Conquest of the Heart (30 page)

She didn’t respond. He finished up in the
kitchen, dried his hands, and went to check on her. Faith was fast
asleep. He quietly picked up all of the shopping bags, carried them
to her room, hung the clothes that needed to be, and folded the
rest.

Faith woke up after sleeping for a couple of
hours. Gavin was reading in a chair nearby.

She looked over at him and said, “Hey.”

“Hi, beautiful. You’re so peaceful when you
sleep. How are you feeling?” he asked, sitting his book on his
lap.

“Good,” she said stretching and sitting up.
“What are you reading?”

“Nothing really. I’ve been trying to read
this book for months, but there’s always something else that
distracts me.” He picked up the book and started reading again.

Faith laid silently, thinking about staying
with him for the week. She decided it would be the best scenario
with all that had happened. Besides, being away from Gavin was
getting harder on her. She enjoyed being around him.

“I want to stay with you this week,” she said
without turning around.

Gavin put his book back down, “I’m glad. I
was hoping that would be what you decided.” He closed his eyes for
a moment, thinking of the best way to share what happened between
himself and Carter almost seventeen years ago.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

“Remember when I told you about when all of
my sleeping around started?” he asked.

Faith shook her head yes.

“It’s time for you to know why,” Gavin said,
sighing deeply.

Faith sat up, crossed her legs and waited for
him to start. He got up and sat next to her on the couch.

* * *

Gavin walked across campus to his apartment.
They were approaching their last week of school and graduation. He
had a big surprise planned for his girlfriend of two years and
couldn’t wait to get started. Carter was home when he got
there.

“Hey man,” Gavin said as he walked in the
door.

“Hey,” Carter said, jumping off the couch.
“You’re running late. What do you need me to do?” He was already
dressed and ready to go.

“I need to take a shower. Can you call the
restaurant and verify our reservations?” Gavin requested as he
rushed to his room, shedding clothes on the way there.

“Will do. Anything else?” Carter asked.

“The limo should be here in about twenty
minutes. If I’m not ready when it gets here, can you send it over
to pick up Aubrey? He can swing back here and get us so we don’t
lose any time.”

“Got it,” Carter said. He raced to the phone
and started doing what Gavin had asked of him. Carter and Gavin
were best friends and roommates at the University of Pennsylvania,
both marketing majors.

After Carter confirmed their dinner
reservation, he went to the window to see if the limo had arrived.
It hadn’t. Gavin walked into the living room with wet hair and only
underwear on.

“What are you doing? Get dressed. You’ve got
about ten minutes to spare,” Carter said as he looked at his
watch.

Gavin smiled and scurried off to his room.
Moments later, he emerged wearing a gray Italian suit, complimented
with a light blue dress shirt, silk tie, and black Italian leather
dress shoes.

“You look great,” Carter said, helping Gavin
with his tie.

“So do you, my friend,” Gavin said, patting
him on the shoulder.

“Did you send the roses?” asked Carter.

“Of course,” said Gavin, looking out the
window. The limo pulled up just as he was looking out.

“Are you ready?” Carter said, raising his
eyebrows.

“Absolutely,” Gavin beamed.

They grabbed their keys, locked the door on
their way out, and went to the car. The limo drove to Aubrey’s
apartment, where she and a friend, Mariah, were waiting. When they
got in, Gavin pulled Aubrey close and kissed her deeply.

“I missed you,” he said, smiling. He hadn’t
seen her all week.

“I missed you, too,” she said, looking into
his eyes.

Aubrey Freeman was a woman of medium height,
long brunette hair, and fair skin. She had attended school with an
academic scholarship. She had plans of attending law school once
they graduated, which would be in a couple of weeks. Aubrey was
from Cascade, Iowa, a small town populated by a little less than
two thousand people. Her family was one of the wealthiest of the
residents, however she always craved for more. Law school was a
step in the right direction, but not quite enough. Mariah was
Aubrey’s best friend, and Carter’s date for the night. All they
knew was Gavin had something special planned for the group.

