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CHAPTER 16
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2021-11-17 08:36:44Regina had been so fascinated watching Damien work, seeing his mind process the problems, that she wasn’t prepared when he made excuses and motioned to the door.
Her gears didn’t change quickly, but the quivering urgency beneath his polite facade propelled her out the door ahead of him. He turned the opposite direction from which they’d arrived, and his steps picked up speed.
“Damien, wait!” she called. “Damien, where are you going?”
She struggled to keep up with his pace, trailing behind by several feet. His steps were quick, and he never looked back. Her heart pounded. A seriously wrong vibe made the fine hairs on her arms stand on end.
Regina followed him around twists and turns in the long hall
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Twisting her around, Damien pulled Regina off-balance to meet him like the last time. His breath hissed through his teeth as her cold clothes pressed to his bare chest, but he didn’t care. He was too busy anticipating her taste.“Chilly?” she teased, but it didn’t hide the way her body trembled beneath his hands. Then he was hit with her scent… Jasmine or maybe lavender… It was a scent so soft he could breathe her in forever. Every centimeter of his body stood up and took notice. He stared through the gloom. The wealth of hair, now curling in the humidity, hid the vulnerability of her neck. The thin shirt outlined the soft rounds of her breasts. The pale skin of her collarbone. The awareness he’d been fighting since that first night exploded like a sizzle b
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Still in total shock and extremely hurt, Regina grasped the handrail extra hard to keep herself steady. She wanted to be anywhere else but in that house, with Damien. Or Theodore… Regina just felt the need to go downstairs, open the door and run as far away as possible from all the Kennedys… Even if she was now, at least officially, one of them. But she knew she had to stay and pay her dues… Take care of Iris, June, Briar, Nicole… They all were her responsibility. They were depending on her to go through this ordeal…“One year… Just one year. Take one day at a time, Reggie… Hangin’ tough, girl,” she whispered trying to motivate herself and then swallowed hard. Walking with her head high down the main staircase, Regina forced one foot
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“Oh, God! This is way too much, old man!” he said slowly and shook his head feeling a shiver up and down his spine. Damien stared at the monstrosity of a monument Theodore Kennedy had erected for himself before turning away in disgust. He walked away from the crypt and the bronze coffin, leaving Regina behind as she greeted those still lingering at the graveside. Practically the whole town had attended the funeral, which made sense. The Kennedys were known by everybody in the town and outside of it. Theodore would have expected the town to pay homage to him in his death. Damien just wished he could ignore the twinges of guilt Theodore’s death had given him. Those final words, spoken in anger, left him feeling lower than low. ‘I wasn’t better than him,’ Dam
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Damien pushed open the study door with anticipation sizzling through his veins. An older man stood at the far window. When Briar had told him who was waiting, Damien had been surprised. Cliff Barnes’s background and business had been an obsession since the trip to the mill. His showing up at Kennedy Mansion and asking specifically to see Damien was a stroke of luck. Whether good or bad remained unclear. But it could give Damien a chance to face off with the competition on home turf. He observed Barnes for a moment. The man’s chubby hands curved around the carved wood borders of the shelves on each side as he surveyed the farmland as if he already owned it. ‘Well, old man, you’re in for a rude awakening,’
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As Barnes’s gaze inventoried the room once more, Regina eased farther into the background. Damien’s libido kicked into gear as he saw the emotions shift on her face. The same wave that had washed over her when she was defending his helpless mother. She was so passionate when it came to protecting others. Or when she was so pissed off that she forgot to be a polite little lady. The temper churning in those chocolate eyes shouldn’t turn him on. Luckily, Barnes couldn’t see it.“But I understand Kennedy Mill is special,” the man said, a small grin stretching his full lips. “And this house would fit me just perfect. I figured, after everything I heard about Damien, we could come to some sort of… compromise.”“I see,” Damien said, not giving the other man any clues. “What sort of…
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Regina stalled as she entered the study. She was the last to arrive, thanks to lingering with Iris and Nicole for longer than she planned. Avoiding the inevitable, as if that was possible. After all, will or not, Damien would leave. His smooth good looks and smoldering intensity had seduced her into forgetting that. Too bad his temperamental attitudes weren’t enough to cool her newly awakened libido. She paused beside Briar, whom she’d been worried about since Theodore’s death.“How are you holding up, Briar?” The butler rested his sad eyes on her.“I know it was his time, Mrs. Regina. I really understand that. But this will be a big change.”“Yes, Briar,” she replied and
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Damien hated being at the local country club. Right now, he preferred solitude. But his brothers had insisted on a nice dinner before they both left. Lucas would be away for quite a while as he got ready for the racing season. Joshua was headed out to start preparations for moving back home. It would take him some time, but the move was a definite. The will said nothing about Damien hiring someone to run the plant, so he was still abiding by the letter of the law. Theodore’s law. The cause of all the tension, especially between him and Regina. The wife he’d tried at the first opportunity to get rid of after persuading her to have sex with him. Brilliant! How could one woman make him feel so out of control and alert at the same time? H
