His Vengeance, Marriage and a Baby: He hated her for cockolding him with his brother. Now he wanted vengeance.

by Sabel Simmons

  “I never did, Damien.”

  His curse was ugly and he nearly slapped her again, his anger bubbled to rage that quickly.

  “Don’t Amber. I don’t think you’ll survive another spurt of my rage. One lie a day is enough, don’t you think?”

  He spun around and stormed into her room, ordering her to hurry up. She closed her eyes and winced with a groan when she moved and the pain inside burned viciously. She heard the rustling of the sheets in the room and realized he was removing the blood stained duvet cover. Wearily, she started to wash her still trembling body.

  She could not hold back the painful cry when she tried to push herself up to get out of the tub. Damien walked in just as she lowered back into the tub. She refused to meet his eyes and took, deep choppy breaths.

  “I … need help. I can’t … get out of the tub.”

  He cursed again and quickly yanked his shirt over his head, before reaching down and lifting her from the tub. He lowered her legs until she stood shakily on the floor in front of him. He took the towel and started drying her. After the first glare when she tried to stop him, she gave up and stood silently allowing him to dry her. He watched her face and cursed again when she winced painfully with every step she took to her room, until he once again picked her up and carried her to the bed.

  He picked up her panties and waited by her feet with raised eyebrows until she lifted her one foot with a sigh and he helped her to put them on, ignoring her flushed cheeks. Next he pulled her dress over her head and searched for her sandals, which he slipped on her feet as well. She drew the line when he picked up her brush and started brushing her hair. She yanked the brush from his hand and glared at him.

  “Enough! Just go away!”

  “You are coming with me to talk to Zoey. I don’t care how, but you will make sure she does not notice your pain. I will not appear the villain in this. You got what you deserved.”

  She finished brushing her hair and defiantly pushed up from the bed, but once again could not prevent the cry of pain that her quick and hard movement evoked.

  Her ears burned from the curses he flung at her. Her voice sounded thin from the pain.

  “You should stop cursing so much, Damien. It is not a good example for a young child.”

  The look he flung at her was heated enough to incinerate her on the spot. She lifted her head proudly and walked very slowly to the dresser and took two pain tablets from the drawer. Damien fetched a glass of water from the bathroom and handed it to her. She swallowed the pills and turned to the door. He followed her broodingly, but watching her slow, measured steps annoyed him so much, he reached down and picked her up, ignoring her indignant shrieks.

  Zoey came charging out of her room. She gaped at Damien carrying her mother down the stairs, promptly ordering her to follow them. She watched with wide eyes as he slowly and carefully lowered her on a couch in the den and sank down next to her.

  Zoey shuffled closer and sat down on the chair beside her mother, noticing the guarded look in her eyes and she frowned.

  “Mom, you swore you’d tell me!”

  Amber swallowed and smiled tremblingly at her daughter and took her hand in hers. She did not trust the strength of her voice and looked pleadingly at Damien.

  “Zoey … you are … my daughter.”

  His voice husked and became rough at the end and his emotions were visible in his eyes.

  Zoey sat staring at him for so long, with her fingers clamping tighter and tighter around Amber’s fingers that she winced.

  “What … what about … Paul? I … you thought I was his daughter?”

  Damien’s eyes became shuttered and his body stiffened, preparing himself to lie to his daughter for the first time.

  “Ahum … I did, but only because he made me believe your mother and he were … together while I was completing my doctorate in Russia.”

  “Russia … you … were in Russia?”

  This came from Ambers’ strangled lips. He glanced at her, noticing she paled even more. He nodded.

  “I had to get away as far from here at the time, so I finished my research there.”

  She shook her head and bit her lip hard until she tasted blood.

  “I don’t understand.”

  “Your mother and I were together for six months, intimately, before I left. Paul told me he … made love to your mother while I was gone. I believed him and in my jealousy stayed away, until the day my parents called to tell me he had died.”

  “But they never did, is that what you’re saying?”

