by Katie Dowe
Danny knew coming here was a mistake; he was simply feeding Georgina’s delusions.
“Nonsense.” Georgina brushed his words away and linked arms with him, attempting to walk him towards a group of young women standing nearby and giving him interested looks. “You’re a rich man and you need to be out there in society.”
Danny couldn’t help it. He burst out laughing, pulling his arm away.
“What is this? This isn’t the 19th Century. I don’t need to be out in public. And I could’ve sent a check for this. You know I hate these places.”
“Don’t be silly.” Georgina grabbed his arm again. This time it wasn’t a friendly grip. “You need to stay.”
“I need to?” Then Danny saw the look in Georgina’s eyes. He recognized it; she was up to something. “Mom, what have you done?”
Georgina pouted. She looked less like a fifty-five-year-old woman and more like a high school senior being refused to stay out after curfew.
“Why do you have to take that tone with me?”
“Because you’re up to something and you’re refusing to tell me what it is.” Danny narrowed his eyes. “Tell me now, Mom, or I’m walking out of here.”
Danny was too old for Georgina’s manipulations. He wasn’t dealing with this from her or from anyone. If she didn’t give him an explanation he would happily leave. Georgina huffed, planting her hands on her hips.
“You’re thirty-three, Danny. You’re not getting any younger.”
Danny recognized this. She was about to go into the speech she had been giving him for the last three years. He groaned.
“Oh, God, not this again.”
“What?”
“Mom, I don’t want a wife. I don’t want to marry.”
“But I’m not getting any younger.” Georgina whined. “I want grandbabies and you’re being too stubborn. Hell, I’d even accept a grandbaby from a mother who was a whore if that meant getting a baby.”
In Georgina’s words, a ‘whore’ was someone who wasn’t married to Danny but was his significant other. Danny was very discreet with his relationships to the point that Georgina didn’t think he dated at all. He didn’t want the girls he went out with long-term or to even meet his mother because she would bring out the wedding bells or try her hardest to drive them away. It had put Danny off having a girlfriend altogether.
“If you want a grandbaby, focus on Abi. She’s the one who wants kids when she’s finished her education.”
Georgina snorted rudely.
“Abi would be a terrible choice for a mother. She would dump the baby on me as soon as she could and then I would be looking after them.”
Danny felt his protective side rearing up. His little sister was a surprise baby and Georgina had never wanted her. Abi had known since she was two that her own mother hated her. But, despite the abuse from her mother, his sister was a down-to-earth girl who knew what she wanted. It was just getting stunted by Georgina, who couldn’t bear the thought of her scapegoat leaving her and having independence.
In a few days Abi would be eighteen and an adult. Danny was looking forward to that.
“Abi would not be a terrible choice, Mom. She wants babies and I don’t. Bother her about it once she finishes her education.”
“She’ll drop out.” Georgina sneered. “She always does.”
“No, she doesn’t and if she is, get that tutor she’s been asking for. You refuse to let her have one and even she knows she needs one.”
“I’m not wasting my money on a tutor. She’s too lazy.”
“And you just want your own daughter to fail.” Danny snorted. “Would you like me to say it a little louder?”
Georgina’s face went red. Much as she was mean to her daughter, she wouldn’t admit it n public, blaming it all on Abi and nothing on her. Abi had to live with people who didn’t know her looking at her with dirty looks and it pained Danny to see it.
“Danny!”
Danny’s heart sank. He knew that voice. It had been a long time but he wouldn’t forget that voice. He turned. A petite African-American woman was sashaying over to him, looking stunning in a sparkling green dress. But Danny could only feel the sinking feeling reach his stomach.
“Lucy? What are you doing here?”
“I’m the one who organized the event.”
Lucy Tyson gripped his arm and tried to tug him down. Whether to kiss his cheek or his mouth Danny didn’t know but he didn’t move. He wasn’t going near her if he could help it. Lucy pouted and let go, turning to Georgina and putting on a brilliant smile.
