Damien Prescott (Redemption Series, Book 4)

by Sandi Lynn

“Stay right here. I’ll be right back,” I firmly spoke.

  I climbed out of the cab, walked back inside London’s apartment building, and grabbed her suitcase.

  “Come on, let’s go,” I said as I walked away.

  “Wait. What are you doing? Where are we going?”

  “Back to my place. You’re going to stay with me until you find another Airbnb.”

  “No, Damien. You don’t have to do that.”

  “I know I don’t. But you did do me a favor last night and this is the least I can do. Just get in the cab, London.”

  I threw her large suitcase in the trunk and climbed in next to her.

  “829 Park Avenue,” I spoke to the cab driver.

  “You didn’t even ask me if I wanted to stay at your place,” she spoke. “You just grabbed my suitcase and walked away like the rude person you are. I know you’re not doing this out of the goodness of your heart because, to be honest, I’m not really sure there’s a lot of good in you.”

  “Oh snap.” The cab driver laughed.

  I narrowed my eye at her.

  “Don’t look at me like that, Mr. Prescott.”

  “Again, who the hell do you think you are talking to me that way?”

  “A woman who doesn’t drop to her knees when you snap your fingers.” She arched her brow.

  “Wow. Did you really just say that?”

  “I did and I’ll say it again if I have to. I just don’t understand why you can’t leave me alone. It’s obvious you don’t like me, and trust me, I’m fine with that because I don’t like you very much either.”

  “Is that so?” I asked.

  “Yeah. It is so.”

  “I’m giving you a place to temporarily stay so you don’t have to sleep in some cheap fuck of a hotel in an unsafe city and you’re being very ungrateful.”

  “Oh, so now you think you’re my knight in shining armor, rescuing the poor damsel in distress?”

  “I’m nobody’s knight in shining armor, London, and I never will be.” I turned and looked out the window. “I’m done arguing with you. You’re staying at my place and you’re going to appreciate what I’m doing for you.”

  The cab driver pulled up to my building. I slid my credit card through and handed him a nice cash tip.

  “This is for having to listen to all of that,” I spoke.

  “Thanks, buddy. You two are like a freaking soap opera.” He laughed.

  I sighed as I climbed out of the cab and took London’s suitcase from the trunk. As we walked into the building, she felt the need to stop and talk to Sammy, the doorman.

  “Hi, I’m London.” She extended her hand.

  “Hello, London. I’m Sammy.”

  “It’s nice to meet you, Sammy. I’m going to be staying with Mr. Prescott for a couple of days, so I thought I’d introduce myself.”

  “My, aren’t you a breath of fresh air.” He grinned. “The pleasure is all mine.”

  “London, come on,” I spoke with irritation as the elevator doors opened.

  Chapter Nine

  London

  He inserted a key into the slot labeled “PH12” and the elevator began to go up.

  “You’re at the top?” I asked.

  “Yes. Is that a problem?”

  “No. I bet the view is amazing.”

  “It’s okay.”

  The door opened and I was greeted by an elegant marbled floor and an oval curved staircase in a dark mahogany. His place was beautifully decorated with mahogany wood floors and walls that were coated in a light gray color.

  “You can take the guest bedroom upstairs. It’s the only bedroom up there. Follow me,” he spoke.

  I followed him up a few stairs where there was a landing and to the right was a bedroom.

  “What’s up there?” I pointed to the rest of the stairs.

  “It’s the solarium room. There’s a TV up there, a sectional, and a bar. Feel free to use it. In fact, you can just have this whole upper part of the house. That way, we won’t be in each other’s way.”

  We entered the bedroom and Damien set my suitcase in the corner. The room was stunning with its gray painted walls and a queen size bed with a white down comforter. There was a beautiful white dresser with matching night stands on each side of the bed, and a large TV that hung on the wall above a white fireplace that sat directly across from the bed.

  “This is beautiful. Did you decorate it?”

  “No. I had an interior designer.”

  “I figured as much.” I yawned and rubbed the back of my neck.

  “Are you feeling okay? You look a little pale.”

  “I’m fine. Just tired. It’s been quite a day.”

  “Then take a nap.”

  “I think I will,” I said as I sat down on the bed.

  “Okay. Help yourself to the kitchen later if you get hungry. The refrigerator is stocked.”

  “Thanks.”

  He walked out of the room and shut the door. The moment my head hit the oversized pillow, I was out.

  Damien

  I went downstairs and poured myself a bourbon. I couldn’t believe I’d asked her to stay here. I was not a fan of having houseguests, but as long as she stayed upstairs, we’d be fine. Plus, it was only for a couple nights until she found an Airbnb. As I downed the last of my drink, my phone rang.

  “Damien Prescott.”

  “Damien, It’s Don Bradbury.”

  “Hi, Don. How are you?”

  “I’m good. Listen, I’ve given our dinner last night a lot of thought and I’ve decided to sign with your company.”

  My heart started racing as I made a fist and a wide smile crossed my face.

  “Thank you, Don. You won’t regret it.”

  “You and your future fiancée were very impressive. Of course your company and ideas were too. I see a bright future for the both of you, Damien.”

  I rolled my eyes.

