Page 138 of Lovers' Dance: Vol. 2

I winced at the jolt of pain in my shoulder as I reasoned, “Can you just calm down?”

“Calm down?” Matt drawled in a low tone. “You want me to calm down?”

With a mental curse at my folly, I shrank against the leather upholstery. The worst thing you can do when dealing with an irate person is to tell them to ‘calm down’. It only infuriates them further.

“I bloody wellwarnedyou.” he repeated harshly. “Yet you allowed your naivety to lead you into a situation where another man put his hands on you.” Matt slammed one hand against the steering wheel. “What was it he said? Hmm, Madison? Ah yes, you made him fall in love with you. How did you do that,sweetheart?”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Matthew.” I was getting mad now. “At least he didn’t have his hand onmybits like Louisa did withyouthat night! It was just a stupid kiss. I didn’t know Dougie would do something like this. I thought we were friends.”

At my utterance of the word ‘friends’ Matt swore softly under his breath. The intermittent light from the street lamps as we drove by allowed me to see the increasing anger on his features. Not only were his cheeks a dark splotchy red, but his eyes seemed to be stuck in a perpetual narrowed state, and his mouth curled into an unpleasant line.

“Matt, let’s just forget this whole mess. You know, technically if you hadn’t forced me to accompany you to this party, none of this would have happened. If you look at it from that point of view, you should shoulder some of the blam-”

“Shut up.” his frigid command was devoid of all emotions. “I swearif you don’t shut up right now,”

My lips pressed tightly together. Matt had never spoken to me like that before, not ever. I stared at his clenched hands over the steering wheel.

“I warned you.” Matt muttered.

Ok. He wasn’t just mad. What was stronger than livid? Enraged didn’t quite cover the look on his handsome face. Oh shit. What had occurred in the parlour? Matt was extremely possessive, and he wouldn’t take it well: the fact another man had been playing kissy faces with me.

“You didn’t hurt Dougie, did you?” I blurted out. Yes, I was annoyed with Dougie’s behaviour but that didn’t mean I wanted him beaten to a pulp.

Matt twisted his head in my direction. His eyes glinted, burning holes through me as he asked, “Are you concerned over his well-being, Madison? Are you worried about yourfriend?”

Crappity crap. It was the wrong thing to ask. I needed to shut the hell up. With a quick shake of head I avoided his eyes and resumed staring at his white knuckles. This was bad.

The silence on the drive home was worse than any silence we’d ever endured, and Matt’s angry expression disappeared, replaced by a mask of impassiveness. I preferred the anger. The expression he wore now had my mind on hyper-drive. What was he planning to do? I snuck anxious peeks at his profile. He looked like a man with premeditation on the brain, and yes, I meant premeditation of a murderous act. I was the dead one, not stupid Dougie who couldn’t keep his lips to himself. God. I wished I’d stayed home tonight. A plan was definitely needed. I had my keys in the clutch. Maybe when Matt pulled up in front the house I could run to my car and escape before he did something that couldn’t be undone. But would I be able to drive with a bum shoulder?

George was home. George would protect me…but George was undoubtedly loyal to Matt. Heck. He’d probably help him dispose of my body, and I didn’t really speak to the neighbours so I couldn’t go knocking on their doors. Fumbling with nerves I managed to ease my cell out the clutch. Matt glanced over, noticing the movements of my hands. He still wore that empty expression on his face, confirming my worst thoughts. I was certain he’d made peace with the decision to end me.Stupid Dougie. Sticking his tongue in mymouth. There was nothing for it, I needed to call the cops right now and have them meet us at the house.

“Who are you intending to call, Madison?” Matt eyed my cell. His pleasant question made my fingers tremble even more.

Why was he so calm? And his continued use of my first name spelt trouble. I just shook my head, mindful of his ‘shut up’ threat. I was being ridiculous. Matt abhorred violence, especially violence against women. He’d never hurt me. My husband was a rational being. A civilized Englishman, who would never lower himself to commit something as distasteful as murder. Plus he loved me. With that reassuring thought I relaxed a bit, knowing once we got home I could better reason with him. It wasn’t my fault. When we finally parked up in front our home, Matt turned the engine off and twisted sideways to stare at me.

“I’m very angry over this whole situation,” One eyebrow was lowered. “Very angry, Madison.”

“I’m sorry.” I said with heartfelt remorse, even though my inner voice was saying:girl, what you sorry for? This isn’t your fault. Sock him in the eye for telling you to shut up.

Matt inhaled and exhaled slowly. “That’s not good enough.”

What did he mean bythat? Matt’s gaze pinned me to the seat and all my fears came rushing back. Yeah, he had the premeditation thing going on again.

“Let’s get inside the house where we can resolve this.” The ominous echo in his voice had my heart picking up speed.

Matt grabbed his dinner jacket off the back and got out. I observed as he made his way around to my side. This was it. Once I went into the house he would ‘resolve’ it. Resigned to my fate, I allowed him to help me out the car and up the front steps where he opened up the door. Matt stepped aside so I could enter first. It was nerve-racking feeling his presence behind me. The sharp clicks as he locked the front door made my mouth dry. I put my clutch and cell on the small table. With a hand on my lower back Matt guided me out the foyer and down the hallways.

“Matt,” My voice shook. “Look, I’m really sorry I didn’t listen when you said Dougie-”

“We’ll talk upstairs, Madison.” he cut me off and urged me up the stairs.

“My shoulder hurts.” I was hoping that would call to theprotective side of him.

“Then you shouldn’t have picked up the shotgun, should you?” came back dryly.

Each stair was climbed with a foreboding I couldn’t shift. Matt’s hand on my lower back wasn’t comforting. In fact, it made me more anxious. Inside our bedroom he shut the door and looked at me for a moment. I held his gaze.

“You’re going to kill me, aren’t you?” I asked quietly.

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