“Hello, Georgina.”
“Lucy, dear.” The two women exchanged kisses on the cheek. “Lovely to see you. And, you see, I managed to get him here.”
“I can see.” Lucy gave Danny a smoldering look, chewing at her lip which would have had any other man falling at her feet. “You’ve grown up a lot, Danny. I like what I see.”
“Glad to know.” Danny grunted.
He wasn’t stupid. Lucy and Georgina were up to something and he had a feeling he knew what it was. No way. Lucy may have dated him in high school but he had a multitude of reasons why he would never date her again. Georgina knew these reasons, even though she would defend Lucy up and down.
The black-haired waitress Danny had been watching appeared at his elbow, holding out a tray of drinks for them.
“Would any of you like another drink?”
“Don’t mind if I do.”
Lucy plucked a champagne flute off the tray, giving the waitress a cursory glance and Danny was sure she stood on the other woman’s foot. The woman barely flinched but the daggers she glared at Lucy were evident. Georgina waved her away, barely giving her a glance.
“Nothing for me right now.”
Then the waitress turned to Danny. And Danny saw her eyes. They were glistening like emeralds. They had him rooted to the spot.
It had been a long time. But he had never forgotten the girl with the emerald eyes. He stared.
“Amanda?”
Amanda blinked and stared at him. Her eyes widened with recognition.
“Danny?”
Danny couldn’t believe it. Lucy’s little sister was all grown up. She had been a somewhat gawky kid with glasses who always had her nose buried in a book. Lucy had treated her with anything less than contempt but Danny had remembered being nice to the kid. Now she had grown up into a beautiful woman.
And Danny liked what he saw. His groin stirred. His other head was in agreement. He coughed.
“Wow. It’s been a while. How are you?”
“I’m good.” Amanda glanced at the tray and shrugged. “I’m just helping out the owner tonight. She’s a friend of mine.”
“Good on you.”
That had been Amanda. She would always lend a helping hand. Danny had admired her for that. Georgina was looking at the two of them in startled amazement.
“You know her?” She sounded incredulous.
“This is my sister.” Lucy grumbled, scowling at Amanda.
“Your sister?”
It was hard to believe. Both women were beautiful as Lucy was petite while Amanda was taller with a slightly fuller figure. Her eyes were green and Lucy’s were brown, plus Lucy’s skin color was lighter. But they had the same facial features, enough for people to realize they were sisters.
But it was the way Georgina said it that had Danny’s hackles up. He turned to Georgina.
“You got a problem with that, Mom?”
The room suddenly dropped a few degrees. Georgina opened her mouth but whatever she was about to say didn’t come out when she saw Danny’s expression. Lucy was also staring at him. Amanda coughed and moved away.
“I’d better get back to work.”
Danny watched her go, making a mental note to find Amanda later and catch up with her. If he could get away from these two and their shenanigans.
Lucy scoffed, sipping at her glass.
“In a few minutes you won’t remember we were here
.” She said airily.
“Really?” Danny gave her a pointed look. “Would you like to try it?”
Lucy’s mouth fell open. Georgina gasped.
“Don’t talk to Lucy like that.”
“And don’t set me up with Lucy.” Danny rounded on her. “I’m not stupid to know why I’m here. You know our history and you know I don’t want anything to do with her anymore.”
“But, Danny…”
“Now, I’m going to talk to a couple of friends, check that Abi is okay, and then I’m going. Alone.” He added when he saw Lucy smile. The smile disappeared quickly. “Don’t try to follow me.”
He could hear his mother spluttering as he walked away but he simply smirked and kept going. He couldn’t believe he had wasted an evening because of his mother. He had a lot more interesting things to do.
*****
Amanda’s heart was pounding as she half-staggered into the kitchen, almost dropping her empty tray. She leaned against the wall and closed her eyes, trying to get her heart to slow down.
Danny Chao was gorgeous. He hadn’t changed at all.
