The Truth of Never (The Never Trilogy Book 3) Page 18

  "Excuse me." I told him, picked up my phone, and left the house.

  She didn't pick on the first ring and the second, but just when I was about to dial Elisa’s number she called back.

  "Hello, Nathan?" She called, her voice raspy with sleep.

  "Hey, sorry if I woke you.”

  “It’s okay.”

  “What happened today? I just saw that you were arrested for attacking Stacy at the bureau."

  "Um, I uh..."

  She started stuttering so I gave her a moment to get herself together. "It's a long story.” She eventually said. “I'll tell you when you get back."

  "Lenora, are you kidding me?"

  "You’ll be here soon won’t you? I'd rather explain in person."

  “Lenora why did you attack Stacy?"

  She sighed. "She did something and uh, it really annoyed me. I kinda lost it."

  “What did she do?”

  "Nathan I'll rather tell you in person okay, so just get back first and we’ll talk.”

  “How can you say that right now? Do you know how worried I am?”

  “I know, and I’m sorry but I don’t want to tell you over the phone. And don't bother calling the others either I told them not to say anything until you get back."

  "Lenora, what the hell?"

  "I know, I'm sorry. I really am, and there's no use being worried either. It'll all be sorted out before you get here. I love you." She said, and hung up.

  I was confused. Completely and utterly confused. After calming myself down, I walked back into the house and met her dad still glued to the television and listening for any explanations on what exactly had caused the incident.

  "What did she say?" He asked and I shook my head. "She’s refusing to say anything until I get back to New York. I'm sorry sir but I have to leave now. I'll come back so we can talk more."

  "Okay, but are you sure you're going to get a flight now?"

  "I don't know. I'll check on my way to the airport."

  "That's alright but can I ask for a favor?"

  "Of course sir."

  "Can I come with you?"

  Lenora

  That was the most terrifying phone call I’d ever received.

  As I sat in bed, eyes widened and almost trembling, it hit me more than ever how much of a mess I’d made. And now that I'd just responded that way, Nathan would be here as fast as he could. That gave me less time that I'd hoped I would have to get everything under control. I needed to do something, and fast.

  Just then, there was a knock on the door, and a second later, Elisa came in.

  "Hey." She greeted, and sat on the bed. "How are you doing?"

  "Nathan found out." I told her. "He just called me."

  "I know." She said. "He called me too."

  "What did he ask you? Did you tell him anything?"

  "I didn't sweetie." She said and tucked my hair behind my ears.

  Groaning aloud, I buried my face in my hands.

  "It'll all be okay." She tried to console me but I shook my head. "It won't be. How exactly is it going to be okay?"

  "I don’t think Damian will let Stacy press charges against you. He cares about you. This is a personal attack on Nathan."

  "That's exactly the problem. Forget about Stacy pressing charges for a moment. Elisa, Nathan is going to come back in a few hours and see that his life is about to be completely turned upside down, again. He might lose his job, his reputation, everything. Elisa he loves his job. He's wanted to be a journalist since boarding school. And then he might go to jail..."

  "Lenora he won't go to jail."

  "How do you know that?"

  "Peter will fix it." She told me. "He's doing his best to make sure that all of this goes away as quietly as possible."

  "That's not enough guarantee. Elisa I don't want him to go through this. He hasn't recovered from his dad and Elizabeth. He can't take this. He’ll completely shut down and I’m so scared that this will change him. I can't sit here." I told her, and got out of bed. "I can't just sit here and watch him be destroyed. Is Peter home yet?"

  "He isn't. They're still working at the office."

  I grabbed my wallet, and walked out of the room. I found some flip flops at the entrance to the house and said to her. "Please lend me your car."

  "Where are you going?" She asked

  "I need to think. I’ll be back soon."

  "I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to go out right now."

  "Elisa, please." I pleaded, and after watching me for a few seconds, she conceded. Turning around, she headed into the kitchen and came back a few seconds later with her keys. "I’ll drive you.” She said. “You’re too upset."

  I shook my head. "No."

  "Lenora you're not stable right now.”

  "Elisa, c’mon. I'm not insane; I'm not going to kill myself. I just need some fresh air to think."

  "Lenora..."

  "I'll be fine, and I’ll be back soon."

  "Take your phone.” She said, and ran back into the guest room to get it. She brought it to me and then gave me a hug. "Please be careful. It's past midnight. And take a coat.” She pulled one from the rack beside us and put it around me. “And for God’s sake you're only in pajamas. At least change first.”

  "No need. I’ll be back soon.” I said, and walked out of the house. I backed her car out of the driveway and in no time, was on my way to New York. I knew exactly where I was going and my only prayer was that I wouldn't yet again worsen everything. But at this moment it was either all or nothing because our lives were on the line, and the clock was ticking.

  "Where's Damian?" I asked his housekeeper when she let me in.

  "He's in his studio,” she replied.

  I thanked her and immediately rushed up the stairs. I didn’t even bother knocking. I just walked in and began calling his name when I didn’t find him in sight. "Damian? Damian?" I yelled, and headed towards the balcony. He came out then looking surprised to see me.

  "Lenora? What are you doing here?"

