Natalee was right. She would never fit in and had no place here among the elite. She started the engine of her Ford Escape and got out of Dodge.
Chapter 24
Caden heard an engine and rushed toward the door in time to see the lights roar down the street. Standing at the curb was Natalee with a smug smile.
“What have you done?”
“I told her the truth. Someone should have. She knows you don’t love her now and never will. I’ve set her free. I’ve set you both free. So perhaps you can finally find the woman you were meant to be with.”
“You thought that was you? Well, guess what, Natalee? You couldn’t be more wrong, because it’s Savannah I love, who I have always loved for the last twelve years. Trust me when I say that there will never be another woman for me but Savannah. You’ve done what you came for, so run along, but mark my words, you come near me or what’s mine again and you’ll regret it.”
She gave him a deadly stare but didn’t say another word as she hopped into her car and drove off.
“Son?” His father came out to join Caden on the driveway. “What’s happened? I heard a car gun the engine and drive away. Your mother asked me to check on things.”
Caden stared down the road. “Savannah has left me.”
Savannah had no idea where she was going. Natalee’s words had wrecked her, but they were no worse than what Savannah had told herself: She wasn’t good enough for Caden. He’d only married her to give Liam a home. She doubted he’d even thought about his gubernatorial bid, only that he had to claim what was his. Once he’d realized his error, Caden had buyer’s remorse.
Savannah was a half-breed from the Bronx raised by a mother who was looking for her next meal ticket. It didn’t matter if Camilla taught her what fork and spoon to use or how to converse with the elite. It didn’t matter because Savannah was no lady. She was gutter trash.
It’s why her father had walked out on her mother because she was unworthy of love. No one would ever love her, including Caden. Maybe he did once, but she’d ruined it by running away and never telling him he had a son. Was it any wonder he didn’t want her? She was only good for a roll in the hay, but love?
She’d been a fool to hope, to wish, to dream that Caden might love her. The best thing she could do for him was set him free. Let him choose a woman like Natalee from the right family with the right pedigree and credentials that might help advance him to where he wanted to be, because she definitely wasn’t it.
Back inside the house, Caden was a zombie, unsure of what to do. He felt bereft without Savannah. Thankfully, Jack, his mother, and grandfather came to the rescue, keeping everyone entertained. Somehow, Caden found the courage to give the speech he’d prepared for the evening even though his heart was breaking.
The dinner concluded soon after dessert with several of the key Baltimore players in town firmly in his corner. Afterward, he retired to his room, leaving his mother to handle dealing with the caterers and cleanup. She knocked on his door when she was finished.
“Can I come in?” She didn’t wait for an answer and walked into his bedroom, their bedroom, turning on the lights. Caden glanced at the bed he shared with Savannah and felt a gut punch.
“Suit yourself.” Caden took a sip of the amber liquid he’d filled on his way here.
“Darling, drinking in the dark is for cowards,” Camilla stated, sitting across from him at the bay window where he’d perched.
He regarded her but didn’t speak.
“You had a setback tonight, but you will rise again, stronger and better than you were before with Savannah at your side.”
“She left me. Again.”
“True, but you know why this time. You’re not wondering like you were before what caused her to leave, which in that case was me. I lay the cause of your hurt heavily at my own feet.”
“Why?”
“Because if I had not interfered twelve years ago, you and Savannah would be married and happily in love with your son. You may have even had more children. Who knows? But I robbed you of that because I thought she wasn’t good enough for you. I held those opinions never having known her. I was wrong.”
Caden was surprised because Camilla Mitchell rarely admitted she was wrong about anything.
“Over the last few weeks, I’ve gotten to know Savannah and she’s a wonderful daughter—the daughter I never had. She’s warm, giving, and loving. You are incredibly lucky to have found her not once, but twice. You mustn’t let her go, Caden. You have to fight for her. Fight with everything you have.”
After talking with his mom, Caden was determined to find Savannah. He drove to her old home in the hopes she might have gone there for refuge, but it was locked up tight since they’d found a buyer and would be closing in a few weeks. He tried Charlotte, who hadn’t heard from Savannah since earlier that day when she’d called to wish her luck for the party.
Somewhere around midnight, when Savannah still hadn’t returned home, he called her mother. Carmen Vasquez was a real piece of work. She wasn’t surprised that Savannah had run. She told him it had just been a matter of time because a daughter of hers wasn’t meant to be with the upper crust. She told him to leave Savannah be so she could live among her own kind.
What the hell kind of mother is she? Caden thought. Is this what Savannah has had to endure all her life? A worthless mother who thinks little of her own child? Who doesn’t try to encourage her but instead puts her down all the time?