Amanda had been an awkward teenager who had stuck her nose into a book and preferred her studies to going out partying like any other high school student. Lucy’s friends bullied her mercilessly. Even her sister’s boyfriends joined in. Danny was the only one who refused to be mean. He was kind towards her, allowing her to talk about the most recent book she was reading about. It turned out he was an avid reader like her; he wasn’t afraid to admit he read romance just like her.
They seemed to click and Amanda hoped that Lucy, while she was a mean-spirited bitch, would keep hold of Danny and he would manage to balance her out into a decent person.
That hadn’t happened. Lucy couldn’t even pay attention long enough to hold on to something good and Danny had run out of there. Lucy continued to stalk him and Danny had taken to that badly. Amanda was glad he was out of there but was a little disappointed that he seemed to be hanging around Lucy now.
Why did it hurt so much?
Chapter 2
“Amanda?”
Amanda opened her eyes. Lexi was watching her curiously. She took Amanda’s tray from her and placed it with hers on the table.
“You okay, honey?”
“Yeah.” Amanda’s mouth was dry. She swallowed. “Did you know Danny Chao was going to be here?”
“No, I didn’t. But it’s not difficult to miss the only Asian man in the room.” Lexi frowned. “I didn’t realize you knew him.”
“He was Lucy’s boyfriend when they were seniors. Lucy played around on him but thought they were going to get married.” Amanda was sure it had something to do with the fact Danny came from old money and Lucy wanted that money. “But Danny ended things when Lucy thought she could get away with sleeping with his best friend. That was when he found out about the others.”
Amanda had seen it all and had wanted to say something at the time. But Lucy had threatened her when Amanda said she was going to tell Danny. Amanda knew what Lucy could do and kept her mouth shut. And now it looked like they had patched things up.
“Wow.” Lexi whistled. “And she’s invited him here?”
“Apparently so.” Amanda rubbed at her eyes. “Last I heard, Danny told Lucy he never wanted to see her again and if she went near him he was going to get a restraining order out on her.”
“Sounds a bit extreme for a girlfriend cheating.”
“This was a week after graduation before Danny went to college. He had ended it six weeks before.” Amanda scowled. “Lucy stalked him, kept up the pretense they were still dating despite Danny having already made it clear they were not together anymore. She even tried to use me to keep tabs on him but I said no.”
That hadn’t ended well. Afterwards Lucy would always claim that Amanda had tripped on the stairs and that’s how she broke her arm. Amanda had been to terrified to say otherwise. If anyone knew the truth they said nothing.
“I keep telling you that your sister is a bitch of the highest order.”
“In more ways than one.” Amanda glanced towards the door. She could see Lucy and Danny’s mother through the window but she couldn’t see Danny. “He was always nice to me. Even helped me when I was being bullied by Lucy’s friends. I guess I had a bit of a crush on him.”
That was an understatement. Amanda’s teenaged years were spent with her dreaming about Danny. Many fantasies included him to the point of unhealthy. But Amanda had never taken it any further and they had eventually calmed down. Not by much but enough that Amanda didn’t think about him every waking moment.
Now that was going to come back full force since she had seen him again.
Lexi smirked and ran a hand over her hair.
“If he’s this gorgeous now I can’t begin to imagine how handsome he was as a teenager.”
He was still gorgeous as a teenager. Lithe but full of muscle, short black hair and chocolate-brown eyes that swirled around with gold. When he smiled it reached his eyes and would make Amanda want to swoon. He was fifteen years older and that seemed to have made him age like a fine wine.
Amanda found herself wanting to taste that wine. Even if she wasn’t allowed near it.
“Hey, Lexi?”
A teenaged Chinese girl stood near the table, looking like she was about to collapse. Her face was unbelievable pale and she was swaying. Amanda started when she saw the girl. Abi Chao looked awful. She clearly needed to be at home. What was she doing here?
“Can I take a toilet break?” She asked, her voice barely a whisper.
