Destiny Revealed (There's Always Tomorrow Book 2)

by Saperstein, M. D.

  “Maybe she wants you to care about her a little bit before she lets you into her pants,” Ryder suggests.

  Dayne almost blurts out that he does, but he catches himself. Ryder knows what he had been on the verge of saying, though, as he gives him a knowing look.

  “Look, Dayne. I know you don't want to have feelings for her, but honestly, shit doesn't work like that. Your heart doesn't give a shit about what your brain wants, and vice versa. You know that the harder you fight it, the harder you’re gonna fall,” Ryder says.

  Dayne snorts. “Oh believe me, I’m not falling for her, and I never will.” Dayne hopes saying it out loud will make it more believable, but Ryder knows him too well. God dammit!

  “She's not your ex, Rachel, Dayne.” Ryder sighs.

  Dayne freezes then slowly turns to face Ryder, who is only a couple of feet away. None of his friends has spoken her name since the divorce was finalized. Ryder doesn't look at all sorry for what he said. Rachel. Fuck, that wound is still so raw, even after 5 years.

  “Harper is not Rachel,” Ryder repeats more firmly.

  “Stop saying her name,” Dayne says hoarsely, his eyes burning with the threat of tears.

  Ryder looks at him with such sorrow and compassion that Dayne wants to sock him right in that pretty face of his. “You have to let it go, man. It's over, she's out of your life. You need to move on and find happiness with someone else.”

  “I have moved on,” Dayne snaps.

  Ryder snorts. “Please, save it. You haven't had one relationship in five years, and you treat women like shit. You have done anything but moved on.” Ouch.

  “I don't...I don't treat women like shit,” Dayne says, not completely convinced by his statement either.

  Ryder gives him a bored look and crosses his arms over his chest. “The only reason you're dating Harper is because you wanna fuck her, then what? You're gonna dump her because you got what you wanted? That's fucked up, Dayne, and you know it. That's no way to treat her; she doesn't deserve it. She isn't the one who hurt you; you shouldn't take it out on her.”

  Dayne rakes a hand through his hair. “Why the hell are you getting on me about this now? You've never said anything about all of the other women I've screwed.” Dayne sighs. He’s pretty sure he knows what Ryder's answer is going to be.

  “Because whether you want to admit it or not, you both care about each other, and I don’t want you to hurt her to the point that you won't be able to fix it,” Ryder tells him, even though he already knew what he was going to say.

  Dayne drops his chin to his chest and heaves out a breath. Goddamn Ryder. Why does he have to go and say shit like that, making his conscience wake up and agree? Dayne takes in a deep breath and lifts his head to look at Ryder.

  “Fine, I'm done with her then,” Dayne grinds out, his chest tightening. Why does he feel like his heart is being ripped out and stomped on? Oh God, he can't even think of the reasons why, he'd have a panic attack.

  “Or you can stay with her and see where things go,” Ryder says, giving him a pointed look.

  Dayne shakes his head. “No, I'll end it now before she gets attached.”

  Ryder shakes his head and sighs. “You're hopeless.”

  “Whatever,” Dayne mutters then heads back into the party with Ryder on his tail.

  Harper is gone when he and Ryder return to the guys. Dayne realizes that Melina is gone, too. They must have gone off somewhere together. Vance is still on the couch, and Mike has taken the spot next to him. Tripp is in an armchair adjacent to them. They all give him blank faces so he has no idea what they are thinking; cop faces from all three of them. Bastards.

  “Where did Harper go?” Dayne asks.

  “Melina took her to the bathroom,” Vance replies blandly.

  Dayne frowns in confusion at Vance's phrasing. “Took her to the bathroom?”

  Dayne catches the flash of disgust in Vance's eyes. “Harper got a bit emotional, so Melina took her to the bathroom to…get herself together.”

  Dayne clenches his teeth against the sudden onslaught of guilt, but it doesn't really help. He feels his stomach knot at the thought that he was the one who hurt her and caused her to be upset. And now he’s going to cause her more pain when he tells her that it’s over between them. Why does that bother him so fucking much?

  Because you fucking care about her you stupid asshole! He chastises himself.