  “Thank you, Don. She is the love of my life.” I could barely speak the words.

  We said our goodbyes and I immediately called Scott.

  “What’s up, Damien?”

  “I just got off the phone with Bradbury. We got the account.”

  “Yes!” he exclaimed. “I knew we would.”

  “How about we meet up and celebrate?”

  “I’d love to, man, but Madison and I are taking her parents out to dinner for their anniversary.”

  “No problem. We’ll celebrate another time. Have a good dinner.”

  “Thanks, Damien. I’ll talk to you later.”

  I ended the call, poured another bourbon, and went into the media room to shoot some pool before I sat down to do some work. Before I knew it, a couple hours had passed.

  “I see you do, do something other than work 24/7.” London smirked as she stood in the entranceway to the media room.

  I glanced up at her before shooting the eight ball into the left corner pocket.

  “Is there something you needed?”

  “I just came down to grab a bottle of water if that’s okay.”

  “Sure. I told you the refrigerator is stocked,” I spoke.

  “Thanks.” She smiled.

  I sighed as I watched her walk away. I set down my pool stick and followed her into the kitchen.

  “Did your nap help?”

  “It did.” She nodded.

  “I got a call from Bradbury. We got the account.”

  “That’s great.” She grinned. “Congratulations.”

  “Thanks. He really liked you. So, thanks again for helping me out.”

  “You’re welcome.” She smiled as she walked by and placed her hand on my cheek. “I hope you can sleep at night knowing you lied to him,” she spoke as she walked out of the kitchen.

  “Excuse me?” I loudly voiced as I followed her up the stairs.

  “What?” She laughed. “You did lie and you can’t deny it.”

  “I’m not denying anything. Getting that account is a huge deal for my company and if I had t
o tell a little white lie to get it, so be it. No harm done,” I said as I followed her into the bedroom.

  “And what are you going to tell him when I’m out of your life in a couple of days?”

  “He’s going back to Seattle, so he won’t know. And if sometime down the road he asks, I’ll just tell him things didn’t work out like we planned.”

  “Okay.” She glanced up at me as she put her shoes on.

  “Are you going somewhere?” I asked.

  “Yes.”

  She got up from the bed, grabbed her purse and a blanket, and walked out of the room.

  “Where are you going?”

  “Central Park.”

  “It’s going to be dark soon.”

  “And?” she asked as she walked down the stairs.

  “And it’s not safe. You’re not from here, so you don’t know. Plus, you don’t know your way around Central Park.”

  “I’ll figure it out.”

  She climbed into the elevator and gave me a small wave and smile as the doors shut.

  I closed my eyes for a moment, clenched my fist, and inhaled a sharp breath.

  “Dammit,” I shouted with fury as I picked up the penthouse phone. “Sammy, do not let London leave this building. Do you understand me?”

  “No, sir. I’m not sure I do.”

  “She’s on her way down. Keep her inside the building until I get down there.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Chapter Ten

  London

  The moment I stepped off the elevator, Sammy walked over to me.

  “It’s lovely to see you again, London.” He smiled.

  “Hi, Sammy.”

  “So, may I ask where you’re off to?”

  “Central Park.” I smiled.

  “Very nice. If you’ll come over here with me for a moment, I’d be happy to give you the map to Central Park and I can point out which areas I think you’d really enjoy.”

  “How sweet of you.” I placed my hand on his shoulder. “I’d love that.”

  I followed him over to the corner by the door and he pulled out a map of Central Park and opened it up.

  “You are not going to Central Park by yourself at this time of the evening,” Damien spoke as he walked up behind me.

  “I’m sorry, and you are who to tell me what I can and can’t do?” I asked as I turned around and stared into his eyes.

  “The person you’re staying with for a couple of nights and apparently now your damn babysitter.”

  “Just because I’m staying in your guestroom doesn’t mean you can tell me what to do. I’m twenty-five years old. I don’t need a babysitter. I travel alone, Mr. Prescott.”

  “I don’t care. You’re a beautiful young woman and you’re not going to Central Park by yourself tonight.”

  “Then are you coming with me?” I asked as I placed my hands on my hips.

  “I guess I don’t have a choice.”

  “Don’t you have work to do?” I cocked my head.

  “Yes. I have a lot of work to do and you’re taking me away from it.”

  I glanced over at Sammy and gave him a smile.

  “Thank you, Sammy, and I’m sorry you have to hear all this.”

  “No worries, London. Have fun in Central Park.”

  “I won’t be if he’s tagging along.” I turned and walked out the door.

  “You think you’re so funny.” He followed behind me down the street. “Where the hell are you going? Central Park is the other way.”

  “I’m stopping at this little Thai restaurant on the corner that I saw. I’m hungry.”

  “For fuck sakes. Are you serious?”

  “Go home, Mr. Prescott.” I put my hand up.

  “You do not tell me what to do. Understand me?” he firmly spoke.

  I rolled my eyes as I stepped inside the restaurant and walked up to the counter.

  “Hello. May I help you?” the kind man behind the counter asked.

  I looked up at the menu that was hanging on the wall.

  “I would like the Chicken Pad Thai and an order of your spring rolls, please.”

