by J. Kenner
“Anything you want. But maybe sometime, when you’re ready, I think I’d like you to call me Dad.”
“Okay, Stark,” Ash said. “I guess we’ll see.” But when he smiled, Damien knew that everything was going to be okay.
19
Damien spent the following morning dealing with all of the meetings he’d put off because of the recent drama in his life.
It was a welcome change from the family drama, though he couldn’t truly regret the last few days. Though they had been hell at times, in the end he’d smoothed a path between him and Ash.
He had another son.
It still amazed him. Two daughters, two sons. And yes, he regretted missing all of the childhood moments with Ashton, but the truth was, he’d been a child himself.
Nor could he wish for circumstances to be different. Ashton was who he was because of those circumstances. But he hated the fact that he hadn’t known that his son existed for so long.
Still, he knew now. And he intended to move forward with Ash as a full member of the family.
Nikki, thank God, agreed. She would’ve had every right to find the situation awkward and off-putting. But she told him on the ride back from the hotel last night that Ash was welcome in their home at any time. That he needed to meet their kids, come over for brunch or beach time, and start sliding into the family.
Damien had still been glowing from the simple fact that Ashton had told Damien to call him Ash, but Nikki was already thinking about practical ways to bring him into the family. If he didn’t already love her with his full capacity, he would’ve loved her more because of that.
“Mr. Stark, Alaine Beauchene called. He’s waiting for you downstairs.” Troy’s voice rang out over the intercom.
“Tell him I’ll be right there.”
He put away the documents he was working on, grabbed his suit coat, and headed for his office door. He’d called Alaine earlier to ask if his friend had time for a cup of coffee. Fortunately, Alaine was working at one of his downtown restaurants today. Neither one of them had much time, but they agreed to meet at Java B’s, the coffee shop in the Stark Tower lobby, then sit outside for a quick chat.
“It is always a pleasure to see you,” Alaine said when they were finally seated. “But I feel like you had a specific purpose in mind today.”
“Well, you’re right about that. I thought you deserved the truth.”
Alaine’s brow furrowed. “I appreciate that. But what are we talking about?”
“The note left at my house. And the similar texts that were flooding both my and Nikki’s message apps.”
“Oh.” Alaine leaned back, looking confused. “What about them?”
“You know that I’m a man who looks at the facts and tries to not let my emotions sway me.”
“Of course.”
“Well, one of the facts l considered was that you only learned about what happened between me and Sofia in Germany when I went public. And the fact that she was recently killed saving Nikki’s life.”
Alaine shook his head. “All true, but I don’t see your point.”
Damien sighed, knowing he just had to get through this. “I’m getting to it. Alaine, I’ve also known for years you had a bit of a crush on Sofia.”
Alaine chuckled. “Well, that is one way of saying it. Perhaps I let my heart overlook the reality, but I never saw her as broken. I know she was, but I loved her. I truly did.”
“I know,” Damien said softly. “And that’s why when all of this started, it entered my mind that you might be behind it. That you were angry that Nikki was alive and Sofia wasn’t. I know now that it wasn’t you, and I’m sorry for even thinking it. I just wanted you to know.”
“To know that you suspected me?”
“Yes. Like I said, I value your friendship. I think it’s fair that you should understand the way my thoughts were going.”
“I appreciate that, but you owe me no apology.”
“Thank you for saying that. But there’s more. I think you have a right to know who was truly behind those texts that I was receiving.”
Alaine’s eyes went wide. “You found your culprit?”
“I’d been staring at him all along. Hell, I’ve been staring at him my entire life.”
Alaine sat back in his seat. “Your father.”
“I should have realized right away. But, I didn’t initially understand what the end game was.”
“What was it?”
“To keep me and my son at odds so that Jeremiah could worm his way into Ashton’s business. So that he could skim money off his grandson since he couldn’t manage to do it off of me.”
