Destiny Of A Donovan (The Donovans Book 15)

by A. C. Arthur

  They both paused for a moment as the lights flickered and then continued when it seemed to just be a momentary thing.

  “I know I will,” Bernard said. “I’ve done all I know how to do. I mean it was a mistake. I can’t take it back. She’s acting like I slept with the woman while we were married.”

  “You ever consider she may have wanted a divorce before now?” Henry asked.

  “I guess that’s possible,” Bernard told him. “Mary Lee said something similar.”

  “So you’re talking to Mary Lee again? When did that happen?”

  Bernard took a swallow of his rum and coke. “When we were at the hospital with Keysa. We’re just talking like civil adults now, as opposed to before.”

  Henry nodded. “Okay, well you know I feel like it’s never too late for second chances.”

  Bernard chuckled. “Oh no, man. That shipped has definitely sailed.”

  Henry laughed along with him as he recalled all that Bernard went through with Mary Lee.

  They were almost across the large ballroom floor to where the family was standing when the lights flickered and this time went out completely.

  “What the hell?” Bernard said.

  Henry had a strange feeling. “I’ve gotta find Beverly,” he said.

  “I’ll go with you,” Bernard told him.

  “Something’s going on in there,” Dion said as he looked through the glass doors into the ballroom.

  It had been dark one minute and then the lights had flickered back on. They were significantly dimmer lights, but they had come back on.

  Bailey walked across the deck to stand beside Dion. They’d just been talking about Tia and how she’d decided not to come tonight because she was feeling a little self-conscious about the scar on her face. Devlin was going to talk to her about it because if anyone knew how to overcome scars, it was him.

  “I think you’re right,” Bailey said. “We should get back inside.”

  When she did not receive an immediate response Bailey turned around to see what Trent and Devlin were doing.

  Trent had just stuffed his cell phone back into the pocket of his tuxedo jacket and cursed. Devlin was shaking his head as he looked at Trent with a dour expression.

  “What happened?” Bailey asked. “Tell me right now.”

  “Roslyn hadn’t been moved to the medium security facility in Virginia yet because her attorney had requested a psych evaluation to prepare for her insanity plea. While in the psychiatrist’s office she said she had to go to the bathroom and the guard removed her cuffs. She hit him with a statue that was on a table in the room and then used his gun to shoot the psychiatrist.”

  “Oh my go—”

  Before Bailey could finish her sentence Trent said the unthinkable.

  “She escaped.”

  Chapter 16

  The catering staff was in an uproar after the lights went out. Plates had been dropped and broken, food spilled on the floor and things left too long in the ovens during the confusion. A floor manager had immediately come into the kitchen to find Beverly.

  “The generators have kicked in Mrs. Donovan. We’re not sure what happened with the power, but we’re working on it now,” he’d said.

  “Fine,” Beverly told him.

  She was leaving the kitchen then, ready to make her way out to the ballroom when she felt a hand on her arm and then something hard poking in her back.

  “Don’t say a word. Just walk.”

  Beverly did as she was told. She knew who this was even though she’d never seen the woman in person. Her hands gripped the skirt of her sky blue dress so she wouldn’t trip over the length as she moved and she continued to smile to guests who were now in the hallway.

  “Everything is just fine,” she told them. “Management is working on the power.”

  “Aren’t you a lovely hostess,” Roslyn said as she remained close behind Beverly. “Too bad those flowery words and that fancy dress won’t save your life.”

  “Who’s going to save your life, Roslyn?” Beverly asked seconds before she was pushed into a room.

  “My life is already over,” Roslyn said when they were inside the room and she pushed Beverly until she almost fell on her face. “You ended it the day you married my Henry.”

  “Oh please, stop with that,” Beverly said as she stood up straight and smoothed down the front of her dress. “Henry was never going to be yours and you know it. I’m sick and tired of this song and dance with you.”

  “You don’t know what sick and tired is yet,” Roslyn insisted as she aimed the gun at Beverly.

  “You’re not going to shoot me,” Beverly said. “If you were you would have done it already.”