  Dayne rakes a hand through his hair and curses. This is not going at all the way that he planned. After his wife smashed his heart into a million pieces, he never thought that he'd feel anything for another woman ever again. His ex, Rachel, cheated on him only six months into their marriage. That wasn't the worst part; the worst part was that she was cheating on him with his half-brother, Ryan. And to top it all off, Dayne caught them together in his bed. Dayne beat Ryan within an inch of his life. If Ryder hadn't been with him, Dayne might be in jail for murder today.

  Dayne hasn't seen or heard anything about them since it all went down. Dayne and Ryan share the same mother but have different fathers. Actually, they used to be pretty close. Dayne told his mother never to talk about Ryan in front of him, and he refused to go to any family gatherings that Ryan was going to be at. It killed his mother, but Dayne couldn’t be around him without wanting to rip his throat out.

  Dayne gave his heart to that fucking cunt, and what did she do with it? Tore it out, stomped on it, spit on it, and left it for dead. Dayne has been a completely different person after that night - a colder, much harder person - and there has been no recovering from it.

  Harper and Melina return, pulling Dayne out of his horrible memories. Harper's eyes look a bit bloodshot and her nose is pinker than usual. She has been crying. Why? Why was she crying? She is too happy and upbeat and strong to be crying. Dayne can barely look at her; she is breaking his heart with her sad eyes.

  Harper stops in front of him, hesitantly fingering the zipper of his leather jacket. “I'm sorry, I didn't mean to get you all worked up,” she says softly, lifting just her eyes to meet his.

  “Just you standing here gets me worked up,” Dayne scoffs. Harper smiles and his fucking traitorous heart flutters. God, she is breathtaking when she smiles. “Listen, we gotta talk,” he rasps, hating himself for what he’s about to do.

  Harper knows; he can see it in her eyes. He expects her to be upset; instead, she looks pissed. She gives him a nod and heads for the door. Dayne follows. They step into the hall that he just came back from.

  “So talk,” Harper snaps.

  “I can't do this with you anymore...” Dayne starts but Harper cuts him off.

  “Because I won't fuck you?” Harper says in disbelief.

  Dayne sighs. “It's not even about that anymore. You’re looking for something that I just can’t give you; you want more than just sex.”

  Harper opens her mouth to argue but Dayne holds up his hand. “Don't, I can see it in your eyes. It’ll be better if we just end this now; that way, nobody gets hurt.”

  “So you don't care about me at all? The two dates we had meant nothing to you?” Harper whispers.

  Dayne can't lie to her, but he also can’t admit that he enjoyed every second they spent together. Dayne just shoves his hands into his pockets and stares down the hall; anywhere but her beautiful face.

  Harper lets out a bitter laugh. “Can’t look at me? Wow, I didn't think that it would be that horrible to have feelings for someone.”

  “Yeah, well, if you've ever had your heart ripped to shreds, you might have a different take on it,” Dayne mutters. He can feel Harper's gaze burning into the side of his face. It’s so intense that he has to fight the urge to fidget.

  “Everyone's been hurt before, Dayne,” Harper says softly, placing her hand on his chest.

  Dayne wrenches away as if her touch burns because it did, it set his blood on fire. Dayne paces away from her, hands laced on top of his head. He sneaks a glance at her and almost breaks down. She looks utterly devastat
ed. She is hugging herself defensively and fighting hard to hold back the tears that are swimming in her eyes.

  “Fine, Dayne, whatever. You’re a fucking coward,” Harper rasps then turns and starts down the hallway leaving him standing there, staring at her back as it slowly disappears from sight.

  Chapter 8

  It is 4:00 am by the time they all file into Vance's Expedition. Melina sits shotgun, Mike and Dayne sit in the second row, and Tripp and Ryder are all the way in the back third row. They are all exhausted. Dayne is trashed and is ranting on and on about his bitch of an ex-wife. Vance is just about to tell him to shut the fuck up when the rear window explodes. Melina lets out a shriek as Tripp and Ryder are sprayed with flying glass shards.

  “What the fuck was that?” Vance shouts, glancing in the rear view to see Tripp and Ryder shaking glass out of their hair.

  “Gunshot!” Tripp yells, “Floor it!”

