Franklin peered at him with rheumy eyes, his face registering understanding.
“Oh, my Lord!” he cried. “I can’t believe I didn’t see it before! You’re in love with her!”
“You’re crazy.”
“You’re in love with that Vaughan slut! That’s why you’re so upset.”
“You’re out of your mind,” Damien muttered, storming toward the hallway, before he did something else he’d regret.
“That’s good! That can work for us!” Franklin yelled after him. “Hold onto that love and—”
Damien strode out of range purposely and made his way to the front of the house where Rosalin was dusting.
“You leave already?” The maid demanded. “No! You never stay!”
“You should come work for me, Rosa,” Damien sighed. “Instead of for that kook.”
“That no nice way to speak about your father,” Rosalin sighed, shaking her head reprovingly. “Even if it true.”
Damien grinned for what felt like the first time since leaving Rachel’s apartment.
“You good boy. You stay,” Rosalin pleaded. “Your father, he has no one.”
“And I am sorry for that, Rosa ... That’s his fault, not mine,” Damien said firmly. But he smiled gently at her to take the sting from his words.
“You have to come to Manhattan and stay for a weekend, all right?”
“Okay,” she agreed without conviction.
“See you, Rosa,” he said, giving her a kiss on the cheek before disappearing out the door toward his car. He had driven himself that day, not wanting to see George’s judging eyes in the rear-view.
Everyone knew better before I started with this shit—George, Chandra, probably even Rosa. But did I listen? No.
It was too late for regrets now. What was done was done. As he had said to his father, Damien knew that Rachel would not forgive him for all he’d said. As infuriated as he’d been just now, by his father referring to her as a slut, the words he threw at her that night had been even more hurtful, because she had come to trust him and he betrayed that trust.
He knew that there would be no going back from that.
As he pulled out of the wrought iron gates, he saw his father appear on the front steps, his face twisted in fury and Damien found himself questioning why this was so important to Franklin.
It’s like Chandra said — it’s been twenty years. What hadn’t his father told him about that time?
He wrenched his gaze toward the road and accessed his blue tooth.
“Hello?”
“Hey.”
“Oh, look who it is! Mr. Too-Busy-For-His-Big-Sister.”
“I’m not too busy for you,” he sighed. “How’s it going?”
“Oh, you know, just trying to remember where I put my will to live some days. You?”
Damien shuddered slightly. He knew she was making cracks to try to be funny, but he didn’t want to hear them, not when her turbulent life had affected everyone’s so dramatically.
“What’s wrong, Damien?”
“Nothing. I just wanted to see how you were doing.”
“Don’t lie to me. I can tell when something’s up. What’s going on?”
“I just came from Dad’s,” he confessed.
“Ah. Want to come over?”
“Nah. I just wanted to hear your voice.”
“What’s the old bastard going on about now?”
Damien gritted his teeth, tempted to tell her the entire sordid story but he managed to contain himself.
“It’s hard to say. Can we have him committed?” Damien half-joked. He remembered what Rachel had said about fighting for power of attorney and he was beginning to wonder if maybe Franklin wasn’t someone who warranted an interception of legal capacity.
“That’s why I walked away a long time ago, my dear brother,” Collette chuckled. “And trust me when I say, I felt like an entirely new woman, because of that.”
“Yeah. I need to follow your advice.”
“You were doing so well,” his sister continued. “Why did you go back?”
Because it’s not as easy for me as it is for you to give up on someone I care about, he wanted to say, but held his tongue.
“It’s a long story. But I think I’m good now.”
“You sure you’re okay?”
“I’m sure. I just wanted to hear your voice and make sure you were okay too.”
“Damien, I’ve finally got my life back. I do what I want – most of the time, anyways. And I feel like a whole new person. And I’ve got my dog, who…well, I could do without the stinking mutt but you know what I mean.”
“Yeah,” he agreed, a smile curving his lips. “I do.”
“You seeing anyone or are you still married to your desk?”
Again, his mind wandered back to Rachel.
“I’m not seeing anyone,” he muttered.
“Uh oh. You sound like you just got dumped.”
“It’s complicated.”
“You should hire sexy interns. I have to say, that was one thing Dad always did right. Kept plenty of pretty faces around.”
“I could do without the sexual harassment lawsuits,” Damien replied dryly. “But thanks for the tip.”
Suddenly, the sound of a dog barking enthusiastically erupted inside the car and Collette released a grunt of annoyance.
“I have to go, Brother dear. Icarus sees a potential playmate – or food, I can never tell which. You come and have dinner soon, okay?”
“Sure. As long as you’re making lasagna,” he joked.
“Punk. Careful or I’ll take make you lasagna every Christmas for five years.”
“You wouldn’t,” Damien warned, the memory of the house almost burning down last year when Collette got “distracted” while cooking still fresh on his mind.
“Love you, Damien.”
“I love you too, Col.”
He disconnected the call and exhaled in a deep sigh of resignation.