No wonder Savannah lacked self-confidence. She’d never received any kind of love and reassurance from Carmen, that’s for sure. And when she’d looked for it from Caden, he’d given her the cold shoulder, leaving an opening for Natalee to slither in and fill her head with lies.
Hours later, after his unsuccessful search for Savannah, his mother’s words encouraging him to fight for her were still ringing in his ears when Savannah walked in. It was the morning, and she was wearing the same dress she’d had on the night before.
Caden rushed to his feet. His head felt a bit swimmy from drinking during the night. “Thank God you’re home, Savi. Where have you been? I’ve been worried sick.”
She didn’t answer him. Instead, the look of defeat Savannah gave him gutted him, and for a moment, Caden was rooted to his feet. He watched her unzip her dress and leave it on the bedroom floor and begin stripping off a barely there thong and bra as she made her way to the bathroom.
Then he heard the shower. He pictured her inside as the taps ran down her womanly curves. He could feel himself becoming hard at the thought. He wanted to go in there and make her forget anything else but him, hard and thick inside her. Make her remember how beautiful and perfect it had been between them. Still could be.
Except this time, Caden knew he couldn’t use sex to get through to Savannah. He was going to have to be brave as he had been when he’d brought each one of the men in Afghanistan a quarter of a mile to the helicopter and received the Medal of Honor. He would have to lay it all on the line, be raw and naked with his emotions, and show her that she was worthy of his love.
The hot shower felt good on Savannah’s weary limbs. She hadn’t gotten much sleep. She’d driven endlessly for hours until eventually she’d pulled over along the side of the road and fallen asleep. Only when a police officer tapped on her window to make sure she was alright did Savannah realize where she was. After assuring the officer that she was okay, she’d driven herself home and come face-to-face with the man she loved.
The man she would always love.
Even after the divorce.
Turning off the taps, she dried herself, and after lotioning, she quickly dressed in the walk-in closet before coming out to face him.
He still wore last night’s suit. He looked tired, and his eyes were rimmed with red.
“Caden, we need to talk.”
“Never words men like to hear,” he said with a wry sm
ile, “but I agree. There’s lots that need to be said. I’ll start first.”
“No.” She shook her head. “Please let me. I have to do this before I chicken out.” She sat down on the edge of their bed.
“If you’re about to say you’re leaving me, you can stop right now, Savannah Grace Mitchell, because I won’t hear of it.”
“For God’s sake, Caden, listen to me!”
“Alright, alright.” He went to sit down on the bed beside her, but she instantly bolted upright to her feet.
“I can’t do this anymore,” Savannah said, walking away from the bed.
“Do what? Be married to me?” The words sounded acrid on his tongue.
“This marriage was a mistake. I should never have agreed. I should have never let the appeal of being married to you cloud my better judgment. I think I got caught up in what could have been when we were madly in love, but I screwed that up, didn’t I? By keeping Liam from you? It’s why you could never love me, and I don’t blame you, Caden. Honestly, I don’t. I deserve it.”
She continued, “But the truth of the matter is we’re worlds apart. I’m a simple girl from the Bronx. I’ve been able to rise above my upbringing, and I’m a good nurse and a damn good mother, but I’m not cut out to be a politician’s wife. I tried. Honestly, I tried to mold myself into the image of being what you needed, but after last night, I can see I’ll never live up to it. You should find yourself someone worthy of you. Someone who’ll lift you up instead of bring you down.”
“What are you saying, Savannah?”
“I want a divorce. I’m releasing you of your obligation to me, but not to Liam. Never Liam. I want you to be the father you should have always been to him, and I promise you I will never get in the way of that.”
Caden just stared back at her without responding, and Savannah wondered if he heard her, but then he said, “Are you done?”
She nodded. She’d said what she had to say. She hadn’t known she had the guts to do it, but she had. So why did it feel like she’d just been torn asunder?
“I’m sorry to tell you, Savannah, but you’re in for a fight.”
Her hand flew to her mouth. “You would fight me for custody of Liam?”
“Of course not. I’m going to fight you for you.”
“I don’t understand.”
“What I’m trying to tell you, Savannah, is that I love you and I won’t let you leave me. I want more than anything for our marriage to work, to be the husband you want and the father Liam needs.”
“Love?” His words must have startled Savannah because she reached for a nearby chair and sank into it.
“I fell in love with you twelve years ago, Savi, and despite the years apart, I never stopped. No other woman has been able to open my heart because it’s been locked shut until you came back to set it free. I was angry with you for keeping Liam from me, yes,” he said as he began walking toward her, “but more importantly because you broke every part of me when you left me back then and I didn’t think anything would ever put me back together again. But since we’ve reunited, we’ve grown, and it’s given my love for you space to grow again into something new, something stronger that can withstand anything, even some wayward leech of a woman who tried to threaten what we have.”
