Page 68 of Chased By a Billionaire

I closed my eyes, inhaled and exhaled, and thought about my mother’s rosy cheeks, which would flush when she was happy. I imagined her pride and joy at knowing I was no longer stuck in poverty, and that I’d put down a deposit on a new apartment.

Clearing my head of sad thoughts, I turned on the television. Man U. was playing, and with a six-pack chilling in the fridge and a pizza smiling back at me, I felt quite at home and miles away from the shitstorm brewing in Savanah’s universe.

My phone sounded. Seeing it was Declan, I picked up. “Hey, what’s up?”

“Savanah’s been badly beaten.”

“You’re fucking kidding me.” My veins froze. “Fucking Bram, I bet.” Blood rushed through me, setting me into battle mode. I needed this bastard’s balls on a platter.

“She’s not saying who did it. She’s asking for you. That’s why I’m calling.”

I rubbed my head repeatedly. “Is she okay?”

“She’s in hospital. Her face is pretty messed up. She sustained a fair bit of bruising. He’s a fucking animal.”

My head swirled as though immersed in a cloud of thunder. I wanted to kill him.

“She keeps asking for you. I’m sorry. I know you asked for a few days off.”

“It’s fine. I’ll go now. Just send me the details.”

“She told me that someone had sent you the sex tape.”

“Yep.” I puffed. “I even spoke to Bram at his family home. He denied it.”

He sighed. “I think Savvie needs to go away somewhere until the dust settles.”

“What about Bram? You’re going to press charges, aren’t you?”

“Savvie has to press the charges.” He sighed. “I believe my mother’s on the phone to Lord Pike right now. Anyway, I’ll wait until you get here before leaving the hospital. She needs someone around her.”

“I’m coming now.”

Chapter 19

Savanah

Ithurttowalk.My mother looked up from her newspapers. Her eyes had gone glassy like she’d been crying. Were those for me? Or for Carrington, who’d left the night before in a hurry? They’d been inseparable for two months, and now he was gone. I’d heard them arguing about something, but lost in my horror story, I wasn’t paying much attention.

“How are you, darling?” she asked, placing down her paper.

“I’m getting there. I can walk better today.” I sat down slowly.

My lower back and pelvis still ached, to be expected after being kicked repeatedly. I must have blacked out after Bram started kicking me because I couldn’t remember what happened after that. The staff at the London hotel must have heard my screams because the next thing I knew, I was stretchered off to the hospital.

After they’d banged down the doors of his father’s estate, the police arrested Bram, I’d heard while lying in hospital. I wasn’t about to deny his involvement.

The pity gleaming from my mother’s stare made me want to scream and do something nasty like have Bram strangled. All kinds of ugly thoughts rushed through me now that I’d finally woken out of my painkiller-induced haze.

“I’ve got a prescription I need to have collected,” I said. “Is Janet around? Or maybe someone?”

“I’ll arrange that.” She studied me a little longer. “I’m sure that with time, you’ll be well again.”

I exhaled a deep breath. “The doctors think I won’t be able to have children, Mum.”

Tears slid down my cheeks. They seemed to arrive unannounced like it had become normal for me to cry at the drop of a hat.

She put her arm around me. “We’ll get the best advice and doctors. I’m sure you’ll be good with time.”

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