by Anne, Melody
Damien almost staggered again as the realization hit him that he liked her, he actually liked this woman he’d thought of as his enemy for so many years. He fought the warm feelings building inside toward her, but he couldn’t stop it.
“Let’s go,” he said, his voice gruff.
“What?” It was Bree’s turn to be confused.
“You obviously aren’t going to tell me where she’s located, so you’ll just have to drive me there,” he commanded as he locked his door and swiftly walked down the stone steps. He eyed her small convertible with suspicion as he glanced at the open roof and the grey sky.
Oh well, nothing like living on the edge, he thought as he maneuvered his large body into the small passenger seat. He suddenly had sympathy for sardines.
“I didn’t invite you in my car,” she said as she eyed him with suspicion.
“Well, too bad. You’ll just have to deal with it because I’m going to see Sierra.” He crossed his arms as he waited for her to make her decision.
With a roll of her eyes she finally climbed in, then gave him an evil smile before she threw the car into gear and pealed out of his driveway.
Damien grabbed the door handle, thinking he may have been a bit too rash in his decision to ride with the woman. She was obviously insane. He tried to yell for her to slow down, but as their speed picked up and she wove around traffic on the busy Seattle freeway, his words were carried away by the self-made wind.
He said a prayer for the first time in his life.
They arrived at the hospital and Damien really hoped his legs would hold him up. He hadn’t been that frightened since he was a young boy. As he touched solid ground again, he looked over at Bree with her ridiculous Cheshire grin. His respect went up another notch, dang it.
“Just remember, Whitfield, you’ve been warned,” were her parting words before she preceded him into the hospital.
Damien had no trouble keeping up with her as she moved through the hallways of the vast hospital. She stopped in front of a closed door, sent him a final warning with her eyes, then slowly turned the knob and walked inside.
Damien was stunned silent by the sight of Sierra. There were wires coming from seemingly everywhere, and a machine next to her with consistent monitoring beeps coming from it. Her face. Her poor face. Her right eye was bruised and swollen, and a scrape ran across her chin. The rest of her body was covered, but he almost didn’t want to know what it looked like.
“Her leg was broken, and she has two cracked ribs. The leg happened on the stairs. To the paramedics who came, it looked like the bruise on her side indicated someone had kicked her – hard.”
“I’m going to kill him,” Damien said, his voice quiet, but deadly truth lying behind his words.
“Not something a man who doesn’t care would do,” Bree taunted him.
He glared at her before moving to Sierra’s bed. It was his fault. He knew Douglas was a horrible man and he was under no disillusions that parents were always perfect. Though his mother had beaten him regularly, it was never to this severity. Looking at Sierra, he thought he’d had it pretty good.
Before he knew what he was doing, he lifted his hand and gently brushed her hair back. Her eyes fluttered as they slowly came open.
She looked at him with a sweet smile as if they were waking up on any ordinary day.
“Morning,” she mumbled, then flinched as she tried to move.
“Don’t move,” he warned.
Her eyes widened as she slightly shook her head, then looked around. Damien felt his heart clench as he watched the sweet smile disappear as reality set in. She looked back to him, and he saw her trying to mask her emotions, too weak to pull it off.
“What are you doing here?” she asked with a little hoarseness in her voice, while looking past him at Bree.
“Bree picked me up,” he said. He didn’t know what he was doing there.
“You hate her, though,” she rasped in confusion.
“Thanks, Sierra,” Bree mockingly said, but with humor.
“Yeah, well, she’s kind of stubborn,” he answered with a sheepish grin. “She has a hell of a stomp, too.”
Sierra looked between the two of them in shock as they both smiled. He couldn’t explain it to her because he couldn’t explain it to himself.
“He shouldn’t mock me when I’m being serious,” Bree countered.
“Yes, I’ll be sure not to do that next time.”
“Next time?” Sierra asked with hope. Damien looked at her, surprise radiating from him. She was lying in a hospital bed with broken bones, her body bruised, her future uncertain, and what she was most concerned about was his relationship with Bree.
He turned to Bree and looked at her with new eyes. Could his mother have lied to him? How could a monster inspire such loyalty, such love? He thought back to everything he’d found on the Anderson’s. All of it contradicted what his mother had said, but he didn’t want to believe that.
He couldn’t.
“Sierra, are you feeling any better?” Joseph asked as he walked in the room with a giant bouquet of flowers, balloons and a stuffed animal.
“Yes, Joseph, much better, thank you. You really shouldn’t have gotten me this room, though. I was fine in the other one,” Sierra answered softly.
“Of course we weren’t leaving you in that room. I’m so sorry your father would dare do this to you. If he wasn’t already in jail, I’d go give him an ass kicking right now,” George said as he bent down and kissed her forehead. “I have a couple friends on that force, maybe they can sneak me in,” he added with hope.
“No you won’t George Anderson, and before you even think it, neither will any of the boys. You won’t stoop to that man’s level by getting in a brawl. He won’t ever come near Sierra again. Now, quit talking about him or you’re going to upset Sierra,” Esther, George’s wife, said as she walked in behind him.
