Don't Say You Love Me (Boundless Love Book 1) (5 page)

‘Oh
Eugene, what have you done to me.’ She whispered to herself. ‘What have you done to me?’ Exhaustion won in the end, and Sahara fell asleep with a slight smile on her face.

****

He let himself into one of his many houses he owned all over the world. It was just his style, and taste, and he’d brought many women into it. But that evening, there was only one woman on his mind, Sahara. The house was done up in black, gold and white, all which was to his taste. The entrance had been done up in marble and a there was a great big chandelier right above it. The stair case was an amazing spiral that took anyone who went up them to seven rooms with en-suites and walk in closets. He had more space than he needed, but he loved it all the same.

When he was in the country, in the North, he had a handful of people that helped him. There was his chef, Lawrence, who did all his cooking, according to his diet and training regime. There was Seth, his personal trainer, who at times travelled with him around the world. Seth kept
Eugene in shape and was on call whenever he needed him. Then there were the people who kept the house in its immaculate condition, the gardeners and the cleaners who dealt more with his personal assistant than with him.

Eugene
had a life many people would die for, and yet he always found himself hopelessly single. As he walked towards the kitchen, to retrieve a well needed beer, his mobile rang. He gazed at the number and swore under his breath.

‘
Ah Pam!’ He put on a cheery voice.

‘What happened? I thought you were coming over tonight?’

He pursed his lips together, curled his left hand into a fist and tried to think fast.

‘Baby, I’m sorry
, something came up.’

‘Something always comes up with you. Are you seeing someone else?’

He scrunched his eyes shut. Why was he always caught up in these situations?

‘We agreed that we weren’t exclusive, or have you forgotten?’

‘You decided that, I never said I agreed.’

‘Pam, why do you do
this? You know I’m not ready for a commitment.’

‘Well, screw you! Don’t you ever call me again when you want to get all down and dirty.’ She was almost in tears.

‘Honey, don’t be like that. It’s just how I feel.’

The phone went dead! He gazed at his mobile, shrugged and felt rather reli
eved. Sometimes women were crazy! He continued to get his well needed beer, opened it and then his mobile buzzed.

‘What now!’  He scanned the message.

Hi, are we still on for tomorrow evening? Pen xx.

He took a swig at the beer and tried to remember who the hell Pen was.

‘Pen, Pen…oh god yes, Penelope!’

How had it slipped his mind? He checked his calendar on his iPhone.

Date with hot blonde, great legs and fantastic smile.

‘Oh, yes, now I remember. Shit!’

Eugene had suddenly lost interest in all these women. Sahara had cast a very strange spell on him, and the fact she wasn’t so willing to fall into his arms like most women, got him even more curious about her.

Sorry babe, I’ve got to fly out to
France tomorrow. Business.
He texted back.

Two minutes later.

When are you back? We can get together then.

He sighed as he read the message.

Not sure yet, will text you when I’m back.

A minute later.

Okay. Look forward to it! xxx.

He shoved the mobile into his pocket and took another gulp of the beer. He looked around the empty kitchen and sighed. He knew exactly who he wanted to be in it, he just had to figure a way to get to her.
Myles and Emily had been so secretive about her.

‘What’s the big deal anyway?’ he asked himself as he made his way upstairs and into his study.

He took a seat in the big brown leather chair, switched on the laptop and started to do some digging. He was not letting this go, he couldn’t. He always wanted what he wanted.

He started with facebook. Not that he was much of a facebook fan, but he had his own
private circle of friends, of which one of them was Myles. From Myles, page he found Emily and from Emily’s page he found…Nothing.

‘She’s not on facebook? Who
isn’t on facebook these days?’ He sat back and took in more of the beer.

After a moments thought he rang a number.

‘It’s Saturday, and I told you not to call me,’ Casey screamed down the phone.

‘You love me anyway.’ He laughed. ‘I need you to do me a favour.’

‘Didn’t you hear a word I said?’

‘Of course I did, and you’ll be greatly compensated for your troubles.’ He still laughed.

‘What do you need?’ She buckled.

‘I need you to find out about someone.’

‘Let me guess, a woman?’

‘Not just any woman.’

‘How many times do I have to tell you? I’m your P.A. not your dating chaperone or whatever you call them.’

Again he laughed. ‘Oh go on, I know you’re curious.’

Casey had been working for Eugene for five years now. They had a great relationship and they worked well together.

‘You know that the one woman I want, I can’t have because she’s married.’

‘Oh please.’ She giggled.

In the beginning, he’d tried it on with Casey, but she was quick to put him in his place, and she was very much in love with her fiancé at the time.
Eugene admired that about her, and it made their working relationship great.

‘So will you do this for me?’

‘You know I will. What do you need?’

‘Could you get hold of that investigator
again? The one who found out about – ’

‘That crazy woman you almost dated?’

‘Yes, him.’

‘What’s her name and surname?’

‘Sahara.’

‘Hmmm… nice name. Surname?’

‘I don’t have it but…’

‘But what?
’

‘I do have details that will probably find her.’

He gave out all the information he knew about Myles and Emily. He was certain, where there was Emily, Sahara would be found.

‘Do me a favour,’ he said.
‘Make sure they don’t find out.’

‘I’ll do my best. Can I get back to my life?’

‘Of course you can.’ He giggled. ‘Hey, Casey.’

‘Yes?
’

‘Thank you.’

‘You’re welcome.’