They arrived at Positano Coast, and were
shown to a table in the Positano room. After enjoying their meals
and a couple of glasses of wine, they were moved to the relaxing
atmosphere of the Sopra Lounge.

“Is everyone excited about graduation? I
can’t wait,” said Carter.

“I would be, but I’ll only get the summer off
since I’m going straight to law school,” said Aubrey, taking a
drink. “I can’t get excited for another three or four years.”

Gavin took Aubrey by the hand, “Maybe you can
get excited about something else.”

“Like what?” she asked.

Mariah and Carter looked at each other.
Carter knew exactly what was going on.

“I don’t know. Maybe about becoming Mrs.
Gavin Carlisle,” he smiled. “Will you marry me?” Gavin slipped a
two karat princess cut diamond ring on her finger.

“Is that what this was really about? This
wasn’t about graduation?” she asked, surprised, covering her mouth
with her other hand. She was shocked. Mariah and Carter had huge
grins on their faces.

“I love you, Aubrey. Please say yes,” Gavin
said.

She kissed him several times, saying, “Yes,
yes, and yes. I will marry you.”

People around them began to clap and cheer
from the excitement. Gavin and the others drank and laughed for a
few more hours.

Mariah invited Carter to be with her for the
rest of the evening, while Gavin and Aubrey returned to his
apartment. As soon as they walked in the door, Gavin grabbed and
kissed her passionately. They had never slept together. It was her
wish to save herself until marriage. Tonight, he hoped she would
make an exception.

“Gavin, you know my desires. I’m excited to
become your wife, but I ask that you wait,” she said.

“I know,” he pouted.

“We’ll be together soon enough. You know I
love you,” she said, kissing him tenderly.

“Yes. Will you stay tonight, or would you
like me to have the driver take you home?” he asked.

“I’ll stay. No funny stuff,” she smirked.

He lifted her hand to his lips. “I promise,”
he said.

Gavin called his parents to let them know
that Aubrey had accepted his proposal. They were so excited for the
couple, and thought Aubrey was a wonderful young woman. The
following week was finals week, so the group spent all weekend
studying for their exams. They had all of their meals delivered so
they wouldn’t be interrupted for an extended period of time.

All of them had exams at the
beginning of the week, but Gavin was the only one with finals on
Thursday and Friday. He had one each day. On Friday, his final was
scheduled for two hours, but he had managed to finish it in one. He
was excited about this because he missed Aubrey, and hadn’t seen
her all week. When he got home, he planned to take a shower, but
instead heard deep breathing, moaning and grunting coming from
Carter’s room. ‘
Must be Mariah,’
he thought. He started towards his room, when he
heard a familiar voice. Gavin stopped in his tracks. He slowly
turned around and walked towards Carter’s room. He quietly pushed
the door open, stunned by what he saw. He couldn’t move as the
woman riding on top of Carter continued to grind into him, smiling
with each movement she made. Carter was handcuffed to the bed and
had his eyes closed. The woman was wearing a patent leather
bustier, a chain link collar, and was holding a set of cat of nine
tails. When Carter opened his eyes, he saw Gavin standing there,
motionless.

“Gavin,” Carter said.

The woman stopped and turned around, still
breathing hard. “What are you doing home so early?” she asked
breathily, shocked to see him.

“I believe the question is what are you doing
here, with him?” Gavin asked, as anger began to rise within him.
Carter pounded his fists in the bed.

“Damn, Gavin. This wasn’t supposed to
happen,” said Carter.

“What wasn’t supposed to happen was you
screwing my fiancée whom I assumed was a virgin the last couple of
years. How long has this been going on?” Gavin asked angrily.

“Does that really matter right now?” Aubrey
asked.

“How long?” he yelled.

“About a year,” Carter answered.

“You knew I was going to ask her to marry me.
Instead of saying ‘Hey friend, you might want to think twice about
that,’ you let me embarrass the hell out of myself last week,” he
clinched his jaw. Looking at Aubrey he said, “And you. Were you
ever going to make love to me, or was this your plan all along? Bag
the guy with all the money, and screw his best friend on the side.
Were you afraid that my lovemaking wouldn’t be kinky enough for
you? Of course, how would you know? Every time I tried, you shut me
down. Now I know it’s because you were too busy screwing him,” he
said, pointing to Carter. “Were you just going to keep this up when
we got married? What excuse would you have come up with then?” he
asked.