  “For here or to go?” he asked.

  “To go. Mr. Prescott,” I turned and looked at him, “would you like anything?”

  He let out a sigh and placed his order.

  “I’ll have the drunken noodles with shrimp. Medium spice.”

  He rang up our order and gave me the total. I reached in my purse and grabbed my wallet.

  “I got it,” Damien spoke with irritation.

  “No, no. Let me pay. It’s the least I can do for your amazing hospitality.” I smirked.

  “I said I got it.” His eye narrowed at me as he handed the nice man his credit card. “Add two bottles of water onto that.”

  “Your order will be up in about fifteen minutes. You may have a seat over there.” He pointed to the long red couch that sat against the wall by the door.

  Damien and I sat down and waited for our food.

  “Thank you for dinner,” I spoke.

  “You’re welcome,” he replied as he stared straight ahead. “I’m going to ask you to stop doing something because it’s really getting on my last nerve.”

  “What?” I asked.

  “For the love of god, stop calling me Mr. Prescott. It’s Damien. Got it?”

  “Okay. Got it.” I smiled as I nudged his shoulder with mine.

  He slowly turned his head and narrowed his eye at me.

  “Don’t do that,” he spoke.

  “Your order is ready,” the man behind the counter spoke as he held up a bag.

  We both got up and Damien took the bag from him and we walked out the door.

  “Aren’t we going to take a cab?” I asked.

  “No. The East entrance to the park is only a five-minute walk from here.”

  “Okay.” I grinned.

  “Why did you decide tonight to go to Central Park? You have a month to see it.”

  “Because it’s a beautiful night and I just wanted to go and sit somewhere peaceful and enjoy a nice dinner.”

  “You call Thai carry-out a nice dinner?” He glanced over at me.

  “Yeah. I do. Are you going to be okay?” I asked.

  “What are you talking about?”

  “You’re not working.”

  “And who do I have to thank for that?”

  “I didn’t ask you to come. I was perfectly fine going by myself.”

  “That’s just dumb, London. During the day it’s fine, but at night, no. Think about it for a second. You sitting all alone on a blanket eating Thai food. You’re the perfect target for some deranged person, and trust me, the city is full of them.”

  “I can take care of myself, Damien.”

  “Maybe you can or maybe you can’t, but I’m not taking the chance. That’s not something I want to carry around the rest of my life.”

  “Aw, so you do like me.” I nudged his shoulder.

  “I told you not to do that, and whether I like you or not is still up in the air. Right now, I’m not liking you very much.”

  I rolled my eyes as we entered the park.

  “Follow me. I think there’s something you might like to see,” he said.

  I followed him a short distance until we reached a large bronze statue.

  “Is that the famous Alice In Wonderland statue?” I asked with excitement.

  “Yes. You’ve heard of it?”

  “Of course!” I ran up to it. “This is one of the reasons why I wanted to see Central Park. Oh my gosh, look at it. It’s beautiful. Alice In Wonderland was my favorite Disney movie when I was a kid.”

  I set the blanket down and pulled my phone from my purse.

  “Can you take a picture of me?” I asked as I handed him my phone.

  I sat down on the mushroom in front of Alice and smiled. He took the picture and handed me my phone.

  “Good job, Damien,” I spoke as I looked at the picture.

  “We better eat now while
there’s still a little bit of light left. Once it gets dark, we’re going to have to leave this area.”

  We took a seat on the benches across from the statue, pulled our cartons of food from the bag, and began eating.

  “Since you’re staying as a guest in my penthouse, I want your story,” Damien said. “You flew directly from Nashville to New York. Where were you before Nashville?”

  “Chicago.”

  “Do you not have a job?” he asked.

  “I do some freelance work, as you know.”

  “Some freelance work doesn’t pay for all these little adventures you’re going on. How the hell do you afford it? Are you living off credit cards or something?”

  “I have one credit card and I have a savings account. I did have a job at a marketing firm, and when my mom passed away three years ago, she left me with a sizeable life insurance settlement.”

  “I’m sorry about your mom. Am I to assume there’s no father in the picture?”

  “I never knew my father. In fact, he doesn’t even know I exist. My mother had a falling out with her parents when she was nineteen years old. She packed a bag and went to London to visit a friend of hers who was attending college there. She met a man and fell in love. Little did she know he was married and had two children. She found out he was married right before she discovered she was pregnant. So she broke it off with him and moved back to the States. It was just me and her since I was a baby.”

  “So he never knew about you?” he asked.

  “Nope.”

  “May I ask how she passed away?”

  “Stage four lymphoma. She died within six months after she was diagnosed.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Thank you. I appreciate it.” I softly smiled at him.

  “You collected life insurance money and quit your job to travel the world? What are you running from?” His brow arched.

  “I’m not running from anything. My mother was forty-two years old when she died. You never know when your time is up and I want to make sure I see and do the things I’ve always wanted to before my time expires.”

  “You’re twenty-five years old. You have plenty of time. What are you going to do when your money runs out? Have you even thought about that?”

  “I’ll figure it out.”

  “You’re either a brave woman or a stupid one. I haven’t decided yet,” he spoke.