Never Forgotten: Second Chances

by Hart, Alana

  "No one does. The whole thing is incredibly awkward and painful. He wants to invest because he thinks he owes me something. He doesn't care about the program or the company."

  "Maybe he wants to buy you back. Ingratiate himself."

  The jealousy showed through that time. "That isn't kind. But then you don't know him."

  "I know. He's noble and wonderful. Or was ten years ago."

  She heard a hint of sarcasm that upset her. "His motives might be suspect, but he means it, Riley. And he has Carla. You've seen her. She is a smart, sexy woman. If Sal is playing games, he's being foolish. He isn't the type to risk losing a woman like that over a nostalgic fantasy."

  "Never underestimate the power of fantasy. Fantasies don't have to deal with the realities that someone you love does things that upset you or that life has unpleasant surprises."

  She laughed. "Like having the old boyfriend of a girl you've proposed to show up suddenly as the white knight for your company?"

  He snapped his fingers. "Now there's a perfect example." He took her hand. "So what does this mean?"

  "Mean?"

  "This changes things on so many levels; it's hard to know where to start. You've had a lost love return—one you've never forgotten. There's a monumental amount of emotional baggage in that alone. He wants to invest in your company, which tells me he wants to be part of your life."

  She put her hand on his face and stared into his eyes. Then she kissed him and let herself feel the desire that he always summoned up. It was strong, but he was right. Sal, a strange version of the memory that was always in the back of her mind, was changing and growing stronger. Where that led, she couldn't say.

  Riley seemed lost in thought. Reasonably, she decided. It all affected him as well. After a bit, he turned to her. "I wasn't going to tell you this until tomorrow, but Striker called and gave us a new ultimatum."

  "What?"

  "It seems that Craig sold him an option on his shares. He promised to sell them at a certain price if we don't get financing by Monday."

  "That little shit. I wonder what he's playing at?"

  "Striker said that if you don't agree to sell, then Friday he withdraws his offer. He'll use his majority position to break up the company, and all you'll get is pennies on the dollar and be out on your ear. Of course, he'll sell the program to his company for its book value."

  "Which is about zero."

  "But now you have Sal's offer."

  "Complicated by the fact that he'd be doing it out of a sense of duty."

  "And I have another option for you to consider."

  "Which is?"

  "What if I invested in the company?"

  "Where is that coming from?"

  "From heaven? It would solve the problem. You'd have the money."

  "And of course, then you wouldn't worry about me feeling cornered by the situation, feeling the need to take Sal's money and reopening that door to my past."

  He gave her a smile. "I'll admit that possibility influenced my generous offer."

  "It's a shitty reason to invest. And Sal hasn't even suggested any sort of getting back together. He's offered to give me his proxy and then leave, go back to Italy, so we don't have to see each other."

  The idea cheered Riley. "Okay, but even so, I'd be more comfortable if he went back to Italy. My reasoning isn't the worst investment strategy by a long shot. Even if it's stupid, it has the virtue of being romantic. I told you I wanted to start enjoying my money. The look on Striker's face when he's foiled could be priceless."

  "Like my financial adviser has suggested, I'll need to consider that option. But what if I decided to walk away from it all? Maybe go off with a handsome guy on a vacation?"

  He shrugged. "If you accept, that boyfriend wouldn't be able to afford the open-ended vacation, I'm afraid, being heavily invested in tech stocks. But if you sold out to Striker we could do that. If you wanted to."

  She smiled. "I don't know, Riley. There is something unreal in all this and so much has happened so fast that I can't get my head around it, much less understand my true feelings."

  "Would you like a drink? It might wash away the taste of old boyfriend."

  "No. That isn't what I need."

  "So what do you need, besides time to think?"

  She began undoing the buttons of her silk blouse. The electricity of her favorite material had never felt more sensual to her, and she opened her blouse, letting him see her bare breasts. He touched them, one hand covering each, and she reached for his fly and unzipped him. "I need you to fuck me, Riley."