George’s shoulders slumped as if he was really disappointed he didn’t get to go give a whooping to the man.
“Thank you, George. Your concern means the world to me,” Sierra said as a tear fell. George bent down and tenderly hugged her before stepping away, giving Esther a turn.
Damien turned to Bree and mouthed, it wasn’t me, while pointing at his eye and implying the fresh tear from Sierra. He enjoyed the way Bree’s eyes opened in surprise at the joke. He was starting to realize Bree just may take him down if he made her best friend cry again. The love and affection was overwhelming in the room and though it was a foreign family sensation, Damien loved being a part of it.
“Damien, I brought this with me. It’s yours so you should have it back,” Joseph said as he stepped beside him and placed a small toy in his hand. When he looked down and noticed the faded D.W carved in the bottom of the wooden rocking horse, he felt a lump form in his throat.
“I’m not ready,” he said, his voice a bit gravely.
“Take all the time you need. All we ask is that you give us a chance,” Joseph said, respecting Damien’s need for space.
“I need to think. You focus on getting better, Sierra. I need you better. I’m so sorry I was such a jerk. I’ve really missed you…,” Damien said as he reached down and reassuringly squeezed her hand. She nodded as her eyes grew watery, but no tears fell, thankfully.
He wanted to lean down and kiss her, but it was too much right then. Without saying anything more, he gripped the small rocking horse in his hand and walked from the room.
Chapter Twenty-Six
“I’m sorry, Mom, but you let me down. You lied to me my entire life, preventing me from having a family who loves me, and you almost cost me everything. You did cost me years – many years of happiness. You used your hands as punishment, you cut me down, and still, I loved you. I tried my best to honor you. What I’ve come to realize in the last three months is that you didn’t deserve my honor or respect. I won’t come back here again. What you did to me was unforgiveable. I hope you’ve found happiness wherever you are, I tr
uly do, but I’m done with your burdens.”
Damien stood over his mother’s grave, a solitary flower in his hand. He’d come to say goodbye. For the last three months, he’d slowly gotten to know the men he’d vowed to harm, the cousins he’d thought were so evil. He found them the opposite of everything he’d ever believed. They were kind and caring, and he actually had a lot in common with them when he let go of the bitterness.
His mother had been wrong. He’d never know why she’d made up the lies she did, never understand how she could deliberately try to damage her son so deeply, but he had to let it go. There was nothing he could do about the past. He did, though, have control of his future.
A pang hit his heart as he thought of his future. He’d tried speaking with Sierra a couple weeks after she’d gotten out of the hospital, but she’d told him he needed time to bond with his new family – he needed time to heal.
He missed her. In a few short months, she’d shown him so much more than he ever thought he deserved. Her passion for life, her unguarded love, when in all rights she should’ve been even more bitter than he was. She had a natural light about her that drew people in, and he wasn’t immune. He wanted so much to be with her.
With new resolve, he turned, determined to make her listen to reason. They were meant to be together. As he looked up, his mouth lifted in a sad smile.
“I thought you could use a shoulder to lean on.”
“More than you know,” he said as he fought back his emotions.
Trinity wrapped him in a hug and he leaned on his best friend, grateful she was there.
“I figured you’d be here. You always visit on her birthday, though I’m glad you finally realize she doesn’t deserve it. I’m sorry, Damien, I’m so sorry for what you went through. I’m sorry she was such a bitter, cruel woman. I’m so impressed with the man you’ve turned into. That’s all because of you, because of what’s in your heart. You’ve chosen to be a good man even though you have every right to hate the world,” Trinity said as she cried in his arms.
Damien smiled as he attempted to comfort Trinity. He thought it amusing she was so bad at staying strong. Her greatest appeal, in his opinion, was how she had the softest heart of anyone he knew.
“What would I do without you in my life, Trinity?”
“You’d fall to pieces. Speaking of which, I should ring your neck. I can’t believe your harebrained scheme, and what you were planning on doing. The only thing saving you right now is that you realized you were being a fool,” she said as she pulled back to give him a watery glare.
“I knew all along how stupid I was being, which is why I didn’t share my plans. I didn’t want to face you – you’re the epitome of goodness. I’m starting to love them, Trinity. Joseph is so full of life, his voice could wake the dead. George is just as stubborn and willful as his brother, but he’s quieter, more the comforter. My cousins, wow, I don’t even know where to start with them. I have to say I truly enjoy Bree. She’s hell on wheels and so loyal. You should’ve seen her when she was protecting Sierra.” Damien smiled with affection.
“I know the Anderson’s a little as my husband and his brothers do business with them on various jobs, but I’m looking forward to getting to know them a lot more now that they’re your family.”
“You know, you’ll always be my family, right? I wouldn’t have made it this far in life had I not met you. I’m so glad I have you.”
“I feel the same way, Damien. We’ll stick together no matter what,” Trinity said as she instantly forgave him for being a fool.
“I need to see Sierra,” he told her as she wrapped her arm in his and they began walking back to their cars.
