Silent Desires (Shattered Silence Duet Book 1)
Silent Desires: Chapter 49

The next morning is a little better than the previous one. I don’t see my mother at all, my arm feels slightly better than yesterday, and I think my fever has eased up. Whatever Ben gave me and did to my arm must be helping.

Sleep, however, was rough—I tossed and turned, hot one minute and cold the next. But it seems like the fever has finally broken.

As I approach our usual morning meetup spot, I notice an SUV idling on the curb. I stop walking, rubbing my arms as a shiver rolls over me. Who is that? And why are they here? Not wanting to stop beside it, I decide to keep walking and decide I can text the twins when I’m around the corner. Suddenly, the back door opens, startling me, and a familiar face jumps out, smiling at me.

“Good morning, Princess!” Ben’s voice makes my heart leap. Without thinking, I run the short distance to him, wrapping my arms around his neck. He picks me up effortlessly and pulls me into the vehicle with him. He kisses my forehead, and I glance around to see Atlas driving, Jasper in the passenger seat, and Dom and Max in the back with us. I wave at them all, smiling broadly. Seeing them calms me in a way nothing else does.

I had thought they were upset with me for lying and making Atlas take me home yesterday, but they seem okay today. Atlas even turns to give me a small smile and squeezes my hand tightly before focusing on driving.

“I want to check your arm and clean it for you,” Ben tells me. Oh my god, knowing he’s taking time out of his morning to take care of me makes my heart warm and I feel a goofy grin cover my face. He must know I can’t clean it properly at home. The state of it yesterday must have made that painfully obvious. He probably thinks I’m a clueless kid who doesn’t know how to take care of herself.

I start unbuttoning my shirt, and Ben’s eyes widen. “Wait—” he yells.

“Max, pass me that shirt you grabbed,” he says quickly.

“Oops. I must have forgotten it,” Max says, sounding entirely unapologetic. He winks at me, and I giggle. Dom narrows his eyes at me, making me slap my hand over my mouth, which only makes Max laugh. Did I actually just giggle? And I wonder, yet again, if my voice is truly gone after all.

Max’s laughter sets me off again, muffled behind my hand, and soon Ben is laughing too. I glance at Dom, waiting for him to either reprimand us or crack a smile but he just glares at us, it’s not malicious, though, I think he’s amused.

Grinning, I pull out my phone and type, Daddy’s mad, showing it to Ben and Max, who are seated on either side of me. Their laughter grows even louder as Dom’s eyes narrow further, clearly wondering what I wrote.

He holds out his hand, palm up, and I reluctantly place my phone in it. He reads the screen, then looks at me sharply.

“Hmm,” is all he says, making my cheeks heat and my insides warm for some reason.

“Uh-oh, Sweetheart. Now you’ve done it!” Max teases, nudging me. I glance at him, confused. He leans in and whispers, “I think he likes it when you call him that. The same way you like it when we call you a good girl.”

I gulp, looking back at Dom’s heated gaze. He smirks, then, to my utter shock, he pulls his shirt off and slips it over my head. My eyes go wide as I stare at his chest—his massive, muscular chest. First Atlas, and now Dom… He’s not as big as Atlas, but he is no less impressive, and I can’t stop myself from reaching out to touch him.

But my hand meets resistance, and I realize I’m trapped inside his shirt. Ben and Max burst into laughter again, and even Dom’s heated gaze softens into a smile. Flustered, I drop my eyes and start blindly unbuttoning my dress shirt, slipping one arm out of the sleeve and into Dom’s t-shirt.

Ben spends the next ten minutes carefully removing the bandage, applying ointment, and re-wrapping my arm. I realize now that this isn’t the gauze bandage I had used—it’s much higher quality. They must have redone it when I passed out yesterday.

God, I’m a mess. I can’t even take care of myself. There’s no way I could escape my family and survive on my own. I’d be dead in a week.

But maybe… Maybe, I wouldn’t have to do it alone. They said I could stay with them for now. Perhaps I need to really consider their offer.