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What was he doing…? Was he playing games with her again? Regina didn’t pull her hand back as quickly as she should have, but knowing that simple touch was the only thing she’d ever have from Damien made it hard. Still, watching her father walk toward her table evoked more emotions than she could handle. Nerves and resignation churned in her stomach, not mixing well with what she’d had for dinner. How, after all these years, could the man who was biologically responsible for her existence still make her want to shrivel up into a tiny ball to escape his notice? John Duquesne paused next to their table, drawing all eyes to him. His presence was commanding, much the same way as Theodore’s. Money, self-confidence, and a hard personality would do that for a man.&
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She was on her knees on the floor, in front of her open closet… Crying over her clothes… She missed Damien. He was always busy, but until today, always within reach. She missed arguing and the comfortableness of working together. But, above all, Regina missed the intensity of his passion and the feel of her soul mingling with his. The days were torture. The nights were devastating. They went to sleep, each on their respective sides of the bed. Some nights, lying there feeling useless and empty, Regina thought she’d give anything to have him curled against her back like he had that night in the hospital. Sure enough, by morning they would be tangled together, and her heart broke all over again. Something had to give soon because having him close but not having him for real was killi
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Drawn to the woman he loved like a puppet on a string, Damien approached her hospital bed with caution. Sitting in the chair beside her wouldn’t do it. He needed to be near, to touch Regina and assure himself that she was okay. The doctor said they only wanted to monitor her oxygen, but the need remained. Her body was so still. Was she sunk deep in the healing sleep she so desperately needed? Or was she pretending to sleep so she didn’t have to deal with him at all? Taking a chance, Damien settled on the space beside her in the bed. There was just enough room for him to sit, his thigh resting along the curve of her back as she faced the opposite wall. Testing his welcome, he lay his hand on top of her hip. Sure enough, her body jerked
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The men looked at each other, then around the back lawn. Damien’s whole body tightened.“I guess she didn’t come out,” Joshua said. “Maybe she must still be in the house… with mom.” Briar was already shaking his head as Damien spoke.“Have you ever known her to not be involved in something with this household?” He turned to sprint toward the cabin, adrenaline surging through his veins.“I thought the cabin was locked,” Joshua yelled from beside him as they ran. It seemed like forever before they reached the clearing now dusky with smoke. A quick glance back showed the other men were headed their way, loaded down with hoses and buckets.
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Regina’s bare feet ghosted over the back lawn, damp from the evening’s dew. She couldn’t stand being cooped up in the house anymore. Damien had been gone five days. The amount of time Stanton had informed Joshua he was prearranged to be away. After tonight, they would be in violation of the will. Damien hadn’t contacted her personally, so she had no idea if he planned to be home by morning... or not. Or if he’d ever come back… She wished she had the option of escape, even if only for a few hours. Instead, she’d waited until June headed out for Wednesday night church. The sympathetic looks were more than she could handle.“I must have been out of my mind… To let things go so far…” she said while walking slowly.&nb
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Damien ran his fingers through the hair and sighed, then twisted her way. His expression was extremely preoccupied.“Hey, gorgeous,” he said slowly, those whispered words reaching through her confusion. “Sorry to wake you.”“No problem, Damien. I was already awake…” ‘He is about to leave… to leave the mansion… to leave all of them again… leave her…’ she thought. Feeling a cold shiver going up and down her spine, Regina pulled the comforter tight around her, wishing she wasn’t naked. The protection of her clothes would be a big comfort right now.“What’s going on? It’s something wrong in New York?”“There’s been a water leak at the warehouse. The alarms ale
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Life often moved in directions Regina never expected. She had spent a lifetime going to movies and restaurants alone, hanging out in coffee shops and bookstores on her days off. But as she looked around the dinner table a month later, she finally understood that she was no longer alone. That’s what family was for. And she had claimed the people around her as hers, for as long as they would let her.“I have an idea,” she said, gaining the attention of the table. Everyone was in their usual places, one end full now that Joshua had rejoined them and Lucas had been able to clear a brief few days for his appearance at the fair. Briar and June peeked through the door from the kitchen.“I think we should go to the fair. Together.”“The fair?” June said
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“We’re a little too early for a harvest festival, which is what we put together for the high school last year. How can we fine-tune this summer fair, ladies?” Regina asked. Surrounding her was a group of women who loved working together for the good of the community, and were known as the go-to choice for getting things done. They weren’t from the country club like Candy’s set, who simply threw money at a charity to be seen doing it. Just good women who worked hard and had fun.“I’m so excited,” Billie Walker said, clapping her hands together like a happy little kid. “It’s been a long time since we had a true country fair. Or anything more than that awful carnival set up in the high school parking lot.” Lana Simmons jumped in, too.“And the fairgrounds are still in really good
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She’d seen it so often, Regina wished she could tell him he wasn’t the only one but didn’t want to risk scaring him off by getting too deep. Instead, she settled for something simpler, to help Damien ease up a little. “You haven’t spent much time in a sickroom.” His eyes widened slightly before his face resumed an emotionless mask.“Does it show that much?” Sighing, Regina sank into her chair on the opposite side of the bed. Why had she thought he would make this easy on either of them? She smiled down at Iris, the woman who’d become a surrogate mother to her before the older woman’s accident. Her heart ached with the guilt of her involvement.“It’s alright, you know… It’s often hard for family a