“Yes you do, but don’t be an idiot. Tell her you love her, buy her a million roses, and beg her on bended knee for forgiveness. Don’t just demand she submit to your will,” Trinity warned.
“Ah, you really know how to wound my pride. I don’t crawl, Trin,” he said with a pucker between his brows.
“Then you don’t love her enough, Damien,” Trinity said, stopping to look him in the eye.
Damien thought about her words. He did love Sierra – even enough to crawl. The realization was staggering as he stood rooted to the spot with Trinity giving him time to sort out his emotions.
“She’ll be at the Anderson’s party tonight,” she said.
“I guess I’d better go and get ready for a dance then,” he said as a smile took over his face. He wasn’t willing to take no for an answer this time, even if he did have to ignore Trinity’s advice and carry Sierra from the room over his shoulder. That thought actually excited him.
“Should I be worried? You two always seem to have your arms around each other,” Drew said as he stepped out of the car he’d been in while waiting for his wife.
“Of course you should be worried. I had her first,” Damien goaded Drew before bending and kissing Trinity on the cheek.
“Now you realize I’m going to have to defend my honor and challenge you to a duel,” Drew told him.
“Anytime, anywhere, Titan,” Damien said before the two men laughed.
“If you brawny men are finished, there’s a party tonight we all have to get ready for,” Trinity said as she let go of Damien and walked over to her husband.
Damien watched the two of them drive off before he got in his own car. The wheels in his head slowly started turning as he made plans for the evening.
∞∞∞
Sierra stepped inside the Anderson mansion, nervous as she looked around the familiar ballroom. She’d been inside Joseph and Katherine’s home a few times with Bree, but she knew Damien would be at the party, and she didn’t think she was ready to see him yet.
Even though it had been three months, and six days since their last brief moment together in the hospital, her heart still hadn’t healed. She received regular updates from Bree and was very happy Damien was getting to know his relatives. She truly wished him a happy life. He deserved it after everything he’d been through.
A small part of her insisted she deserved happiness, as well, but she pushed that down. She’d someday find her own path. She just had to find the will to get over Damien and move on with her life.
“You’re late. I thought I was going to have to drag you here, Sierra,” Bree said with exasperation.
“I’m only a half hour late, and that’s actually on time for one of your Uncle’s parties, because it takes him two hours to greet everyone before anything actually begins,” Sierra replied with a smile.
“You are certainly correct,” Bree said as she led Sierra into the room.
There had to be a couple hundred people there, all dressed to perfection. Sierra was wearing a new dress she felt confident in. She was working for a small marketing company, making a great salary, and had spent the entire afternoon shopping for the perfect dress. She tried to convince herself she was doing it solely for her own pleasure and not because she knew Damien would be in attendance.
She’d told herself repeatedly that she’d be polite if they ran into each other, offer him well-wishes, then confidently sashay in the opposite direction. She didn’t want him thinking she was pining over him after three months.
The music started and couples began filling the enormous dance floor. Sierra’s stomach tightened as her gaze roamed the room. There was no sign of Damien anywhere. She told herself that was a good thing.
“Would you care to dance?” a gentleman asked as he approached.
“That would be lovely,” she responded as she followed him to the center of the dance floor. One dance let into several others as she was asked by different strangers, and a few acquaintances she recognized from other functions.
When the song, You Are So Beautiful, came on and a man asked her to dance, she paused as her throat clogged with tears. It was the first song she’d danced to with Damien when she’d been slowly falling in love with him. He’d glided across the floor with her, her feet barely touching the ground as his hands caressed her
back.
She couldn’t accept the man’s invitation; the song was much too personal for her. Before she had a chance to reply, he was interrupted.
“She’s already taken for this dance.”
Sierra looked up into Damien’s intense face, his features so familiar, so stunningly handsome. He was wearing his tux, looking even better than she remembered. Her breath hitched as her body reacted. She felt herself wanting to fall into his arms.
Without giving her a chance to refuse him, he pulled her into his arms and started moving in a slow circle, his hands positioned on her hips, his fingers caressing the sensitive dent of her back. Goosebumps appeared on her skin as his breath whispered across her face and he looked into her eyes, his own filled with intensity. The room faded away until it became just the two of them, the sound of the music guiding them along.
When he started singing the words of the song while still looking deep in her eyes, her knees nearly buckled. She’d done so well at convincing herself she was healing, and in the matter of a few moments, she was falling over a cliff – ready to crash in a heap she’d never be able to stand up from.
The song ended and the room grew quiet as Joseph walked to the stage and stood gazing out at the crowd with a microphone in his hand. He spotted Damien and smiled.
“As you all know, we have much to celebrate with the spring of a new year upon us. My long lost nephew has been found, and we’re so pleased to have him as a part of our family. He’s been in Seattle the whole time, but circumstances kept us from each other. Because of a beautiful young woman in the crowd, we connected and have spent the last few months getting to know each other. It’s been a joy and filled this old heart of mine with overwhelming happiness. Whenever I think my life can’t possibly get any greater than it already has, our family is blessed with even more,” Joseph said.