Caden went to his knees in front of her. “But I won’t let her or anyone else get in the way of us ever again. Not Natalee. Not my mom. Not anyone. But first you have to stop running, baby, at the first sign of trouble. We’re going to have bumps in the road, but I need you by my side every step of the way, because I trust you.”
“You do?”
“Yes. I love you, Savannah. Do you hear me?” He grasped both sides of her face and peered into her eyes. “I couldn’t live forever without you, and I don’t want to even try.”
Tears slid down her cheeks because she couldn’t believe it was possible that Caden could actually love her. All the years of hoping and wishing had finally come true. He not only loved her, he trusted her.
“I need to hear you say the words back,” Caden murmured even though his throat was tight.
“I love you too.” Savannah threw her arms around him, a sob racking her shoulders.
Caden had never been so thankful his entire life to hear those words. Last night, he thought he’d lost Savannah, but being fearless, he’d gained all he’d ever hoped for.
“I never knew you felt the same,” Savannah said.
Caden took her chin in his hand and stared down into her eyes. “Deep down, I’ve always known, but I was afraid of losing you again. I couldn’t bear it, Savannah. I love you and the family we’ve created, and I want more children with you.”
“Really?”
“Yes, really.” He clasped one of her hands to his. “I want as many babies as you’ll have with me.”
“And we’ll have a brood of them,” Savannah said, “because this time we’ll be together.”
“How about we start working on them right now?” Caden said. He lifted her out of the chair and carried her to the bed. They stripped each other’s clothes off and came together as husband and wife in every sense of the word. Caden felt as if the aching hole that had been in his heart all these years had finally been filled.
With Savannah’s love, he was complete.
Epilogue
The entire family rejoiced several months later at Caden and Savannah’s vow renewal because not only had Caden won the election against Eric Thomas, but he and Savannah were pregnant. Caden suspected he knew when they’d conceived: the day after the fundraiser Savannah threw for him.
When she’d come back the next morning, Caden had been worried sick, but after declaring their mutual love for each other, they’d made love over and over. Caden was certain that’s when they’d created a new life. They hadn’t been sure how Liam would react to the happy news, but he, along with the rest of the family, was ecstatic. Liam screamed, “I’m going to have a baby brother or sister someday soon!”
Since they were past the three-month mark, Savannah and Caden felt comfortable announcing their pregnancy.
“Wonderful news, my boy,” Cal said, pulling Caden into a bear hug.
“Thanks, Dad.” Caden was thrilled because this time he would be there for Savannah at every step of the pregnancy and get to see his little girl being born. They’d found out the sex from the last sonogram but were keeping it a secret.
“Congratulations,” said Caden’s wayward brother Cage, who had suddenly shown up for the nuptials earlier that day.
“Thanks, it’s good to see you, man,” Caden said, wrapping his younger brother in his embrace. “We all were hoping nothing happened to you on one of your crazy Special Forces missions.”
“Naww, you know I have nine lives,” Cage responded. “But you are a lucky man. Savannah’s a beauty.”
“That she is,” Caden said. “I hope you find someone someday.”
Cage shook his head. “I’m not the settling down kind.”
Cameron strolled over to his brothers, his arm wrapped around Monae. “Welcome home, bro.” Cameron released Monae long enough to wrap his big brother Cage in a bear hug.
“Yeah, thanks.” Cage gave him a sideward glance. “And who is the lovely woman behind you?”
Cameron slid his hand through Monae’s and pulled her forward. “Cage, this is my lady, Monae.”
“Pleasure.” Cage bent his head and brushed his lips across her hand.
From his vantage point, Caden noticed Cage’s eye had grown wide with interest, but Cage quickly covered it up. Caden hoped Cage was just appreciating Monae’s beauty and there wasn’t more there. Cage had always been the troublemaker among the three Mitchell boys.
Caden glanced over at Savannah, and their gazes locked. He felt a familiar heat as he always did when her eyes called to him across the room just like a siren’s song. The pull bet
ween the two of them was as strong as ever. He immediately left his brothers and moved toward the woman he adored and always would.
If you loved Caden’s story, you won’t want to miss Cage’s story in Seducing the Seal, the next Mitchell Brothers Series installment!
About the Author
Yahrah St. John is the author of thirty-five books and one deliciously sinful anthology.
When she’s not at home crafting one of her spicy romances with compelling heroes and feisty heroines with a dash of family drama, she is gourmet cooking or traveling the globe seeking out her next adventure. St. John is a member of Romance Writers of America.
Visit for more info: www.yahrahstjohn.com.
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