  She was certain of that, at least she thought she should be. Beverly was tired of this woman and she was tired of this entire situation. She didn’t know how it was that Roslyn came to be here, but whatever happened from this point on, Beverly was not going down without a fight.

  Dane was late getting to the event. He’d been talking to Roslyn’s lawyer who was beside herself with worry because they didn’t know where Roslyn was.

  “How the hell could they let her escape? Why weren’t there more guards with her?” he’d yelled.

  “Because we were working on an insanity plea, trying to convince them that she wasn’t a danger. She was just sick,” the lawyer had replied.

  Dane cursed. He was paying this woman good money to be a damn idiot!

  “State Troopers are looking for her,” she continued. “Road checks have been set up. The Feds have alerted everyone short of the National Guard. I don’t think she got far.”

  Dane wasn’t so sure. “This happened twelve hours ago and you’re just letting me know. That’s more than enough time for her to get on a plane and…”

  “Where do you think she’ll go?” the attorney asked.

  Dane had hung up the phone then because he knew exactly where she was going. He’d pulled up in front of the Gramercy and handed his keys to the valet. He used his cell phone to call the number he had saved for Linc Donovan.

  “She’s here,” he said the moment Linc answered.

  “What?” Linc had replied. “Where are you?”

  “I’m coming into the building now. You need to get your security guys up to that party.”

  “We just had a power outage,” Linc told him. “Hell, I was stuck on the elevator for the last ten minutes. And you’re telling me that she’s behind all this.”

  “That’s exactly what I’m telling you,” Dane said stepping into the elevator and praying they had the power outage and any residual effects under control.

  “I’ll call security now. Trent and Dev just came out of the ballroom. I’ll let them know,” Linc said.

  “I’ll find her,” Dane told him and disconnected the call.

  He reached behind his jacket and pulled out the gun he’d been carrying since that day in his apartment. Dane didn’t know what was about to go down. He hoped security would be there and his mother would be in custody by the time he got upstairs, but he wasn’t betting on that. Dane wasn’t betting on anything anymore.

  There was controlled chaos in the ballroom. Guards were standing in front of the doors keeping everyone inside. Down one end of the hallway Dane saw Trent, Devlin and Bailey guns in hand, going into each room and yelling clear when they found nothing. Dane decided to take the other end of the hallway. He went all the way down to start there. The first and second rooms were empty. Each room containing tables, chairs and other supplies he figured were for the ballroom. The third room was locked and Dane was about to skip it and go to the next when he heard the scream.

  He fired at the door knob and watched as the door flew open in response. The two women were scuffling on the floor and he ran inside.

  “I told you I was sick of this!” Beverly Donovan was yelling as she punched Roslyn in the face.

  Roslyn was lying on the floor and after she took the punch, served one of her own. Dane lifted Bev
erly off of Roslyn but the woman managed to kick his mother in the face before he could turn away and set her on the floor behind him. When he turned again it was to see Roslyn once again holding a gun. It must have fallen on the floor when the two of them began fighting. He didn’t know what had happened before he’d come in here. All Dane knew was that, his mother was holding a gun on him again.

  “I knew you were in cahoots with them. That lawyer tried to tell me that you hired her, but I knew she was lying I just knew.”

  Roslyn moved as she spoke skirting around where Dane stood.

  “Get out of my way. This bitch needs to die,” Roslyn said. “As long as I know she’s gone I can die in peace.”

  “No,” Dane said, keeping his body in front of Beverly’s even as he turned toward his mother. “This is not how this is going to end.”

  “Oh yes it is,” Roslyn said. “And if you want to be her shield, then there’s a bullet in here for you too.”

  Dane felt the weight of the gun in his hand and he lifted his arm slowly, until it was now pointed at her.

  Roslyn tossed her head back and laughed. “You gonna kill your mama, Dane? Is this what those Donovans taught you to do?”

  Behind him he heard the others coming in. Someone called Beverly’s name and Dane heard her moving away.

