Silent Screams (Hollow #1)

CHAPTER 28

It’s amazing how a few hours can make your world look different. It’s Tuesday. I’m at my desk, coaxing myself to work, while Damon spent most of the morning ignoring me.

He didn’t touch me.

We barely spoke as we rode to work in silence. I told Joey to drop me off at a coffee shop nearby. The last thing we need is for coworkers to know we’re sleeping together.

Or were. I’m not sure with Damon. No words left his mouth as I closed the Lexus door behind me, walking to the coffee place.

Yesterday night’s shower fuck was his goodbye. The only thing he gave me was a look that contained a million different versions of I’m sorry.

I believe he thinks he’s doing the right thing. He’s convinced we shouldn’t be together. Maybe he’s right. Maybe I’m meant to be with Harvey. Maybe I’m not meant to be with either of them.

But what if Damon’s wrong?

I send Damon a brief report, thankful when my workload trims down because I can’t focus on anything other than the man in the office close by .

A beautiful tall brunette walks to my desk, demanding to see Damon. “He’s expecting me,” she says.

Is she here for business or for his own personal pleasure? Is this his way of pushing me away? Will he sleep with another woman so soon?

“Your name?” I ask, trying to be as polite as I can muster.

“Ms. Sutton.”

I nod and call Damon, telling him. “Send her in.” His tone settles the nerves in my stomach. It’s as if he’s reassuring me; he’s not being an asshole.

“What the fuck do you want?” I hear him say as soon as she walks in.

Oh God. Is it her ? The reason behind his pain, his inability to give me more, to believe he’s a good man? Does he still love her?

I wish I could hear what they’re saying, but even then, Damon never raises his voice. I hate that I’ve become this girl, first with Harvey and now with Damon.

Prying, snooping, begging.

My confidence sinks deeper and deeper.

To avoid doing more damage, I head to the kitchen to make some tea. Anything to keep my thoughts occupied.

When I’m done wasting time, I head back to my desk. Damon sent me an email telling me to hold his calls and cancel his meetings for the rest of the day.

I peek inside his office only to find it empty, and that’s when worry kicks in: he left with that woman.

I spot a small box on his desk, so I make my way over. Inside is a hidden picture frame and what seems like pink and purple journals.

I pick up the pink journal—knowing I shouldn’t—knowing this would break Damon’s trust in me if he walked in right now and saw me rummaging through his things.

Ignoring that little voice of reason, I flip the hardcover over, seeing the majority of pages completely ripped from its spine, the words written in beautiful cursive.

Don’t read it, Gemma. He’d hate you for it.

I know—I know Damon would hate me if he knew. So I drop it back into the box, pulling myself away from it as if the journal contained a soulless monster.

One thought consumes me as I sit down on my desk chair and continue to work. He’s gone, and he’s not coming back for the rest of the day.

The muscles of my heart spasm.

He told me. He told me not to fall for him ...

“I don’t know how many times I called you! I can’t believe you’d ignore me, Gem. Now I know you slept with him.”

I narrow my eyes at her while I brush Athena’s hair before her bedtime.

“Gem Gem sleep?” Athena asks innocently.

“Time for bed, sweetie,” Gia tells her gently, staring at me with the mean eyes she’s been giving me ever since I got here. I told her something happened and I wished to sleep at her place to have some space.

“Goodnight.” I kiss my niece on the cheek, and she hugs me tightly. I rejoice in this moment, in her love, in her innocence soothing me when I most need it.

They leave me alone, and I’m back in Damonland dreaming and thinking and overthinking. It’s all I’ve been doing today, thinking about Ms. Sutton.

“Spill.” Gia says when she comes back.

“We had sex.”

“And? How was it?”

I look away, my thoughts taking me back to the previous night. My body heats up, thinking about his thrusts and kisses .

“Something else. It was something else.”

“In a good way?”

I nod. “Very good way.”

She sighs. “I almost envy you, Gem. James is always tired because of work, and I’m often in the mood when I’m pregnant.”

“Sure, sure.”

“And Harvey?” She asks, placing a pillow beneath her feet on the coffee table.

I’m nervous telling her, but I do so anyway. “I broke up with him yesterday.”

With a shake of the head, she doesn’t respond. Then she angles her head to face me while it rests on the couch.

“I thought about it, you know,” she says. “I tried to imagine James continuing to push me away because he’s stressed with work. And I imagined him doing so for years. What it’d do to our relationship, to my confidence, how I’d probably question everything and myself.”

When she stares back at the fireplace, I hold in a breath.

It shouldn’t matter what she thinks. The deed is done. We had sex, and I can’t take it back. But I still don’t want her to hate me for this.

“I get it, Gem. I really do. I imagined meeting another man years later, a super duper hot one like Damon, who paid attention to me, made me feel alive again, and I think that many people in your position would do the same.”

I exhale, louder than I intended to.

“Your relationship with Harvey... it’s complicated...” I nod at her words. “You’re loyal to him. Even if Damon wants you, I don’t think you’ll truly let go of Harvey.”

“Gia—”

“Wait, let me finish. I was gonna say maybe you need to, though.”

My heart drops at her revelation. Because deep down—I know she’s right .

We’re silent. So silent, save for the crackle of the fireplace, rustling in the background.

Then I tell her about the drawings. She sympathizes, telling me this is Harvey’s doing. She thinks he pushed me away.

Maybe it’s true. Yet I still could’ve told him how I felt long ago.

I don’t divulge anything about the woman that came to see Damon today nor the journals. Not until I know for sure who she is.