  As she put her hand inside his pants in search of his cock, wanting to arouse him, he interrupted her, sweeping her up in his arms and carrying her into the bedroom where he dropped her on the bed. He crawled over her, roughly hiking her dress up to her waist, grabbing her panties by the crotch and tearing them from her so hard that the fabric dug into her flesh. His mouth attacked her neck as he spread her legs apart. He was mightily aroused, and when he tipped her legs back and moved on top of her, when rammed his rigid cock into her she cried out like she was being taken for the first time. She'd never felt more filled with a man, and she wallowed in it, wanting the sensations of his hard cock pounding in her to drive away all other thoughts, and for that moment, it did. But such oblivion couldn't go on forever. She came, crying out nonsense and then tried to focus on her lover who still thrust deep into her. When he came, she felt tremors of fright—almost immediately the paralyzing confusion and conflicting emotions welled up again.

  * * * *

  The way things had developed, Megan began to wonder how she'd ever been able to think her life had ever been complicated before. Not that long ago she had been dealing with the relatively simple idea that she needed to find extra investment to save her company. As complex a thing as that had turned out to be, it was nothing compared to the way she found herself now questioning what she actually wanted. Sal had come back, damaged but back. That both amazed and frightened her because she struggled to come to grips with her feelings about him. And she hadn't even managed to sort out her feelings about Riley when that came up.

  Then there was her future, her career. She recalled the vision she'd begun this company with. Despite what she told Craig, she had pictured herself taking the tech industry by storm. Just as she'd dreamed of building an empire with Sal, she wanted to use Craig's skills and leverage them. Now she wasn't certain.

  She found herself with a proposal from Riley—two of them actually, and both were beautiful and tangible, and they clashed with the offer from the most passionate love she'd ever known. Sal was back, every bit as tangible as Riley, but he'd given her no idea of his feelings, what he truly wanted. He had Carla in his life and certainly had to know that Megan wasn't the awestruck young girl he had known. He had offered her help, but not mentioned love. He had talked of concern, not passion. Yet… she knew something was there. Or was that just a memory of something?

  She didn't like tormenting herself, speculating about things she couldn't find the answers to. Making choices without information was risky, but in business she'd learned to do that, to trust her gut. Unfortunately, her gut was tied in knots, and all it was telling her was that it too was in pain. That wasn't useful. No matter how she considered things, she found they broke down the same. She wanted to save the company. Sal offered the money to do that, and if she took that option, she'd have to explain Sal and what he meant to Riley and what would that would mean to him? What would it mean to Sal to find out that Riley was her lover and wanted to marry her?

  And something she'd sensed in the meeting with Sal and Carla, something unsaid, nagged at her. She couldn't quite nail it down; it was too ephemeral to begin to understand. But she knew someone who might help her figure it out.

  Her hand shook as she picked up the phone and called Carla's number. "I've been expecting your call."

  "And dreading it?"

  Carla laughed. "Sal said
you were clever. I hoped he was wrong. But he isn't wrong about people very often."

  "It's nice to know he's kept that skill. Can we meet? I have questions."

  "I'd be shocked if you didn't. I doubt I'll have much in the way of answers for you, but I have a few facts and lots of opinions I'm willing to share. Yes, I think you and I need to talk privately."

  "Perfect. Can you meet me at my apartment? It wouldn't be fair to have him sitting around wondering what we are talking about when I suspect we'll be talking about him."

  She heard a soft chuckle. "If you hadn't called to arrange this, I would've called you. I want to know, have to know where we all stand as much as you. That's going to require a bit of work and honest analysis from us both."

  "The sooner, the better."

  "I'm free right now."

  Her blood raced as Megan gave her the address. When she hung up, she called Becky in. "Cancel any appointments I have for the rest of the day. If Riley Carson calls, tell him I'm doing some follow-up work and that I'll call him later, as soon as I finish."

