Page 106 of Lovers' Dance: Vol. 2

Matt’s jaw clenched in anger, as did his hands, but his tone was polite. “You forced her to, Cleo, and every subsequent thing after that was a direct result of your action.Youmade her chose.”

Cleo let out a shaky breath, nodding slowly. “I did.”

Matt wasn’t expecting her soft admission. A subtle insult perhaps, but not her remorseful admittance. He refrained from saying what he truly wanted to and simply nodded in agreement.

“I – we all missed her.” Cleo continued after a few deep breaths.

“She missed you terribly,” Matt confirmed. He knew the accusatory look he levelled her with would prick the guilt she obviously felt, but he’d witnessed the turmoil his poppet had been going through these past months. Cleo deserved it and more. Once again he had to remind himself she was still unwell.

“Is she happy?” Cleo asked, unable to meet his eyes.

Matt smiled, then chuckled under his breath. “As happy as she’ll allow me to make her.”

Cleo tried to laugh herself then stopped after a short fit of coughing. “I guess you do know her after all.”

Matt, against his better judgement, grasped her hand. “I do, and I love her, Cleo, every little thing about her. She’s my wife and if there’s anything I can say or do to prove exactly how much she means to me, then make it known and I’ll show you.” He blinkedonce as he observed her, noticing for the first time the very subtle similarities between her and Madi. Shape of eyes, the narrowness of nose…DuMont traits.

“But know this,” Matt continued and his eyebrows lowered in warning. “I willnotlet you or any member of your family hurt her again. I won’t tolerateanyonehurting her. Madison is the most important person in my life, she’s everything to me and I will do everything in my power to ensure no one hurts her. I love her too damn much to allow that.”

Cleo noted his vehement pledge with a thoughtful expression on her round face. “I-I owe you an apology.”

Matt moved to release her hand, but she held on.

“I judged you before knowing you,” Cleo huffed at herself. “Not very Christian-like. I was afraid for her, you see. Please understand, over here things are,” She appeared to flounder for her words. Matt had an idea to what she was referring.

“Different?” he offered and she nodded.

“Yes, very different.” She moistened her mouth with the tip of her tongue and squeezed his hand lightly. “I didn’t want anyone making her feel ashamed of who she was. I didn’t want her to get hurt.”

“So you hurt her first?” Matt shot back dryly.

Cleo let go off his hand and took a deep, shaky breath. “I deserved that. I’m not proud – I’m sorry.”

“Yes, well, I’m not the one you should be apologizing to,” Matt drawled.

She shook her head then winced slightly. “You are the coldest man I’ve ever known. I’ve just woken up from a coma! Five days. It’s only by the grace of God I’m alive.”

Matt shrugged. “Then you should be thankful you have the opportunity to make things right.”

“You’re older than my Madi.” she said. “And you can’t possibly understand the struggles of a black woman like a good black man could.” she paused to take a ragged breath. “You’re a rich white man who has never had to fight tooth and nail for what he has a right to. You can’t understand her the way a real black man can.”

Matt chewed his inner cheeks, battling the urge to tell Cleo exactly where to get off. Again, he reminded himself about her state of health. Honestly, the woman appeared as if she would slip back into an unconscious state the very next moment.

“So you’d like me better if I were black?” he mocked.

Cleo huffed again. “Maybe.”

“Your niece loves me just the way I am. Do you understand what I’m saying to you? She loves me.” Matt stated without doubt. “I accept there are important issues concerning our racial differences and how it can affect us, but I refuse to let it become a problem. I don’t care about the money. I personally don’t care if you ever accept me. The only thing I care about is my wife and making sure she’s happy.” He leaned forward in the chair. “And therein lies my problem, because as long as you disapprove of my relationship with her, she’ll be unhappy.”

At that moment Madi snored loudly, drawing both their attention to where she slept. Cleo coughed and put a hand to her chest.

“You’ll take care of her?” she asked.

“Yes.” Matt replied.

“I’ve tried to do right by her. I didn’t give birth to her, but she’s one of my babies, you know. She’s fragile,” Cleo started to cry and Matt hesitated before patting her hand lightly. “She’s strong but she’s fragile too. I didn’t know how to make her whole, I tried, God knows I tried, but when my brother died – she never – I tried. I needed her to be strong because he was. He was such a beautiful man and when he died a part of me died too. It used to hurt looking at her. She reminds me of him so much, so much; the smile, they have the same smile…and sometimes it hurt too much,” The tears were racing down her cheeks. “I pushed her away, told myself she had to learn to stand on her own two feet because no one gives you anything. God forgive me! I pushed her away because she reminded me of her mother too. That woman took my little brother away from me, he was all I had, and she took him. I – God forgive me-”

“It’s ok.” Matt said quietly.

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