“Tell me something, my friend,” Alaine said. “Did your father know the truth? About what Richter did to you and Sofia?”
“He did. That’s another reason I should have suspected him. The man is the lowest form of slime”
“I have to say, I believe your assessment is correct.”
“I hate the fact that I was so disloyal to you,” Damien said.
“No, please. You owe me no apology. You were protecting your family.”
“That’s true, but in the process I forgot that you’re family, too. You have been since we were children.”
Alaine reached across the table and put his hand on Damien’s. “I cannot tell you how much that means to me.”
“I mean every word,” Damien said. “I know that we don’t see each other as much as we should. We’re both busy, but it was you and Sofia who made those days bearable. And that’s meant a lot. You helped make me who I am.” He grinned. “Some people may not think that’s a good thing, but I do.”
Alaine chuckled. “As do I.”
Damien lifted his cup. “At any rate, that’s why I wanted to have coffee.”
“I’m glad we did. And I’m glad you told me the truth. I’m so sorry that you have had to live with that man in your life all these years. I miss my father terribly, and he was a very good man. I can’t imagine what it would’ve been like having a monster for a father.”
“I wouldn’t wish that knowledge on you.”
Alaine looked at his watch. “I’m sorry but I must go. Perhaps we can get together for brunch? My treat. We can call it another test for when you reschedule your ceremony.”
Damien laughed. “I would love that.”
They both stood and Alaine pulled him into a hug. “Then we will make plans. I will speak to you soon.”
The rest of the day passed quickly, filled with more meetings and a seemingly endless stream of paperwork. When he finally came home, he felt dead on his feet, but seeing the kids revived him. And while he never would have expected it, a game of Twister in the living room was just the thing to take his mind off work. Especially when he had three little kids crawling all over him, making him laugh, and making Nikki laugh even harder as she watched and took pictures with her phone.
They ended the day in bed, this time just the two of them, and he pulled her close. She moved to straddle him, then kissed him softly. “You look very tired, Mr. Stark.”
“I’m never too tired for you.”
She laughed. “I appreciate the compliment, but I think you are.” She stroked his cheek, then kissed him gently. “I love you,” she said.
“You know you’re my world, right?”
She nodded. “I do. That’s the miracle of my life. But you already knew that, too.”
He pulled her close, then kissed her, losing himself in the taste and the scent of her. She’d been right when she said he was tired, but it didn’t matter; his body craved her. Wanted her. Needed her.
It had been a crazy week, and he wanted nothing more than to lose himself in this moment. The kiss deepened, and his hands slid under the T-shirt she wore then down lower until he was cupping her ass under her sleep shorts.
“You’re too tired, Mr. Stark.”
“I promise you I’m not. But if you’re worried about me, then I’ll just stay on my back and let you do all the work.”
<
br /> “I think that can be arranged.”
She sat up and pulled off her clothes, then tossed them on the floor. Before the kids, they’d never bothered with pajamas. Now, with children coming in early to jump on the bed, their pattern had changed, and Damien didn’t regret a thing.
Now naked, Nikki bent forward to press a soft kiss to his lips, his neck, his chest. She touched and stroked, her ass teasing his cock as her lips teased his chest until he couldn’t take it any longer, and he took her hips in his hands and lifted her. She grinned, her hands on his shoulders as she slowly lowered herself onto him, and he watched her face, the pleasure he saw there reflecting his own.
They made love slowly. Soft and wonderful and passionate and intense, and Damien lost himself in the feel of his wife. In the knowledge of this family and the incredible life that he had.
That he’d somehow won despite all of the horror in his past. A few days ago, he’d told Nikki he felt cursed, but he wasn’t. The truth was, he was blessed.
And his family was the biggest miracle of all.
He pulled her close, then closed his eyes, drifting off surrounded by the scent and feel of her.
He didn’t know when sleep actually overtook him, but in the next moment, he awakened to Nikki’s hand on his shoulder shaking him, and her urgent voice saying, “Damien, Damien, I need you to wake up.”