I bet Collette hasn’t thought about Luke Vaughan in years. The only ones with him on their minds were me and Dad.
The realization made Damien feel both foolish and sick to his stomach. He’d fallen victim to his father’s tales yet again.
You knew better. You knew that this had nothing to do with Collette and everything to do with Dad. He was trying to accomplish something – you just don’t know what. And you enabled him just like you always do.
And in the process, he’d ruined his chance with someone whom he’d never had a stronger connection in his life.
It’s for the best, a little voice in his head insisted. How do I know that Rachel Vaughan isn’t the monster I went into this plan thinking she was?
Yeah, you go ahead and tell yourself that, asshole, his heart sneered at him.
Chapter 13
Luke blinked two or three times as if his mind couldn’t quite register what he was seeing before him. His dark blue eyes seemed the color of midnight while he processed his sister’s sudden arrival.
“What are you doing here, Rach?” he finally asked when he found the words. Rachel smirked slightly but there was no mirth in her expression whatsoever.
“Nice to see you too, big bro,” she chirped, sauntering further into his office and settling down in a chair before him. “How’s Mer?”
Luke gaped at her, shaking his head, his face paling, reddening and then waning again.
“What the fuck?” he demanded, finally mustering the anger she had been expecting. “Seriously, Rachel, what the actual fuck?”
“You kind of look like Dad right now,” she offered, knowing that her words weren’t helping the situation in the least.
He sprung up from his chair and padded over to her as though she was both prey and predator, keeping his distance slightly while he studied her from head to toe.
“Is this a joke?” he asked, a glimmer of hope in his eye. “This is a joke. Ha, ha. Hilarious — get rid of that pillow.”
He tried to laugh
it off, but it was impossible because deep down, he knew he was staring at his very pregnant sister and she hadn’t flown to Detroit to mock him.
“It’s not a joke,” she confirmed, settling back against the chair with more ease than she felt. “I’m well and truly knocked up.”
“Who’s the father? Are you married? How the fuck did this happen?” Luke sputtered, his words tripping over each other and she stared at him impassively.
“Now you sound like Dad,” she remarked, shaking her head. “Really? Those are the questions you fire at me? How about, ‘How are you feeling? Do you need anything?’”
Luke scoffed, his face twisting into a scowl of disbelief.
“You’ll forgive me if I’m not saying the right thing right now,” he barked. “My sister, whom I have spoken with several times over the past what? —Six months, I’m guessing? —has surely known that she’s been pregnant, but failed to mention that she’s growing another human being in her womb. Fuck, Rachel, I didn’t even know you were seeing anyone!”
“I’m not,” Rachel said flatly. “Which is why I’m here.”
He looked at her, a cross between compassion and fury etching his face.
“Does the father even know about this? Who is this bastard?”
“Oh, wouldn’t you like to know,” Rachel laughed, again humorlessly. She had spent the past half year thinking about exactly how this had happened and how stupid she’d been.
The gods couldn’t just let me forget I had been humiliated in some botched revenge plan and go about my life, could they? No, I am perpetually dragged back into the hell that is my family ties.
Guilt always followed her thoughts. Until Damien had appeared in her life, Rachel had never really considered Luke anything other than her protector, her big brother who was out to save her from the dangers of life.
But now she didn’t know what to think. If what Damien had said was true, she didn’t really know her big brother, did she?
The combination of hormones and confusion had only created doubt about her brother for the first time in her life, and returning to Detroit had been the desperate act of a woman who had no other options — as much as she wished she could, she simply couldn’t bring herself to reach out to Damien, herself.
At first, Rachel had decided that she was simply going to raise her child alone. Her intention had been to not tell anyone about the baby until he was born, but the pregnancy had proved harder on her than she had expected.
She couldn’t do as much as she had been able to before, and her obstetrician had diagnosed her with hyperemesis gravidarum, which basically translated into morning sickness to the nth degree. She had already been hospitalized twice for dehydration, and her emotionally and physically draining job at the hospice wasn’t helping, according to her doctor. She had been forced to choose between her job and her baby’s health, and of course, there was no doubt which way she would choose.
Rachel was very aware that once she held her baby in her arms, she would never be parted from him or her. Already, she enjoyed a little thrill every time she felt her little baby kick or roll over. She hadn’t been prepared to be a mother, that was for sure, but it didn’t matter. Nothing would stop her from giving her child everything.
Everything.
You always wanted to be a mother, she reminded herself. You wanted to give a child what you never had yourself—stability and unconditional love.
She just never imagined she’d be doing it alone.
But as she entered her third trimester, she knew that she couldn’t fulfill the plan which had sounded so good in her head at the beginning.
She was going to need help.
The question then became did she tell the baby’s vindictive father, who might take his misplaced anger out on the baby?
Hard no! If only she could have trusted the man he had pretended to be. But as much as his betrayal had hurt, her never ending well of empathy could almost understand why he had done what he had.