  “Yes.” He forced the lie past his lips.

  “Then you … you’re really my father?”

  “Yes Zoey, I am.”

  Her whole body lit up. she shot out of the chair, jumped into his arms and held him around his neck. Tears ran down her face and Amber’s followed when she noticed the strong, ruthless man’s wet cheeks as he held his daughter in his arms for the first time.

  “I knew it! I just felt something when you took my hand this morning! Oh, Mom! Thank you! I have a Dad! At long last, I have a Dad!”

  She continued to babble non-stop, sitting between Damien’s legs on the floor, with his hand clasped between hers. Their eyes worshipping each other. Damien patiently answered all the questions she peppered him with.

  Ellie walked into the den with a tray loaded with sandwiches and juice. Damien stood up and took the tray from her and placed it on the table in the center of the room. Zoey jumped up and flew into her grandmothers’ arms. Her excitement shone like diamonds in her eyes.

  “Grams, guess what?”

  “Whatever it is, poppet, you seem very happy about it.”

  “Oh I am! He is my Dad! Is it not the best news ever, Grams! He never knew! He is just as happy about it as I am.”

  She sobered and looked at him worriedly.

  “You are happy about it, aren’t you?”

  He held out his arms and she ran into them. He hugged her and kissed her on the top of her head.

  “There is nothing on this earth that could have made me happier, my lovely daughter. I am only sorry I missed out on the first ten years of your life. But, we will make up for those from here on.”

  Ellie always suspected one of the Jordan boys were Zoey’s father and she was glad it was Damien. Paul was a player and a user. Amber always turned him away, but he kept bothering her, especially after Damien left. She looked at Amber sitting quietly on the couch, her eyes sad. She looked so small and … lonely that her heart ached for her. Her beautiful daughter had to endure so much over the past years. She never told them, but they knew how hard her life had been, how she suffered financially, but always put her child’s needs ahead of hers. She raised her head and their eyes met. She smiled wanly and wiped a lone tear from her cheek.

  Zoey was a bundle of energy and stormed to her mother and fell on the couch next to her, wrapping her arms around her. Damien noticed the painful wince she immediately tried to hide with a quivering smile. She returned Zoey’s hug, wondering just what the future held in store for her, now that Damien claimed Zoey as his daughter. The hard look in his eyes every time their eyes met a clear indication he intended to make her suffer for a long time to come.

  “One day I want to go back to Sitka, only to wipe my hunky Dad in those rich, snotty bitch’s faces!”

  “Zoey Alicia Pears! What did I tell you about your language?”

  “But Mom!”

  “But Mom, nothing! Apologize to your Grams!”

  “Sorry Grams, it just slipped out.”

  Damien struggled to get over the fact that Zoey’s second name was his Grandmother’s, whom he loved dearly and Amber knew how hard it was for him when she passed away. He also struggled accepting that she was a Pears and not Jordan.

  “Not Pears for much longer. We will change it immediately to Jordan.”

  “No, Damien, you can’t just take over and make decisions left and right.”

  “On this I can and I will. She is my
daughter and she will carry my name!”

  “No, no … NO!”

  Amber’s breathing increased so rapidly she started to hyperventilate and she jumped up. Her raw painful scream echoed through the room and Damien lunged forward to catch her when she summarily fainted.

  “MOM! Mommy! What’s wrong with her? Dad! Daddy! What’s wrong with her?”

  Damien’s throat closed up hearing her call him Dad and Daddy for the first time. He turned to the door and said over his shoulder, trying to pacify his upset daughter.

  “It’s fine, Zoey. I think she just hyperventilated and she’s had the headache again. Just to be safe, I am taking her to a doctor. Stay here with your Grams.”

  “No, please Daddy! She’s always been there for me. Even when she was too sick to stand up, she would get out of bed to take me to school, help me with homework. I have to be with her!”