  "Damian, why are you trying to ruin my life?" I asked, and he sighed. He walked over to place the glass that he had in his hand on his center table. "Lenora I'm not trying to ruin your life, I'm trying to ruin Roque’s." He said and sat down.

  "That's the same thing." I yelled. He cocked his head.

  "Hmm. Then maybe I am trying to ruin your life."

  "Damian" I called, and briefly shut my eyes at what I was about to do. "Damian please. I'm begging you. Drop this case."

  "Lenora that's out of my hands now. It's up to the DA."

  "It's not out of your hands. You put it together, so you can pull it apart. Damian please. I know you're hurting right now, but you will regret this. Especially when Elizabeth wakes up and sees what you've done. Nathan is her son and she's not going to be happy."

  "Well that'll only happen if she wakes up, won’t it? And right now, I know you might not be aware but she's probably not going to wake up."

  "Damian, don't say that. She’ll wake up and she'll be fine."

  "That's easy for you to say isn’t it? In fact right now you'll say anything, since all you want to do is save the love of your life right?"

  I placed my palms together and with tears streaming down my face, I pleaded for our lives. "Damian, please. I’m begging you. I know you're hurting but he's hurting too. His dad just died, and his mom is fighting for her life. If you do this you'll ruin him and you might not want to accept this but he's your brother.”

  “Lenora I need you to leave.”

  “Damian, I'm not leaving."

  "Lenora, please don't provoke me.”

  I shook my head. “I'm not leaving.”

  Just as I expected, he came forward and pulled me by my arms. His fingers were digging painfully into my flesh but it didn't matter to me. Nothing else mattered, not my pride or Nathan’s and I was ready to beg even more if I had to.

  He tried to control me as I struggled against him but it wasn't easy. Eventual
ly he was able to get me to the door and freed one hand to pull it open, but I managed to use my back to block his access to the handle.

  "Please.” I told him. “I'll do anything."

  "Lenora...”

  "Damian please…anything."

  He sighed and stared at me for a long time.

  “You'll do anything?” He repeated, and I nodded my head.

  "Fine." he said and took a step back. "Marry me."

  Instantly, everything around me screeched to a halt. It took me a while to find my voice and when I did, it was barely audible.

  "What?"

  "Marry me."

  "I'm engaged.”

  "Well, you were once engaged to me but you broke it off quite easily. This shouldn't be a problem either."

  "Damian please, don't do this."

  "What is with you? Make up your damn mind. You just said you'd do anything or didn’t you mean that? I mean it wouldn't be the first time. You did say you'd never let Roque come between us but we all know how that turned out.”

  "Damian why would you want to marry me? You know what my feelings are.”

  "I don’t mind. I want you to keep the promise you made to me when you told me you'd marry me. That's all I'm asking. I don't think it's too much."

  "Damian..." I said quietly, shocked out of my senses because I realized that he wasn't joking. "You know that's not possible."

  "Great, now you know the exact position I'm in when I tell you that I can't do anything about the charges."

  "Damian that's not true, you can get the DA to drop the charges.”

  "And that's the same as you. You can decide to return that engagement ring on your finger, and pick up the one I gave you. But it's not that easy is it? So you choose and when you have, then I'll decide. It's only fair that we both benefit equally.”

  He reached behind me to pull the door open, and gently pushed me out. "Call me when you make a decision." He said, and shut the door in my face.

  I wasn't consciously aware of how long I remained there, just staring at the door, or when I turned around and walked morosely out of Damian's house. I got into Elisa's car and sat there for almost two hours, my chin resting on my knees and my eyes, staring blankly ahead.

  I already knew what I was going to do, but still I allowed myself the time, and the last chance to properly consider and figure out if there was a way around this. However, when I couldn’t think of any, I picked up my phone and called Damian.

  He picked up immediately.

  "Yes." I told him. "I'll do it."

  "Okay." He replied. "I'll pick you up tomorrow at 10am. Where will you be?"

  "No." I refused. "I'll come myself. Send me the address of where I need to be and at what time."

  "Alright." He replied. "Goodnight Lenora." He said and I ended the call.

  After that I started the ignition, and headed towards the Time Warner Centre. Like someone whose very essence had been sucked out of them, I walked towards the front desk and paid for the room that Nathan had stayed in the last time. When I got in, I didn't even bother turning on any of the lights. I just walked straight to the bedroom, and after I was done giving out some instructions to my company’s lawyer, I slipped into the covers and in no time was fast asleep.

  « CHAPTER 12 »

  Nathan

  Immediately I arrived in New York with Lenora's dad the next morning, we headed straight to Elisa's home in Jersey, only to hear that Lenora was nowhere to be found.

  "What do you mean you haven't seen her?" I asked, and she dragged her eyes away from Lenora's father. Elisa was so surprised to see him with me that it took her an extra few seconds to compose herself enough to respond.

  "She took my car out last night and said that she was going out for some fresh air but she's not back yet." She said, and the headaches that had plagued me all the way here restarted again. I went to her refrigerator and took out a bottle of water. After a long drink, I turned to her.

  "Her phone is switched off?" I asked, and she nodded.

