what happened before I fell asleep. I was in class, then I was going to the bathroom and… Oh. I remember now… Brad. I shiver at the memory.

I open my eyes up when I feel a hand resting on my forehead. Atlas frowns down at me. “Did she seem overly warm to any of you?” Atlas asks, looking up at the twins, then Gideon.

Another hand presses against my forehead, but I can’t tell who it belongs to, as so many bodies surround me.

“Well, now that you mention it, she seemed really warm in the truck this morning, but I thought it was just her reaction to my kiss,” Jasper says, sounding upset. He kissed me! My heart flutters warmly at the memory as I smile at him. But then I realize he’s just told his whole family we kissed. What will they think of me? Will they be upset? Looking around at all their faces, they all look concerned and worried but nobody looks upset.

“I guess I was too focused on her sleeping to notice,” Max admits.

“I did think she was a little warm,” Gideon adds.

“Open up, Princess,” Ben says. He holds up a thermometer to my mouth and I open and let him place it under my tongue.

“Close,” he says, and I do as instructed.

“Good girl.”

I feel my cheeks flush at the praise as Ben stares at me. I try to look down at the thermometer, but it makes me want to go cross-eyed, so I close my eyes and lean my head back against Atlas’s chest. His fingers gently stroke through my hair against my head, soothing me. Why am I still so sleepy?

When the thermometer beeps, Ben pulls it out and reads, “One hundred. She has a fever.”

Atlas starts softly rocking me. “You shouldn’t be in school with a fever, Malishka. You should be home in bed, sleeping this off and getting rest so you can recover.”

I know that’s how you treat a fever, but it’s not like my mother would let me stay home, I don’t believe so anyway. I’ve never been in this situation before. I’d rather tough it out at school, anyway. I don’t respond because there’s nothing to say.

“Mina?” Gideon’s concerned gaze meets mine. “Is that why you were upset in the hall? Because you don’t feel well?”

I should agree, so I don’t have to tell them about Brad. But I’m already keeping too many secrets and this doesn’t need to be one of them. They might even be able to help me. I shake my head.

Jasper sits down beside Atlas and passes me my phone, already open to a group chat with the guys. Atlas leans back on the couch and carefully adjusts me upright, so I’m in a seated position. I hiss in pain when he grabs my sore arm and he immediately lets go. Dammit, that really hurt, I hang my head so they can’t see my face as I try to breathe through the throbbing pain.

“What’s wrong? Are you hurt?” Atlas asks, sounding worried and angry all at once.

I shake my head quickly, but it’s a stupid move because I’m obviously hurt, and he knows it. I feel his gaze bore into the side of my head before he gently wraps his arms around my waist, holding me tightly against his chest, facing the rest of the room.

Dom sits on the table in front of me, leaning his elbows on his knees as he stares at me in contemplation for several tense filled minutes before he eventually speaks. “Tell me what happened in the hall.”

I take a deep breath. I could do that.

Me: Brad grabbed me and shoved me into the lockers.

Atlas’s arms loosen as he growls, and I hear the others curse. Although it doesn’t sound so bad to me when Dom reads it out loud. It’s definitely not even close to the worst thing done to me, not even recently. But they don’t need to know that.

“Kitten,” Dom says, drawing my attention back to him. “What did he do?”

Me: He didn’t get the chance to do much but touch my face. Some students walked up and scared him off.

I try to downplay the situation, seeing how angry they’re getting.

“He scared you.” It’s not a question, not really. But I nod anyway as the memory makes tears threaten to fall. Sadness and worry cloud Dom’s eyes as he leans forward, carefully pulling me from Atlas’s lap into his. I wrap my legs around his waist and cling to his neck, sniffling against his shoulder as I fight to control my tears.

“It’s okay, Kitten, just let it out. Don’t hold it in, I’ve got you,” he whispers in my ear. One of his hands holds the back of my head and the other gently rubs my back. It hurts, but I don’t care right now. Being held by him makes me feel safe and cared for.

I want to be strong for him, so I take a few deep breaths and focus on what happened. Nothing really bad actually happened today. I’ve endured much worse from Simon and even my mother. I think it’s just the stark contrast between how these men treat me and how people like Brad and Simon do that has my emotions in turmoil. My breathing evens out, and I relax into Dom’s hold.

“What’s this?” Ben’s hand gently touches my arm. I look where he’s pointing, and sure enough, there’s a small bloodstain on my sleeve, right where my wound is. It must have bled when Atlas touched it.