  He sighed heavily and cursed his insistence to feed his hurt and hate with Zoey so near. He nodded and she ran after him and got into the backseat of his SUV. Amber came to for the second time in one day with pain burning through her core and she gasped. Damien lowered her into the front seat and she started to struggle immediately.

  “Mom, it’s okay. We are taking you to the doctor.”

  “No. I am fine. Damien please!”

  “No Amber. You need to go.”

  “She can’t come with. I beg you!”

  She whispered brokenly in his ear and he hissed, realizing she was protecting him. Her daughter’s feelings more important than her own pain.

  “Amber, these headaches are clearly more than what you claim and Zoey should not have to worry about you at her age.”

  She understood what he said and relaxed against the seat. He clipped her safety belt in place and soon they were on their way.

  “Where are you taking me?”

  “Rory Goldberg is my best friend and a … specialist and I trust him with my life.”

  “What type of specialist?”

  He speared her an annoyed glance and did not answer. Zoey, of course could not keep her noisy nature at bay.

  “What type Dad? Is Mom really that sick?”

  He sighed and wiped his face, a grim smile on his lips.

  “He is a gynecologist.”

  Amber winced and held her breath. She helped Zoey earlier the year on a project about the different medical specialties. Zoey was quiet for a while and then asked hesitantly.

  “Ahum, Dad … you do know what a gynecologist does, right?”

  “Yes Zoey, I do.”

  She waited and then prodded again.

  “Ahum, Daaad?”

  “Yes Zoey.”

  Amber bit her lip to stop her smile hovering around her lips. He was receiving a very early lesson in his daughter’s tenaciousness.

  “Exactly how is a gynecologist going to fix Mom’s headache?”

  “He was a general surgeon before he specialized. Don’t worry, he is very capable. In fact, he is the only doctor I ever go to.”

  “Really?”

  “Yes, really.”

  She kept quiet at first, then a tiny giggle reached their ears, and then another, until she peeled with enjoyment.

  “Oohh, Mom! This is sooo funny! Can you just imagine the expressions on all the women’s faces when the next patient is called and he gets up … alone!”

  Even Damien could not hold back his chuckle at his daughter’s infectious laughter.

  “I can vouch that it is quite funny to see.”

  “Oh, Daddy! Reeaally! You really go and see him at his consulting room?”

  “Yes, so you can imagine his receptionist shock when I walk in with your Mom in my arms today.”

  “I will walk inside!”

  He did not bother to respond and Zoey kept teasing him until they stopped in from of the exclusive consulting rooms in Fort Lauderdale, where Damien owned property at Seminole lake in Sunrise Bay as well.

  He walked around the car and leaned in to pick Amber up.

  “Please, let me walk.”

  “No. If you want the headache to stick with Zoey, I carry you.”

  She sighed and allowed him to carry her inside. He gently lowered her onto a chair and Zoey sat down next to her and took her hand into hers. She looked at her worriedly.

  “How do you feel, Mom?”

  “Stop worrying, Zoey. I am sure it is nothing. Your father is overreacting for no reason.”

  “Dad was right. Look at how the receptionist is eyeballing you!”

  “Probably because she has her eye on your Dad herself.”

  “Gmphf! She can forget it. She is not a match on you! Uncle Ashton says Miami has the most beautiful women on earth, but I have not seen one as beautiful as you, Mom.”

  “You are quite correct, my precious. Your mother is exquisite.”

  Amber blushed then frowned at Zoey.

  “Just what were you and your uncle discussing that the beautiful women of Miami came up?”

  “Well, I asked him why he was not married yet and he said that with all the beauties in Miami, he enjoyed playing the field too much.”

  Damien groaned and dropped his head in his hand.

  “I am not too sure what he meant by that, because he immediately changed the subject. What does it mean, Dad?”

  She was totally comfortable with Damien and settled into the role of his daughter with so much ease it made Amber’s heart ache for what she has missed all the years.

  Damien looked at Amber for assistance, but she just widened her eyes innocently at him and he glared at her. He was saved from having to answer though when his name was called.