Aubrey lifted herself off Carter and sat on
his side. Carter covered himself with his sheets.

“This was going to be the last time,” she
said. “I really love you.”

“You don’t know what love is. You’ve been
lying to me this entire time. Both of you. How could I have been so
blind. I should have seen this. All those times you would come here
and wait for me, rather than letting me come get you,” he
snarled.

“We can work through this, Gavin. I know we
can. I’m sorry,” Aubrey pleaded.

“Get your clothes on, and get out,” he
shouted. “Now!”

Aubrey got up, pulled on her jeans and shirt,
and tried to get Gavin to change his mind.

“Please, Gavin. I need you,” she said.

“You just need my money,” Gavin replied.
“You’ve never wanted me. All this time you just used me. Get out.
Don’t call me, don’t try to stop by. I never want to see you
again.”

She walked past him in the doorway, turning
around for one last attempt. Gavin didn’t look at her. She
continued through the living room, stopping only to take off the
ring he had given her and sitting it on an end table.

Gavin looked at Carter and said, “You two
deserve each other. You should leave, too.”

“Gavin, I’m sorry. I didn’t plan this. It
just happened,” Carter said.

“Just get out, Carter. Just go.”

When they were gone, Gavin sat quietly on the
couch in the living area, hurt and alone.

* * *

“After we graduated, I never saw or spoke to
Aubrey again. Carter saw her a couple of times, but it turns out
her plan was as I suspected. She wanted to marry me for my money,
while continuing to have sex with Carter. When she lost me, she no
longer needed him. I was depressed for a while, so much that my
parents thought I might commit suicide. Work and culinary school
kept me busy. When I discovered that women were highly attracted to
me, I used it to my advantage. Carter didn’t fare so well. He
started gambling, and primarily slept with prostitutes. I’ve never
liked Carter working for us. I disagreed with my father when he
wanted to hire him. He said Carter was the best candidate for the
job, and that I had to put my personal feelings aside, that it was
business. That decision put a lot of stress on my relationship with
Adrian. Since it was a business decision, I kept our relationship
strictly professional. It drove my mother crazy. That changed a few
months ago when you told me what he did for me.”

Faith was stunned. She didn’t know what to
say about all of this.

“I knew Carter was in a bad place. I’ve
noticed a change in him over the last year,” he said. He took a
deep breath, turned to Faith with tears in his eyes, and continued,
“I’m so sorry, Faith. I tried to protect you.”

Faith shook her head as she moved closer to
him. She cupped his face with her hands. “Don’t you dare try to
take the blame for what happened to me. Carter did this. Not you.
He wins if you blame yourself.” She pulled him close, kissed him
tenderly and hugged him. They held their embrace, sitting in
silence for a few moments.

“I always thought you and Carter were such
good friends,” Faith said, breaking the silence.

“I had to keep the peace, so I tolerated him.
I made him agree to never date, or attempt to date, anyone that I
was interested in. The agreement was easy to maintain as long as
our taste in women was different. A woman like yourself is not his
cup of tea. He likes his women to be a little more loose. That’s
putting it nicely. We fought about that agreement when you started.
He somehow believed that he might have a chance with you. Knowing
things weren’t quite right with his intentions, I warned him to
stay away from you. To be honest, one of the things we fought about
was whose intentions toward you were better,” he said looking at
her.

Faith smiled as she gently stroked his hair.
Gavin rubbed her cheek.

“Did he,” he struggled to ask. He closed his
eyes and frowned. “Did he - ”

“No,” Faith interrupted. “You came in before
he could. I’m fortunate you were there.”

“I was only there because I forgot my phone.
I had to come back for it. What if - ”

“Shh,” she said, now caressing his face. “You
were there, Gavin. That’s all that matters. It’s going to take me
some time to get over this, but not nearly as long as it would have
taken had you not stopped Carter when you did. I’m going to be
okay. Being here with you now means a lot to me.”