Serenity (Inevitable #5)(108)

Lindsey shrugged. "He'll give in to you, I know he will. Your father already feels guilty that he isn't here enough for you and Casey. You just need to keep putting the pressure on. All you need to do is get him to move back in. Leave the rest up to me. I guarantee that he'll be calling off the divorce and we'll be one big happy family again in no time."



       
         
       
        





Chapter Seventeen




The condo was almost eerily quiet as she let herself in, and for a minute or two she wondered if Matthew was here or not. But then she heard the sound of a door shutting in another room, and set her bag down on the sofa as she waited for him to emerge.

Sasha had thought for a time about not coming over when he had texted her earlier this morning, practically begging her to meet him here after her class. She was still more than a little upset, and definitely hurt, after he had abruptly cancelled their evening out, an evening that was supposed to have been the start of the next phase in their relationship. It was totally out of character for her to be in such an unforgiving mood, but her level of tolerance had been sorely tested these past few months.

But she was here now, and struggling to keep an open mind and listen to what Matthew needed so badly to tell her. Sasha assumed he was going to apologize, and try to make up for the fiasco from last night in some way. And while most people she knew would have stayed mad for at least a week, it wasn't in her placid nature to make someone grovel and beg. Besides, she admitted with a sigh of resignation, she was in love with the man, after all, and it was awfully hard to remain angry with him for very long.

And when the man in question entered the living room a few minutes later, any remaining annoyance she might have felt towards him disappeared in a flat instant, replaced instead with concern. Matthew looked exhausted and more than a little disoriented as he gazed at her somberly. He had dark circles under his eyes, and hadn't shaved, and his hair was sticking up into wild, unkempt spikes. He wore a wrinkled T-shirt and a pair of baggy sweat pants that looked like something he might have owned since college.

But it was the look on his face that concerned Sasha the most - a look of both sorrow and regret - and her hands suddenly felt ice cold. She had become quite adept over the years at being in tune with other peoples' emotions, at being able to sense their feelings, and she knew immediately that something bad was troubling Matthew.

"Hi," she greeted uncertainly, struggling to keep her voice steady.

He didn't reply, simply crossed over to where she stood and took her into his arms. He buried his face against the side of her neck, breathing in deeply of her scent, and squeezing her so tight that she had trouble taking a breath. She forgot that she was supposed to be mad at him, that he was the one who ought to be comforting and consoling her right now, and instead stroked his back comfortingly, her slender fingers massaging the tight muscles at his nape.

Matthew gave a muffled groan. "God, that feels good. My whole body feels like one big knot right now. And that includes my brain. I keep hoping that I'll wake up, and realize the last eighteen hours or so have just been a really bad dream." 

"That bad, hmm? Why don't we sit down and you can fill me in on what happened?" suggested Sasha, urging him in the direction of the sectional sofa.

"What happened." Matthew shook his head despairingly. "The whole damned world went to hell overnight, that's what happened. But I'll get to that in a minute. God knows it's the last thing I want to talk about. How are you, sweetheart? I can't even begin to tell you how sorry I am for standing you up last night. Or how grateful I am that you agreed to come over today."

"It's okay," she replied. "I know that you would have been there if you'd been able to."

"Did you enjoy the ballet?"

Sasha nodded. "It was wonderful, thanks. And Chandra, my co-worker, was over the moon that I invited her. Though, of course, it wasn't the same without you there."

"I know." Matthew expelled a long, frustrated breath, his head falling back wearily onto the sofa. "And if there was some way I could make it up to you, I'd be doing it right now. But I've got a feeling you aren't going to be in a very forgiving mood after I tell you what happened with Hayley last night."

His words sent a chill up her spine, for he sounded so sad, so defeated, that she could only gaze at him in bewilderment. "What are you talking about?"

Matthew took her hand in his, squeezing it tight as though he was hoping to borrow some of her strength. "Besides the shock of finding out that my teenaged daughter is pregnant, I learned last night that she was also date raped. It happened about six weeks ago, on one of those weekends she was supposed to spend with me but begged off to go to a party instead. A party where she was drugged and had who knows what done to her. And that she doesn't remember a damned thing about, including the names or faces of the thugs who raped her and her friend."