  “Zoey, you will have to stay here. He won’t allow you inside.”

  She nodded and smiled hesitantly at Amber. Of course, Damien picked her up and carried her inside.

  Chapter Six

  Rory Goldberg was a huge surprise. He was just as much a hunk as Damien was and he looked at Damien with amusement once he sat back in the chair.

  “Hmm … I guess this is not your annual check-up then, Bud?”

  They clasped hands and Rory went to sit down behind his desk. Damien introduced them and Rory got a closed look on his face. He glanced at Damien and he nodded.

  “Amber is the patient then?”

  Damien nodded and Rory took out a new folder and proceeded to take down all Amber’s personal information. He sat back and looked at her with shuttered eyes.

  “So, what is the problem?”

  Amber bit her lip, but before she could say anything Damien told him what he did, in full detail and her face was bright red by the time he finished. Rory’s face had stiffened and he was livid by the time Damien finished.

  “Are you fucking crazy, Damien! Do you know the damage you might have caused? You are too bloody well-endowed for your own good and should know better! Is she still bleeding?”

  “I know that, Rory. I knew exactly what I was doing. I set out to do exactly what I did and nothing will change it now. And no, she is not bleeding but I want to make sure she is fine though. She is in a lot of pain.”

  “You bloody think! Goddammit Damien!”

  He kicked his chair back with such force when he rose it nearly crashed through the window. Damien’s expression did not change. Rory knew about Amber and Paul and that she was the cause of his death. More than anyone he knew how devastated Damien was when he heard Amber went directly from his arms to his brothers.

  “Let’s have a look, Amber. No Damien, you caused enough …”

  “Forget it. I will carry her to the bed and I will be present during the examination.”

  Amber closed her eyes in embarrassment. The only consolation was that they were clearly very good friends and acted more like brothers.

  Rory instructed her to remove her panties, which of course Damien did and stood back, holding them in his hand. Rory shook his head and assisted Amber to move down lower on the bed and gently raised her legs to place her feet in the stirrups at the side o
f the bed. She gasped and winced and he speared another glare at Damien.

  He spoke to her and explained everything he was doing and apologized for the coldness of the speculum when he gently pushed it inside her sheath. She hissed and closed her eyes. Damien stepped closer and took her hand in his. Her fingers clutched tightly around his. Rory had a band with a sharp light around his head when he lowered between her legs to start the examination. He shook his head and slowly removed the speculum. He looked at Amber.

  “I can’t see clearly, except that you are very swollen. I am going to use a dilating vaginal speculum. We start by inflating the vagina with filtered air and it works similar to an internal colposcopy. It also has an internal light source that illuminates the vaginal wall and cervix with multi-colored light filters. I am able to pivot the Veda-scope for a better view of any part of your vagina barrel and cervix. It is linked to the computer screen so I will get a very clear picture. Are you comfortable that I continue with that, Amber?”

  She nodded and her fingers tightened around Damien’s hand. His eyes were on the computer screen and he unconsciously stroked her hair. Rory noticed the tender gesture and smiled within, even though he was furious about his friend’s violent behavior, which he still battled to comprehend. Damien was a hard and ruthless man, but never cruel or violent.

  Amber kept her eyes on Damien rather than on Rory and noticed his lips flattening into a hard, straight line. From the images on the screen it was clear that her cervix took a massive amount of strain and Rory’s face was stern when he removed the speculum, cleaning it slowly.

  “Are you done?”

  He nodded and Damien gently took Amber’s feet from the stirrups and lowered her to the floor. He bent down and she stepped into her panties which he then pulled up her legs. She slapped his hands away and finished the task herself. When she looked up it was to see a massive fist swing past her face and connect with force against Damien’s chin.

  His head swung to the side but he did not move. He growled and grabbed Rory by the front of his shirt. Amber placed her hand over his and the other against Rory’s chest.

  “Please, stop! You are friends. Please don’t fight over this.”