  "Craig wanted to see you. He said he could explain, but he didn't say about what."

  She laughed. "I know what he wants to explain. Tell him I said it doesn't matter. I'll see him tomorrow."

  She got up and stared at her briefcase, picturing the documents... the spreadsheets, cost analysis, projections, marketing plans, and proposals that filled it, and cluttered her brain as well. She should take it with her. That's why she had it. That was also the reason she couldn't bear to touch it. It was filled with numbers and logic and plans that go awry. She was in no mood for any of those things. Somehow they seemed to be interfering with understanding her own heart.

  "You forgot your briefcase," Becky called as she started out.

  "No. No, I didn't forget anything." She turned and looked back at Becky. "And that's the real problem, Becky—I've never forgotten. Not my briefcase much less anything truly important. And sometimes I think I'd be better if I were better at forgetting."

  Under other circumstances, she might have found the bewildered look on Becky's face amusing.

  * * * *

  Tension tightened Carla's face as they talked. Her eyes flashed contrary signals, and the pieces began to fall into place. It was a lot to take in at once, but Megan focused narrowly, training her mind on the simplest thread of the story. As she did, a picture emerged that made her feel pangs of sadness for Carla. "Coming here was your idea." There was no answer. "You were the one who had me tracked down; you convinced him to see me. Why?"

  The woman nodded. "He was afraid to see you but he needed to. He needed to have you see him, and that frightened him."

  The idea of Sal afraid of anything made her tremble. It spoke of power she hardly could imagine. "You love him."

  She arched her eyebrows. "Foolishly, perhaps. He still loves you. I was never more than a stand in."

  "I can't imagine that. Not from you."

  "People in love do strange things."

  "So why did you arrange this meeting? You could've told him you couldn't find me. He'd believe you. He trusts you. I can see that."

  Carla looked toward the window, buying time. Then she turned back to face Megan squarely; her look said she was resolved and confronting the most unpleasant thing imaginable. "Because I don't want half of something or someone, especially not a man like Sal. It becomes a bad farce too quickly. Arranging this was my only chance—the only possible way I could have him was if you rejected him." She laughed, but there was no humor in it. "I tried. For a long time, I clutched onto a shadow of him thinking he'd forget about you. I tried to convince myself that was enough to be happy. But I'm greedy, and that greed double crossed me. I was jealous of you, and I couldn't compete with a memory. So I found the real woman, my physical competition." A wistful smile crossed her face. "I had the vain hope that you might run away from him in horror. I should've known that the man I loved and admired could never have been in love with someone that shallow."

  Megan handed her the picture of them, her one photo. "He was gorgeous once." Megan heard the wistful sadness floating in her words and realized she was letting something go, and then she knew what it was—her attachment to that beauty.

  Carla looked at the picture, shaking her head. "That's not the man I know at all. Odd, isn't it? The man I love was never so beautiful. I knew he had been, and my stupid hope was that your love was based on his beauty. It's my bad luck that you adore the man himself." She laughed again and put the photo down. "The odds were never in my favor." She turned away again. "He tried too, He pretended to himself that he loved me and that he could find the happiness with me he'd felt with you once. Just as you pretended, you could forget him. We've all been rather foolish."

  "It's still unreal. I've dreamed about him constantly. He always comes to me when I need help, in my dreams."

  "And now he's come while you are awake, and you have to deal with the idea that the Sal you've dreamed about isn't quite the same as he is now."

  "I know. It's hard."

  "I realized that we couldn't move forward without confronting the past. And I told him that. He needed to know how you'd react to him and how he'd react to you—decide if there was the possibility of a second chance."

  Megan understood. She'd tried living shallow for too long. Experience told her it didn't work. Marrying Craig, loving other men, had been a way of quelling the hunger for a short time, but never satisfied. She and Sal had been like that, totally committed, and nothing but a total commitment would do. "What now?"