  “Don’t make me do this, mother,” he said, his finger shaking on the trigger. “Don’t make me hurt you.”

  “Tick tock,” Roslyn said then. “Time is steadily ticking by. That’s what my daddy used to say when I couldn’t sleep at night. Time was ticking by and soon I’d have to wake up again and go to school or some other trivial task. I hated that saying and I hated that every day I had to wake up and Henry wasn’t mine. Time is ticking by, Dane. It’s almost over.”

  “Yes, mother. It is,” he said. “Now put down your gun.”

  “No,” she told him and shook her head. “If you wanna go with me then come on!” Roslyn yelled.

  And then there was a gunshot.

  Roslyn fell to the floor and Devlin stepped from behind a door that Dane hadn’t even see there. He came to a stop over Roslyn’s body while Dane remained perfectly still.

  “Get a paramedic in here!” he heard someone yell.

  Then people were all around, security guards and police officers. Dane still did not move and he couldn’t stop staring at her. His mother, lying on the floor with a small hole at her temple.

  “I did you a favor,” Devlin said when he came to stand in front of Dane.

  He pushed Dane’s arm down and slowly removed the gun from his hand before continuing to speak, “You don’t want to carry the knowledge that you’ve taken a life, let alone your mother’s life, with you for all time. It’s not an easy burden to bear.”

  “I should have done something sooner,” Dane said quietly.

  “This end was inevitable,” Devlin replied.

  “I think you’re right.” Dane said.

  “The family will probably meet up later. You should be there,” Devlin paused. He cleared his throat. “There’s power in family.”

  Epilogue

  You are cordially invited to the weddings of

  Bailey Leah Donovan & Edward Devlin Bonner, Jr.

  And

  Brynne Nicole Donovan & Wade Basset Banks, III

  On September 25th at the Basset Banks Vineyards, Napa Valley, California

  At exactly two-thirty in the afternoon on a beautiful fall day Johnny Gill’s voice singing You For Me blared from the speakers.

  Bernard stepped onto the white runner with Brynne’s arm laced through his. They walked slowly and Brynne smiled through the thin layer of her veil. White chairs had been set up in two sections down the backyard of the vineyard. There were other places on the property that the family rented out to be used for weddings, but Brynne had wanted this spot right here because it was in that gazebo that Wade had told her that he’d wait for her and kissed her.

  He’d waited all these months for her and Bailey to plan their perfect wedding together and now, Brynne was beyond excited as she walked to meet him where he stood with the minister between him and Devlin.

  That proposal had come as a shock to everyone as after the Karing Kidz event they’d all traveled to Everette and Alma’s house. It had been a time for them to all come together and to heal finally and Devlin had stood before them all going down on one knee in front of Bailey and asking her to be his wife.

  “I don’t know if I’ll do everything right,” he’d said. “Hell, I don’t know if I’m doing this right. I know I don’t even have a ring. But what I do know is that you’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me and if you say you’ll be my wife, I promise I won’t waste another day without telling you how much I love you.”

  Tears had flowed freely down Bailey’s face. And Aunt Beverly’s, Aunt Alma’s, Aunt Janean’s, Aunt Carolyn’s. Every female in that room was crying by the time Bailey nodded and whispered yes.

  It had been Brynne’s idea to have their weddings together because Bailey had been there for Brynne through her most trying times.

  When she was finally standing in front of Wade Brynne couldn’t help but smile. She felt tears threatening to fall, but took deep breaths to hold them back. Keysa was her matron of honor and Lauren her maid of honor. They both wore white gowns because instead of having conflicting colors schemes Brynne and Bailey had decided on an all white wedding. Bailey, always the unconventional one, had two matrons of honor, Noelle and Amber.

  There were white roses and calla lilies hanging from every possible spot throughout the Big House where the reception was going to be held and in the backyard. The gazebo was flanked with them and the ends of each row of chairs as well. It smelled heavenly out here.