  "She's alright." Elisa said. "She probably just needed a bit of time to herself. She's probably at her apartment."

  "Have you tried calling her there?" I asked and she nodded. "I did, and it rang but there was no response. My only hope is her housekeeper, but she's not there yet so I told her to call me as soon as she she arrives so that we can confirm if Lenora is at home or not."

  "So all we have to do is wait?" Her father asked, and we nodded politely. I pulled out one of the kitchen counter stools and took a seat.

  "Elisa tell me what happened." I said. "Why did she attack Stacy?"

  It took her a few moments before she responded and that surprised me. "Uh... I uh think Peter would be in the best position to explain to you." She said, and turned around to leave. "He had a late night so he’s still in bed. I’ll go and get him."

  "Why would Peter be in the best position to explain to me?"

  "Because he's her lawyer." She replied, and practically ran out of the room.

  A few minutes later, Peter came down so I got up and shook his hand. I introduced him to Lenora's father and then he took a seat on one of the counter stools.

  "Peter what's going on?" I asked and he started speaking.

  It took him more than half an hour to fully explain exactly what was happening apart from Lenora's arrest, and by the time he was done, I was speechless.

  The room was so quiet that when I got up from the stool, the screech against the tile sounded like it was echoing throughout the entire room. "I know where she is." I told them and turned around to leave.

  "Where?" Peter yelled as I hurried out, but I didn't bother responding. I waited a few seconds for a cab and when I finally got one, I jumped in and spat off the address to the driver. "Time Warner Center please." I told him and he sped away.

  Almost an hour later, I arrived there and hurried up to the room I’d stayed in the last time. They would never give out her information at the front desk so my only hope was that the room had been vacant when she’d checked in, and that that was the one she’d gotten it. As I rode the elevator, it felt like my heartbeat had turned into a wall clock. For some reason, every second that passed felt like a countdown towards something crucial that I would be too late to stop, and it made me scared.

  Eventually, I arrived on the floor and just as I stepped out of the elevator, I received a phone call form Elisa.

  "She's at the Time Warner Center." She told me.

  "I know. I'm there now. How did you find out?"

  "She told her assistant to bring her a document from the company’s lawyer, and a black dress from our store.”

  Lenora

  Dorothy had brought over a black dress for me. There was no point taking any extra care with my hair so I just brushed the tangles out, and put on some heels. I walked out of the building to meet a dark town car waiting at the curb for me. Damian stepped out and pulled the door open. He was dressed in a suit, and if he wasn’t currently the cause of my nightmare, I might have been impressed by how attractive he was. But right now I just wanted a truck to run him over.

  I stopped and glared at him. "How did you find me?”

  “Your assistant told me where you were.” He said, and I made a mental note to fire her.

  “I told you I'd come on my own."

  "And I decided I didn't want you to go through the trouble." He said and started to lean down to plant a kiss on my cheek.

  “If you don’t want me to hit you right here you better stay the hell away from me.” I said calmly and slid into the car. He got in and shut the door, and we were on our way.

  I kept myself as far away from him as possible, trying my best to resist the urge to claw at my skin just for being in the same vicinity as he was.

  "I see you didn't bother with the usual dress code for a wedding." He commented. I turned to him.

  "You expected me to wear a dress? Are out of your mind?"

  "No. That would be asking for too much. Anyway I
took the trouble of getting you a suit. It was kind of a last minute purchase so it might not be the best in the world, but it is white.”

  "How did you become so evil?" I asked, more to myself than him but he replied nonetheless.

  "Pain can do that to you. And in my case it’s the pain I felt from you and your ex fiancé when you both decided to turn my world upside down."

  "You're my ex-fiancé." I said.

  "Well, you can see it whichever way you want to but in the end what really matters is who you walk down the aisle with isn’t it?"

  At that, I reached into my purse and drew out the contract that Dorothy had brought to me that morning.

  "Here." I said and placed the folder on the space between us. "I have to be sure that you'll do exactly as you say and drop the charges against him when we get married."

  Calmly, he picked it up and slowly flipped through the pages.

  "No." He said when he was done and put it down.

  "What the hell do you mean by no?"

  "That document can be used against me, and worse, it can be used to annul our marriage because it proves that I'm coercing you into this. I’m not going to let any of that happen so you can stop trying to outsmart me. I didn't decide to do this as a prank. This is real life so get the hell used to living with the hand that you’ve been dealt.”

  "So how am I supposed to be sure that you’ll keep your word and drop the charges?"

  "Well it’s up to you to decide if you’ll believe me or not, but I'm not bending anymore for you. This is not a hostage situation, so you can walk out at any time.”

  *

  Four hours later, we had obtained our marriage license and a judge waiver, and were now standing in front of an officiate reciting the marriage vows. I kept looking towards the door, hoping that somehow, Nathan would know what was going on and arrive to put a stop to all of this. It was a silly wish but at that point, the difference between reality and the nightmare I was currently living was represented by a very, very thin line.

  When the ceremony was over, we walked out of the room and Damian spoke to me just before we exited the building.

  "Take off Roque’s engagement ring." He said, but I refused. Instead I took off his wedding band from my ring finger, and slipped it on my middle finger.