  Carla shrugged. "Now I know that you still love him and probably never stopped. Why the hell you have to be as good as the woman he remembers I'll never know. It's hardly fair of you to live up to his fantasy. But it means you have a second chance if you want to take it."

  Megan felt a tremor that threatened to shake her body violently. In one day, she'd been handed exactly what she'd asked for, but she had to choose among so many powerful draws. "I feel like my head and heart are both going to explode." She looked at Carla, saw her anxious look. "If I choose Sal, what will you do?"

  "I'll leave. One thing I didn't take into account when I forced this meeting was my own reaction. I don't like myself a lot at the moment. And hearing your question I also realize that I didn't even think about what would happen to him if you didn't want him. It was incredibly stupid to think you turning away from him, not wanting him would make him finally love me. He isn't that shallow. He doesn't love me, and I won't stay."

  "He might need you."

  "I'd like to believe he'll miss me, but he wants you. Would you stay with him if he didn't love you?"

  Megan smiled. "I see your point. You couldn't live that way."

  "I've been offered an excellent job in England. I've decided to take it. I'll move there and start over, feeling all fucking noble and sorry for myself. Learning a new job in a new place will keep me occupied. I'll bury myself in and hope that one day I wake up and find I have a new life." She reached out and touched Megan's hand.

  "I hate thinking that I've made you suffer."

  Carla laughed. "Me too. I'd much rather you never existed, but we didn't create this situation. I hate losing him, but I never really had him and as wonderful as I think he is, and knowing that I'll always love him, we never really had a real chance at the kind of happiness I want."

  "He'll never understand."

  Carla shook her head. "If he has you, he'll barely notice. And he already knows. It isn't even something I need to tell him."

  Then she stood. "Well, you have thinking to do and decisions to make so I'll leave you to them. I've arranged with the bank for the money you need." She handed Megan a card. "Here is the authorization codes and everything you need to transfer it to your account. Be careful with it. It's all he has."

  "What?"

  "We made enough to buy his family's company… and not all of it. Sal wanted to move now. Until he learned you need
ed it."

  She felt a twinge of guilt. "So he's giving up his dream and going back to work for me."

  "If that's what you choose." Carla came over and kissed her cheek. "I trust you. You will learn everything you need to know and make the right decisions for both of you."

  "You are an amazing person."

  "Unfortunately, so are you."

  And she left.

  CHAPTER NINE

  That night, when Megan finally slept, she found herself transported to a lavish sitting room furnished in dark colors. Even the walls were dark, making it impossible to see the edges of the room. She hung in the air, suspended from a ring in the ceiling by wrist restraints. Her feet were tied to ends of a spreader bar. She was naked. And she wasn't alone.

  A man sat in a chair upholstered in black leather looking at her. He wore nothing but a face mask and a white cloth tied around his waist. She stared at him, and finally he stood. She saw that he had a leather riding crop that brushed his leg as he walked to where Megan hung. Her heart pounded fiercely as he stopped in front of her, raised the crop and struck it across her breast. She cried out. Then she saw a line of red appear on the white flesh. He ran his finger over the mark, then abruptly struck the other one, leaving a matching bright red mark.

  She heard another man laugh. The sound came from the shadows of the room. "Excellent."

  The man in front of her let out a deep laugh that filled the room. It was Sal. Without seeing his face, she knew it by the way he moved, the powerful torso. "A few more times like that, and then we will fuck her in both holes." He moved behind her, running the crop over her body, then grabbing her short red hair and pulling her head back. He put his face near hers. "You'll like that, won't you, Megan? One cock in your pussy, and another in your ass?"

  She felt weak. "Yes."

  He reached around her and flicked her pussy with the crop, and she cried out again. "Maybe I should make you come this way first. You've been weak, Megan. You need to be punished so that you remember how to be strong. Maybe I should whip your pussy with this crop while you think about taking our cocks. Then, if you come, we'll fuck you until you can't walk."