“Is that blood?” Max asks, alarm tinting his voice.

Before I can respond, Atlas scoops me up and carries me into the kitchen, setting me on the counter. This seems to be his favorite place to put me.

“Let me check your arm,” he states, while pulling up my sleeve.

I’m sure it needs antibiotics, and I’m honestly just too tired to fight him anymore, so I just watch as he tries to roll up my sleeve. It’s too tight to roll up high enough for him to see it, though. Atlas realizes this, his eyes flicking to mine. Without hesitation, he yanks his T-shirt off and slips it over my head, making my eyes widen in surprise.

I try to swallow the giant lump in my throat as I stare at his naked chest. He’s covered in beautiful tattoos. But more than that, his muscles are… enormous. His muscles have muscles, I didn’t even think that was possible. My eyes dart all over his body, trying to take it all in at once, which is impossible, he’s huge. My fingers itch to explore his body.

“We need to take off your school shirt so I can see your arm,” he says softly. I watch as he slips his hands up between our shirts. My eyes meet his as he starts unbuttoning my dress shirt, his gaze never leaving mine. The heat in his eyes makes my mouth go dry as I squirm on the counter. The fact that he’s doing this so none of them will see my body makes me love him even more. Love him? No… I mean like him.

When he finishes, I help by pulling the shirt off my shoulders and arms, doing the best to hide my grimace. I pass my shirt to his awaiting hands that are still under his t-shirt I’m wearing. He hands it to Ben and then proceeds to help me get my arms into the T-shirt sleeves. The gauze around my arm is now clearly visible—yellow and red tint the white bandage, telling me I definitely aggravated it today.

“That isn’t a new injury,” Atlas says, narrowing his eyes at me. I’m not sure why I feel guilty, I never said that Brad was the one who did it, they just assumed. Feeling tired and just wanting this over with, I shake my head.

“When did this happen?” he asks, his gaze unwavering.

I shrug, avoiding his eyes as I glance around at the other guys. They all look upset. I fidget, tugging at the hem of the shirt. I’m not even sure how long ago it was at this point, one week ago? Two?

Atlas sighs and begins unwrapping the gauze. I tense as the movement stings.

Ben approaches with a cup and a couple of pills. “These will help with the pain.”

I let him place the pills on my tongue and swallow them instantly, smiling at him gratefully.

A whimper escapes my throat as Atlas continues to peel away the gauze, which sticks painfully to my skin. Gideon moves to my side and takes my hand in both of his, letting me grip him tightly through the pain.

At a particularly bad jolt of pain, I throw my hand out to grab Atlas’s arm, but the movement makes my arm hurt even more. They can see the pain on my face, and I can tell they aren’t enjoying this either.

“Fuck. Malishka, baby… this… this is going to hurt, but I have to remove it,” Atlas says, his voice a silky mix of gravel and smoothness. I don’t even know if that’s a thing, but it’s what I hear. I nod and grip harder. Finally, he frees the last of the gauze as silent tears roll down my cheeks.

“This is… bad. What caused this? Did someone do this to you?” Ben asks, sounding horrified. I shake my head, avoiding their eyes. I need their help with it, but I don’t think I can tell them my own mother did it. They’ll know there’s something wrong with me if I do.

I can tell they don’t believe me, but I’m not sure how to tell them my mother drove a corkscrew into my arm. That’s not the kind of thing you share with others, it’s too embarrassing.

Jasper opens my phone and places it in the hand that’s been clutching Gideon’s. “Tell us what happened, what caused this?” he tells me firmly.

I nod as my body starts to shake at the memories. Not wanting them to know what really happened, I lie.

Me: I fell.

Jasper’s eyes search mine, clearly looking for the truth.

“Something pierced your skin. What was it?” Atlas asks, still staring at my injury like he’s unsure what to do.

Me: A thin piece of metal.

Jasper’s eyes meet his brothers, and I see them all exchanging looks. They don’t believe me. They know I’m lying. They hate me now—I know it. This proves I can’t tell them all my secrets.

I stare down at the phone in my hands. Tears blur my vision as blackness creeps in. I’m not breathing—it’s another panic attack. This time, I welcome it. I want out of this situation, away from their angry, disbelieving looks. It’s worse than what happened with Brad. I lift my phone and send one quick group message before I black out.

Me: I’m sorry.