  Vance transforms into offensive driving mode and takes off, keeping both an eye on the road in front of him and an eye on the rear view. While glancing in the rear view mirror, he catches sight of the car that is after them. It is a late model Toyota Camry, hunter green.

  “Melina, write down this tag number,” Vance says and waits as she fumbles through the glove compartment for a pen and paper.

  “Go,” she says, not a hint of tremble in her voice, making Vance smile at how brave she is being.

  Vance reads off the license plate number to her and tells her to call 911. Melina does as she’s told while Vance tries to lose the maniac on his tail.

  “Tripp, can you see who’s driving?” Vance asks calmly, but impatiently.

  “Naw, man. It’s too dark,” he grits out. The cop in him is pissed off that he can’t be more helpful.

  The fucker keeps up with them. Vance jumps on the highway because at this time of night, there shouldn’t be too many cars on the road. The less innocent bystanders involved the better. A few more shots hit the car and bust out the window next to Mike. Vance's heart is pounding. Who the fuck is shooting at them? They obviously want someone in the car dead. Dread settled in Vance's stomach like a rock. He glances at Melina then in the rear view again, trying to see the person's face.

  They fly down the highway, the overhead lights sending flashes of light into the dark interior of the other car. Vance focuses on the person's face. Then as the light momentarily passes over their face he instantly knows who it is.

  “That motherfucker!” Vance bellows and slams his palm into the steering wheel, making Melina jump in her seat.

  “What?” she squeaks.

  “It's Damien, baby! Damien is the one following us,” Vance says, hating the terrified look that clamps down on her features.

  “It’s your fucking delinquent ass brother, Tripp!” he lets the guys know.

  The Expedition jolts forward when Damien rams his Camry into the back of it. Vance curses as he struggles to keep control of his big SUV. He’d really rather not flip his truck if possible.

  Vance tracks Damien in the rear view mirror and watches as he speeds up enough to ride along side of their right, rear, quarter panel. The next series of events happen in slow motion for Vance. Damien swings his car into the right, rear, quarter panel of Vance's SUV in something similar to the PIT maneuver they use at work when trying to stop a high-speed chase from occurring. Vance loses control and the SUV violently spins around and starts flipping over and over. Vance loses count of how many times it flips, right before he loses consciousness.

  When Vance comes to, they are right side up, and the roof is crushed in. His vision is blurry as the airbag in front of him starts to deflate. His left shoulder is in excruciating pain, making his stomach roll and pitch. Vance feels something warm and wet sliding down the left side of his face and takes a wild guess that it’s blood. For a brief second, his mind jumps to the day he found Melina in this exact position, but he’s brought back to reality when he hears the guys in the back groaning and crying out in pain behind him.

  “Look what we have here...” says a distant male’s voice, he recognizes as Damien. It sounds like it’s coming from Melina's side.

  Oh God, Melina!

  Vance grits his teeth against the pain searing in his shoulder, as he slowly turns his head toward Melina to makes sure that she’s okay. Her whole body is shaking and she is cradling her left arm against her chest. Vance can't see her face because her hair is shielding it. Damien is standing at her busted window, his smile pure evil.

  “If it isn't my whore fiancée, my traitorous big brother, and the asshole cop who steals everyone I love from me,” Damien says then reaches through the window, grabs Melina's hair, and yanks her head back.

  Melina cries out and Vance can now see her face. Her nose is bleeding, and it’s running down over her lips and chin. Her bottom lip is trembling, and her eyes are wide, as she looks over at Damien. “What...what do you want?” Melina whispers shakily.

  If Vance could have moved to get to her, he would have. But his shoulder is holding him back. He’s guessing it’s dislocated because he can't move his arm; it’s just dead weight. He looks in his rear view mirror to try to get one of the guy’s attention, but they are all in worse shape than he is.

  “Wouldn't you like to know,” Damien says with a chilling smile. “This, my dearest Melina, is just a preview of what's to come. I’m going to make you and everyone close to you suffer for everything you’ve done. You want to be with Vance? That's fine; his blood will be on your hands.”

  Melina's eyes fly to his. Vance gives her a subtle headshake, pleading with her not to say anything that can fuel the fire. Luckily, she understands and keeps her mouth shut.