He hung up, this wasn’t just another woman to him, deep down he felt it.
Sahara felt like the woman he’d been searching for all his life. It was the strangest and yet the best feeling in the world!

Chapter Three

‘Are you ready honey?’ Elizabeth knocked on the bathroom door. It had been three days since the wedding. Sahara had recovered somewhat, but she knew it would be short lived.

‘I’ll be out in a few minutes,’ she said.

‘Okay honey, I’ll be downstairs.’

Sahara
gazed at herself in the mirror. Her once long hair was short. She missed it, but every time she’d attempted to grown it, she lost it again. She touched the side of her chest and felt the tunneled catheter that had been used not just for chemotherapy, but also for other forms of medication. She remembered the ordeal like it was yesterday. Sahara had started with bouts of serious stomach cramps and pains at the early age of seventeen. The visits to the doctor had been many, and many times over she’d been dismissed.

‘She’s probably stressing about her exams, or moving out into university.’ Was one
doctor’s response.

‘It’s probably irritable bowel syndrome,’ said another.

‘Cut out wheat for a while and see what happens,’ another one suggested.

‘We’ll send you for blood tests, if there’s anything wrong, it will show.’ The fifth doctor had said, after
Elizabeth had pleaded with them.

Things had begun to get worse, but it didn’t matter how many times they mentioned this to the different doctors, they always came up with the same answer.

‘She’s too young to be worrying about anything serious. It will pass.’

It wasn’t until
Sahara went for her blood tests with the practice nurse did she begin to fight. It was the words of the nurse that kept her strong.

‘Keep knocking on a
doctor’s door until someone listens. Only you know your body, only you know what you feel.’ The nurse had said.

The nurse was right,
Sahara just didn’t feel right. Every time she ate she felt sick. There had been times when she hadn’t been to the toilet for days, and suffered severe bloating. Again she visited the doctor, and again she was dismissed with an appointment with a dietician. It wasn’t until she read symptoms of bowel cancer in the office where she waited to be seen, did she think it was possible.

Sahara
relayed her worries to her mother, who took it as seriously as she did, and again, they were at the doctor’s office.

‘It’s hardly lik
ely, with your age and everything else, we wouldn’t think so.’

And so again, they were dismissed without the answers they needed and
Sahara feeling no where near better. But that didn’t stop them, not when Sahara suffered a terrible bout of diarrhoea that had some blood in it. Elizabeth and her daughter marched back to the doctors, but this time demanded to see someone who was much more senior, someone who would listen.

Finally after fifteen visits to the
doctor’s office, Sahara was seen by a doctor who listened. He looked back at all the visits notes, all the symptoms and what they had to say. It concerned him, and even though it was rare for someone her age to have bowel cancer, it wasn’t impossible. 

‘I’ll have you fast tracked for a full body scan,’ he’d said.

Sahara would never forget those words, they were the words that had saved her life, but that had also changed her life for good. They had found cancer in the bowel, the growth was from twelve o’clock to two o’clock in size. Her life went from one of enjoyment as a young teen to being wheeled into theatre, followed by intense treatment of chemotherapy. It had been the treatment that had worked for her.

She’d told her nearest and dearest, and had asked
every one of them to treat her as normal. It had been hard for Emily at the start, but she soon understood why it was so important to Sahara. Sahara survived on being positive, and after a long tiresome journey, she heard words that brought tears to her eyes.

‘You’re in remission.’

Sahara had just turned twenty-four. But that had been six years ago, and unfortunately the cancer had come back, this time in her breast. It had been the strangest thing, she’d always thought if it came back, it would be in her bowel again.

‘This isn’t a secondary cancer.’ The doctor had said. ‘We got rid of all the cancer from your bowel. This I’m afraid, is primary.’

Sahara had dropped her head in her hands and cried. She didn’t want to go through it again, the pain, the surgery, the chemo.

‘What are the fucking chances?’ she’d asked angrily.

‘I’m sorry.’

‘Is this hereditary, am I doomed to always having cancer?’

‘I’m…’ He didn’t want to tell her that it was possible she’d inherited an abnormal gene that led to cancer. ‘Your mother seems fine, is there anyone in your family who’s been through this?’ He asked.

Sahara
sniffed. She was an only child to a single parent, and she had no idea who her father was. Elizabeth never wanted to talk about him, and she’d respected that.

‘No, I don’t know, maybe.’ She sniffed. ‘What
happens now?’

The doctor explained what she already knew and she was soon in the care of an oncologist. From that day forth,
Sahara decided to embrace the cancer, allow it to be a part of who she was, but not let it be her, or destroy her…

‘Honey, we need to get going.’
Elizabeth’s voice pulled her back into the present moment.

‘Yes, okay, I’m coming.’ She pushed back her shoulders and stood tall. She
was a fighter, she always had been.

The only thing she regretted was not allowing her heart to love. The first time anyone had asked her out, was during her remission years. The guy had been sweet, but she’d been held back by the fact that she’d spent most of her life ill. She wanted to live, to try new things, which had led to her opening her own florist shop. It had been a dream come true, the day she’d opened it. Flowers had, had a deep meaning
for her while she’d fought bowel cancer. They’d brought happiness, and colour into her life. They’d brought light smells that didn’t necessarily make her ill.

But for the moment,
Sahara could only work when she was feeling strong enough to do so. With the help of Elizabeth who had retired from nursing, she would help run the shop when Sahara was too tired to cope.