Lexi nodded, her expression hard even with her eyes softening.
“Sure. Don’t be too long, though. It’s very busy out there.”
Abi nodded and hurried away. Amanda stared after her as she left the room.
“What’s wrong with Abi?”
“You know her?”
“Danny’s sister. She’s a senior at my school.”
Abi was a lovely girl, albeit shy. She worked hard but something always seemed to be off. Amanda wondered if she had a learning disability but she heard every time the teachers brought it up, her mother said that wasn’t necessary and that she would complain if anyone said she had a learning problem.
It pained Amanda to see Abi struggle like that and be bullied for her struggles. And it pained her even more to know that Georgina Chao didn’t care about her.
Amanda had encountered more than enough helicopter parents but it was the neglectful ones that affected her more; the children genuinely did try but got nothing to show for it. Their parents never showed love. Georgina Chao didn’t seem to have any left for her teenaged daughter, almost as if she had poured it into her son and didn’t care about any other children.
“I don’t know what’s wrong with her. She showed up with her mother, who said she was to make herself useful in the kitchen.”
“She’s a teenager. Why didn’t she stay home?”
“Mrs Chao refused to let her stay home alone.” Lexi shook her head. “I think she’s on drugs.”
Amanda wanted to defend the girl and deny it. But Lexi was sharp; she wouldn’t miss something like that so easily. She sighed.
“I wouldn’t be surprised. She’s been off lately at school.”
Lexi glanced towards the door.
“Do you think she’s really going on a toilet break?”
Amanda didn’t believe it for a second. She patted Lexi’s shoulder as she pushed off the wall.
“Cover for me. I’m going to make sure she’s okay.”
Hurrying through the staff door, Amanda found herself choosing either to go up the stairs to the staff bathroom or along the hall to a fire exit, which opened up to the back alley. The exit was propped open a few inches and Amanda could hear voices. One was Abi’s. The other was a male’s, deeper and lilting. It sounded like he was attempting a seduction.
And Abi’s voice was saying she wasn’t interested.
Reaching into her pocket, Aman
da hurried along the hall. Her fingers closed around her mace.
“No, that’s enough.” Abi protested. She sounded like she was in a drug-induced haze but Amanda heard the word ‘no’ loud and clear.
“Come on, baby.” The male’s voice purred. “You know you like it.”
“I don’t know that I like it and I said no!” There came the sound of flesh hitting flesh in a sharp slap. “And I can’t be missed. I have to go back in.”
“You can’t tease me like that and then walk away. That’s not nice.”
Amanda’s skin prickled. If she hadn’t recognized the voice she would have been sure it was her ex-boyfriend out there. He had been abusive and accused Amanda of being seductive just by looking at him and would try to force her into sex. Amanda had managed to kick him to the curb but not after she had ended up in hospital with broken ribs among other things.
“I had no intention of doing anything further than kiss.” Abi sounded like she was coming out of her haze. Now she was starting to sound panicked. “You know that. I told you upfront what I wanted and didn't. It’s not my fault you’re not listening.”
Amanda reached the door and pushed through in time to see a tall, lanky man with shoulder-length dark hair grab at Abi as she attempted to walk away. He hauled her back against him, one arm around her neck. As Abi struggled he began to palm her breast.
“And it’s your fault for being such a tease, you bitch.” He snarled.
Amanda had heard enough. Bringing out her mace, she hurried out and strode towards them.
“Let her go!”
The guy barely gave her a glance.
“Piss off, lady. This isn’t your business.”
“Not a chance.” Amanda glanced at Abi, who looked terrified. She was flinching at the hand on her breast. “Are you that willing to go to jail?”
“Jail?” The guy snorted. It was then the smell of marijuana hit Amanda and she nearly stepped back at the stench. There was no way this man simply smoked that much weed. “Who said I was going to jail? I’ll walk right back out on drug charges.”
“Not for statutory rape. That carries a prison sentence.”