He sat up. “What? What time is it?”
“Just past five. You need to get up. Ashton went to the track. He lost control and spun into the barrier. Damien, he’s in the ER.”
20
“I feel like a damn idiot,” Ash says the moment we enter his room. He’s been treated for a broken arm, a fractured rib, and is being held for observation for a concussion following a head injury. He looks pale and fragile in the hospital gown, but I think he actually looks better than Damien, who has lost all color.
I take his hand and give it a sympathetic squeeze.
“You got lucky,” Damien says. “It could have been a lot worse. I saw pictures of the car, and it looks like something out of a trash compactor. Honestly, Ash, what the hell were you thinking?”
To my surprise, Ash laughs.
Damien catches my eye, clearly surprised. “You think this is funny?” he asks Ash, who shakes his head.
“No, I—oh, hell. I grew up without a father. I think you just conveyed the full experience in a few words and one hell of a harsh tone.” He smiles, and the humor is gone from his voice when he says, very simply, “Thanks.”
Tears sting my eyes, and I’m not surprised when Damien reaches to steady himself by holding the back of a nearby chair. After a moment, he sits, and I busy myself pouring both of them some water.
“You still haven’t answered my question. What were you thinking?”
“Honestly, I wasn’t. After you left the hotel, I had a drink and went for a walk. I was trying to shake it off, you know? This anger at my grandfather. But I couldn’t. It was eating at me. So I went down to San Diego —”
“You what?”
“I know, I know. But, yeah. I confronted the bastard. And you know what? He admitted everything.” Ash shakes his head. “Lying to me about you all these years. The videos and texts. Hiring someone to sneak in and tape a note to the portrait. All of it. He said he was a weak man and that you’d never loved him, and that I was his second chance.”
He shudders, and I feel cold. That’s the same, manipulative Jeremiah Stark who’s shown himself so many times to Damien, and I can’t tell yet if Ash realizes that, too, or if he bought Jeremiah’s bullshit.
Then I see him draw in a breath and look Damien in the eye. “I saw it all then. The lies. The manipulation.” He scoffs. “It’s like I’d been wearing rose colored glasses, but I’m damn sure not anymore.”
“So what did you do?” I ask.
“I left. I told him he was a prick and I needed time to think, and then I just left. I drove around for a while, but I wanted more. So I went to the track.” He looks to Damien. “You know that track in the Palisades? I know the owner,” he adds after Damien nods. “And I keep a car garaged there. Have twenty-four hour access. A perk from my years behind the wheel.”
“That was reckless.”
Ash lifts his arm, now in plaster. “You think?” He shakes his head. “It wasn’t reckless. It was downright stupid. I haven’t raced professionally since that first accident, but I opened her up on that empty track anyway. A tire blew, and I spun out. If I’d been in a better headspace, maybe I could have corrected. Maybe not. Doesn’t really matter, since I ended up here. I’m just grateful one of the maintenance guys was on site. He called the ambulance.”
“We’re grateful, too,” I tell him, and he shoots me a smile. “How long do you have to stay here?”
“Overnight.” He taps his head. “Apparently someone needs to monitor me.”
“I think we can do better than that,” Damien says, and within fifteen minutes, Ash is discharged with instructions to stay the night at our house, where Damien, Bree, Gregory, and I will take turns waking him up every few hours until he’s out of the woods with the concussion.
“Are you sure?” Ash asks. “I don’t want to be any trouble.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Damien says.
Ash draws in a breath, then looks from Damien to me. “I’m not a man who breaks easily. But I have to say, I don’t know how to handle this. Seeing you here, caring about me, going out of your way for me. And me knowing how wrong I’ve gotten it for so many years.”
“I get it,” Damien says, moving to hold his uninjured hand. “You’re a good man, Ash. And you’re part of the family. I guess you’ll just have to learn how to deal with that.”