  “Well, I'm gonna go. It’s been a blast, can't wait to do this again.” Damien smirks and shoves Melina's head as he lets go of her hair.

  Damien gets back into his car and drives off. As soon as he is out of sight, Melina starts sobbing. Still cradling her arm to her chest, she just full out breaks down. Vance grunts against the pain as he scoots over a little in his seat so that he can reach her. He places his hand on her knee.

  “Baby, it's okay,” Vance murmurs.

  Melina shakes her head. “No...no, it's not!” she cries.

  Just then, Vance hears the sirens and gives her knee a squeeze. “We'll be okay, the police will catch him.”

  Melina starts rocking in her seat and keeps shaking her head. Shit, she’s gonna start hyperventilating if she doesn’t breathe. Vance continues to try to soothe her, but nothing helps. Once the police, firemen, and EMTs arrive, he has to give up so they can be extracted from the car.

  They are all taken to the hospital by ambulance. Surprisingly, no one is critically injured - just some broken bones, cuts, bruises, and concussions. Dayne is the least injured because of how drunk he was; he didn’t know to tense up when they crashed. He just has a cut on his forehead from flying glass, which the doctor patches up with a couple of stitches. Mike has a nice laceration on the side of his head, also from glass. He also has a broken ankle. It got caught under Vance's seat when they were flipping, so he needs staples and a cast. Ryder has a concussion and a broken elbow from smashing into the side of the car as they flipped. Tripp has a broken nose, concussion, and busted-up knee. Vance can’t help but be pulled back to his dream, where Tripp’s knee was broken when Damien attacked all of the guys.

  Melina's nose isn't broken, thank God, but her wrist is and she also has a nice cut on the right side of her head, most likely from hitting the window. The doctor gives her a mild sedative to help calm her. Lastly, Vance has a dislocated shoulder, concussion, and a cut over his left eyebrow. Additionally, they all have some internal bruising from the seat belts and burns from the airbags.

  The six of them take up more than half of triage. Vance is sitting on the bed next to the one Melina is now sleeping on. He watches her sleep. A nurse is cleaning the blood off her face. And even though her nose isn't broken, she smacked it hard enough to cause under her eyes to turn a l
ittle black and blue. The one side of her hair is matted and caked with dried blood. Her wrist is in a soft cast because they need the swelling to go down before putting a hard cast on it. She keeps it cradled against her chest, even in her sleep. He feels so helpless and he hates it. He’s supposed to be protecting her. Vance sighs. She was so freaked out and upset about what Damien said to her; he’s relieved that she’s getting some rest, even if it’s drug induced.

  **Anna**

  Anna DiAngelo is just finishing changing a diaper when the nursery door opens and her friend and fellow nurse Victoria Reynolds pops her head in. Anna is a cute quirky little nurse that all of the babies love because of her kind demeanor and maternal nature.

  “Anna?” Victoria says in a soft voice.

  “What's up?” Anna asks as she swaddled the baby boy back up.

  “I was just told that your brother and his friends are down in the ER; something about a car accident,” Victoria says, biting her lip nervously.

  Anna’s heart shoots up into her throat. Her brother and his friends? The guys she grew up with? One being the man she is in love with? In a car accident?

  “How bad?” Anna rasps, bracing herself for the worst.

  Victoria shakes her head. “I don't know.”

  Anna turns to the other nurse in the room, Jamie. “Hey, will you be okay?” Anna asks.

  Jamie nods, her expression sympathetic and concerned. “Absolutely, go see your brother.”

  “Thanks.” Anna sighs in relief then races out of the nursery with Victoria in tow.

  They run to the elevators and ride them down to the first floor where the ER is located. Anna curses the elevator for being too slow, and once the door opens, she sprints out of them and down the hall toward the ER. She pushes opens the door and nearly collapses in relief when she sees them all alive. Dayne is curled up on his side, sleeping and snoring slightly. But the rest of the guys are sitting up in beds, talking to each other, the nurses, and the doctors. Anna spots her brother, Mike, and rushes over to him.

  “Michael!” she exclaims and throws her arms around his neck.