  As the song continued to play Brynne looked back to see Uncle Albert walking slowly down the aisle with Bailey. She was gorgeous in the form-fitting gown that Camille had made for her. Brynne’s gown had a Cinderella cut with a tight bodice that she knew Wade was going to love.

  In just twenty short minutes the ceremony was over and the festivities could truly begin. Brynne looked out at the backyard to see all of her family there. She was happy to see that Dane had come. Even Aunt Birdie had flown in from Dallas. She was, at this very moment, talking Jocelyn’s ear off about something. Brynne smiled because she figured it was probably about her divorcing Bernard. Aunt Birdie was not to be played with when it came to her family.

  The coordinator they’d hired stepped up to the mic then and announced it was time for the first dance. So Brynne, Wade, Bailey and Devlin moved to the center of the dance floor that had been created by their designers.

  All My Life by K-Ci and JoJo was the song she and Brynne had decided on for this dance and Brynne thought they both looked like two princesses finally finding their happy ever after as they swayed to the music with their new husbands.

  “I didn’t know we would end up here,” Brynne said as she snuggled close to Wade.

  He smiled down at her before kissing her lightly on the lips. “But I’m so glad we did.”

  The Donovan Series

  The Seniors are listed in order by birth and their children are listed below them (also in order by birth)

  Senior – Albert Donovan

  Brock & Noelle {Book#4 Full House Seduction}

  Brandon & Amber {Book#12 In The Arms Of A Donovan}

  Bailey & Devlin {Book#14 Falling For A Donovan}

  Senior - Henry & Beverly Donovan

  Lincoln & Jade (Children: Twin daughters, Torian & Tamala) {Book#1 Love Me Like No Other}

  Trenton & Tia (Child: Son, Trevor) {Book#3 Defying Desire}

  Adam & Camille (Children: Sons, Josiah and Jordan) {Book#2 A Cinderella Affair}

  Senior – Bernard & Jocelyn Donovan

  Keysa & Ian {Book#6 Holiday Hearts}

  Brynne & Wade {Book#15 Destiny Of A Donovan}

  Senior – Everette & Alma Donovan

  Maxwell & Deena (Child: Daughter, Sophia) {Book
#5 Touch of Fate}

  Benjamin & Victoria (Child: Daughter, Aria) {Book#9 Pleasured By A Donovan}

  Senior – Reginald & Carolyn Donovan

  Parker & Adriana {Book#11 Embraced By A Donovan}

  Savian & Jenise {Book #12 Wrapped In A Donovan}

  Regan & Gavin (Child: Son, Raleigh) {Book#10 Heart Of A Donovan}

  Senior - Bruce & Janean Donovan

  Dion & Lyra (Child: Daughter, Ilyssa) {Book#7 Desire A Donovan}

  Sean & Tate (Child: Daughter, Briana) {Book#8 Surrender To A Donovan}

  The Donovan Friends

  The Desdunes

  Lucien & Marie Desdune

  Lynette & Brice (Child: Son, Jeremy) {A Christmas Wish - Under the Mistletoe Anthology}

  Cole & Loren {Always My Valentine}

  Samuel & Karena (Child: Son, Elijah) {Summer Heat}

  Sabrina & Lorenzo (Children: Daughters, Delia & Desirae, Son, Daniel) {Guarding His Body}

  The Bennetts

  Marvin & Beatriz Bennett

  Alexander & Monica {Winter Kisses}

  Ricardo & Eva {Always In My Heart}

  Lorenzo & Sabrina (Children: Daughters, Delia & Desirae, Son, Daniel) {Guarding His Body}

  Adriana & Parker {Embraced By A Donovan}

  Gabriella

  The Lakefields

  Paul & Noreen Lakefield

  Monica & Alexander {Winter Kisses}

  Karena & Samuel (Child: Son, Elijah) {Summer Heat}

  Deena & Maxwell(Child: Daughter, Sophia) {Book#5 Touch of Fate}

  Books in reading order:

  Love Me Like No Other

  A Cinderella Affair

  Guarding His Body

  Defying Desire

  Full House Seduction

  Touch of Fate

  Summer Heat