To my relief, Ash laughs. And his smile is a little watery when he says, “Thank you. Thank you both.”
It doesn’t take long to get his discharge papers, and soon enough we’re heading toward Malibu. The only downside is that the kids haven’t been prepared for this. Anne and Bradley are too young to question, but Lara’s already confused by what she heard Ash say at the vow renewal.
Gregory’s given them the head’s up that someone will be staying in one of the guest bedrooms, and Bree is outside with Anne and Bradley when we arrive. Lara, however, races toward us as we enter the house, then stops when she sees Ash.
“You’re the man from Mommy and Daddy’s ceremony.”
Ash shuffles his feet. “Yeah. That wasn’t my finest moment. And you’re Lara.”
She nods, then narrows her eyes at him. “Is Daddy really your daddy?”
“I am,” Damien says as she crosses her arms in full-on diva mode. “And that makes Ash your brother,” he continues.
“But you’re a grown-up,” she accuses Ash. “That can’t be right.”
“It’s a math thing,” Ash tells her. “You like math?”
Lara nods.
“Me, too. Maybe we can work some puzzles later. Want to?”
I meet Damien’s eyes, and we share a moment of pleasant surprise as Lara says, “Okay.”
“You want to show me to my room?” he asks, and she bounces with glee, then takes his hand. Ash has no luggage, so Damien and I linger, letting Ash and Lara have their own moment.
“I can’t believe how fast things have turned around with him,” I say. “I’m glad, too. I genuinely like him.”
“Me, too,” Damien says. “But what the hell was he doing racing like that?”
“Yeah,” I say, staring my husband down. “How could he possibly lose his temper and fly off the handle. I wonder where he gets that?” I smile sweetly, then watch as Damien lifts his hand in surrender.
I hear Lara chattering before we actually see them return. She’s going a mile a minute, telling Ash about the house and Sunshine and her dance lessons and on and on. He shoots us an amused glance as they pass, and Lara drags him outside to meet Bradley, Anne, and Bree.
“Should we invite Jackson and Syl over?” Damien asks.
I shake my h
ead. “Tomorrow, maybe. He must be achy from the crash—we need to tell Lara that he needs rest—so I don’t think we should overwhelm him with relatives too soon.”
“You’re right. I’m just....” He trails off, shaking his head. “I guess I’m happy. And I want him to feel comfortable with us. With all of us.”
I tug him to a stop and slide into his arms. “I like you happy.”
He kisses me sweetly. “I’m sorry if this has been hard on you.” He brushes my hair behind my ear. “I’ve been counting on you being right beside me, but I don’t think I’ve paid enough attention to how surreal this must be for you.”
“It’s a little surreal,” I admit. “But in a good way. And it’s only been hard for me because you had to struggle through it.”
“I have a son, Nikki. A son that isn’t ours.”
I step back, feigning shock. “Really? Because it seems to me that you’ve told me more than once that everything you have is mine, too.”
He laughs. “So I did.”
“In that case,” I say. “We have a son. Two of them. And two daughters. And it’s all good, Mr. Stark.”
“I love you,” he says, then pulls me close and kisses me.
“Mommy and Daddy kiss a lot,” Lara says, and I pull away to find her and Ash back in the first floor living area.
“That’s because they like each other,” Ash says.
“Yeah,” Lara says. “Do you like anybody?”
I think I see a shadow cross Ash’s eyes, but all he says is, “Not at the moment.” Then he clears his throat, and looks at us. “The kids suggested that since I’m supposed to chill, that they play in the pool and we relax on the lounge chairs.”
“Did they?”
“You always say it’s relaxing,” Lara says. “And we haven’t had pool time in days.”
I look toward the door to see Bree nod, signaling that she’s fine supervising in the pool.
“Go change, then. We’ll meet you out there. And you can show Ash all your tricks.”
Lara calls to Anne and the two race off together as Bree snags Bradley to go take care of getting him in his suit.