The Scorsolini Marriage Bargain

Her own duties did not magically disappear because of the family crisis, but in fact increased. And she had to spend at least part of every day at the hospital, where she put on her best front. She visited King Vincente and made sure Flavia was not wearing herself out playing nursemaid and then would go home only to worry about Claudio.

She was leaving King Vincente’s room one evening when she ran into Claudio.

He looked almost haggard with tiredness, but when he saw her, the mask of invincibility fell into place.

“You need to rest,” she said instead of a greeting, laying her hand on his arm.

He shrugged off her touch with a frown. “I am fine.”

“No, you aren’t. Everyone says you’re pushing yourself too hard, but no one knows what to do about it.”

“There is nothing to do. It is my duty to care for my country while my father is ill.”

“Your brothers—”

“Have their own responsibilities.”

“They’re worried about you.”

He glared down at her. “Did one of them ask you to speak to me?”

“Yes,” she said with a sigh. “Both of them actually.”

“I should have known you would not evince concern on your own.”

“I care about you, Claudio.”

“Of a certainty…you do not.”

She winced at the surety of his tone and the cynicism in his dark gaze. “I’m sorry.”

“So am I. Now if you will excuse me, I have only twenty-five minutes to spend with my father.”

“Are you coming home afterward?”

“No.”

“You have to sleep sometime.”

“Is that an invitation to your bed?”

Without volition, her expression twisted in revulsion at the thought of sharing her body intimately with him while pain racked her so incessantly.

He paled, his gaze hardening. “Well, that says it all, does it not?”

“No.” She reached out to grab him before he could walk away. “Please, Claudio, listen to me.”

He glared down at her. “You have nothing to say that I would want to hear.”

A cramp so severe sliced through her she slumped against the wall the moment it hit her. She couldn’t do this right now. Casualties were all around her and she could do nothing to help any of them. Her own self included.

“All right. I’ll see you later…whenever.” Forcing limbs to walk that just wanted to crumble, she left.

Claudio watched Therese leave with a mixture of rage and incomprehension. She behaved as if his cold attitude really hurt her, but she was the one who wanted a divorce. When she’d told him she still wanted it even after their incredible lovemaking, he’d been gutted.

She had just been using him.

The knowledge had hurt more than anything he had ever known, which in turn had filled him with fury. She wasn’t supposed to hurt him. She was his woman, flesh of his flesh…bone of his bone. The quintessential helpmate and lover…only she’d turned out to be a betrayer instead.

The fury brought about by that realization had not abated in six days. He walked around feeling like a bomb ready to explode. He was grateful for the extra workload of his father’s responsibilities because it gave him an outlet for the energy generated by his suppressed emotions.

He did not want his brothers to worry, but he had no intention of slowing down.

His father and his country needed him even if his wife did not.

Therese woke late that night to horrific pain and the sensation of sticky wetness on her thighs.

She’d bled through.

It wasn’t anything new since the endometriosis had begun, but usually if she got up and changed frequently in the night, she didn’t have to worry about it. She’d been so exhausted when she went to bed that she slept four hours straight.

She’d also forgotten to take her pain meds, she now remembered.

She tried to get up to take care of both problems, but fell back to the bed, a cry of pain tearing from her throat. The tiniest movement brought about sheer agony.

But remaining still hurt, too. So much she could barely breathe because of it.

She looked across the empty expanse of the bed. Claudio was not there of course. He often did not come to bed until the wee hours of the morning, if he came to bed at all. He’d slept in his office on a couple of nights and no one but she was the wiser. After their altercation at the hospital, he would no doubt be planning to do that again tonight.

Pain tore through her and she moaned, tears drenching her eyes and wetting her cheeks hotly as her body contorted in misery. If she could just get to the pain meds, but she couldn’t even reach the bedside table.

How could she have forgotten to take them?

She inched toward the edge of the bed, but the progress was slow going. How far away was the table? Pain made everything around her hazy. Maybe if she rolled. She pushed from one side to her stomach and almost blacked out from the pain. It would have been welcome if she had, she thought muzzily.