Her empathy didn’t extend far enough to trust him again, though. He doesn’t need to know.
Unbearably, Rachel had thought about Damien more often than she should have over the past six months. Too often she had reached for the phone, but then forced herself not to call him, reminding herself over and over of the truly nasty words he had hurled at her the last time they were together.
What kind of masochist are you? He used you. He would have used you longer if you hadn’t figured it out and you miss him? And if you did let him back in your life ... how do you know he wouldn’t kick you to the curb, as he’d promised to do and take from you the one tiny life who mattered most to you?
But to be safe, Rachel knew she had to get out of New York before she did something she regretted—like showing up on his doorstep.
Have some damned dignity and think of your baby! had become her mantra, but as she sat staring at Luke’s shocked face, she realized that the dignity part was out the window.
She’d worked so hard to make it on her own, to be someone she could be proud of without the help of her father’s money and look where she was. Pregnant, alone and about to ask Luke for help—using the inheritance he’d been left by Carter.
“Can you please tell me what the hell is going on?” Luke pleaded, trying to keep the disappointment off his face.
Damn, he really is starting to remind me of Dad, she thought, the notion causing a twist in her gut. She knew her brother really was nothing like the abusive, controlling man who had been Carter Vaughan, but his tone at that moment, and the disappointment she thought she saw etched on his face, cut her deeply.
“I’m not judging you, Rachel,” Luke growled, mistaking her silence for defiance. “You’re a grown ass woman, after all. I’m just trying to understand how this happened.”
She grinned at him, just slightly, not able to pass that one up.
“Well, when a man and a woman love each other…”
“Don’t be a smart ass,” Luke growled, the corner of his lip lifting in an almost-smile. But then he returned to serious. “Did something happen to you? Were you…?”
Rachel just snorted.
“As you just said, Luke, I’m a grown ass woman. It may come as a shock to you that I am not a virgin.”
“That’s not what I meant and you know it. You’ve always been so responsible. I just can’t imagine how this happened, unless…oh for Christ’s sake, Rachel, are you enjoying watching me sweat? Just spill it, already!”
Rachel sighed, losing the bemused expression on her face. It was true—she had no reason to make her brother sweat.
Even if this may be his fault.
Protectively, she splayed her hands over her swollen belly, relishing in the comfort of the movements beneath palm, as her little man made his presence known.
“I’m pregnant,” she offered and Luke snorted.
“We’re past that,” he grunted. “How far along are you?”
“Twenty-five weeks.”
“Jesus. Is everything okay with you? With the baby?”
“Yes,” Rachel replied, exhaling as she finally recognized the brother she’d always known asking the right questions. “We’re fine.”
Physically.
“Why didn’t you tell me before?” Luke demanded, finally making his way back to his chair as if he suddenly realized that his huge frame might be imposing as he towered over her.
“I hoped I could do it on my own, at least until he was delivered. But work…” She inhaled. “Work is too much. Everyone is dying around me and it’s not a good place to be pregnant. I’ve already had to be hospitalized a couple…”
“What the hell?! Are you kidding me? And you didn’t call?” Luke roared. “What were you thinking, Rachel? For Chist’s sake – I love you. Why wouldn’t you come to me?”
Now she saw the hurt beneath his anger. Suddenly the guilt and the pressure were overwhelming. “I’m sorry…” she said quietly. “I just wanted…to make it. On my own. You wouldn’t understand
.” She tried to raise gracefully from the chair, knowing she was going to break down at any moment, but not wanting to do it in front of her brother.
The trip had been exhausting, and she simply couldn’t explain how important it had been to her to not need their father’s money – ever.
“Rachel, look, I’m so sorry,” he said much more softly. “And I do understand. More than anyone else ever could. I left too, remember?”
Why had she not remembered that essentially, Luke had done the same thing she had. Left their cold and abusive father, and made a fulfilling life for himself – without any help from Carter or Vaughan Industries.
“What can I do for you, Rach? Money? A place to stay? Do you want to move in with us? You know you’re more than welcome – and the rugrat too, of course.”
The questions made her feel nauseous, but warm at the same time.
So much for being a grown ass woman. But I should have known I could lean on Luke.
“Maybe both until the baby is born,” she confessed. “I’m not moving in with you though,” she said quickly. “I just need to be able to support myself until I can go back to work after the little hellion is born. Or as soon as he stops catapulting all foods and liquids right out of me…” she joked mirthlessly.
“Rachel, tell me what you need me to do,” Luke insisted. “You know I always have your back.”
Her face softened and she nodded.
“I know.”
They looked at one another awkwardly and Luke reached for the phone.
“How did you get here? Did you rent a car?”
“No, I flew and took an Uber from the airport.”
“I’ll call Mer and let her know you’re staying with us for a couple days,” he said, but Rachel shook her head.
“Not yet,” she instructed him and he slowly put the phone back. “I need you to do something for me, first.”
Revenge Revealed Page 9