Never A Choice (The Choices Trilogy (Book 1)) (38 page)

I laugh. “You had me at bath.” He leans to kiss me lightly but his hunger for me consumes him and he is delving deep with his tongue and thrusting his hands in my hair pulling me tighter to his body. We both sag when we hear his entry phone ring.

“Expecting company?” I tease as he eases himself from beneath me.

“No and it better be fucking important to interrupt me from doing what I have planned.” His stern voice disappears into the hall as he goes to answer the phone. I lay back in to the warmth that’s fading from the sofa at his departure and throw my arms over my eyes. I hate that Kit has raised suspicions in me that simply weren’t there before. I hate that she makes me doubt myself; makes me doubt him. I hear his tentative steps, his voice is soothing.

“Hey baby, we’ve got a visitor.” The hairs on my neck stand to attention and I take a calming breath. I know who’s just ‘popped by’ and I need to not be the crazy one right now. I move my arm and swing my legs round standing in a smooth graceful movement with a huge smile which I grip to my face with a gritted jaw.

“Kassandra.” I notice Daniel’s warm smile at my response and I die a little inside. “It’s really nice of you to stop by and,” I draw in a steadying breath as I feel the bile rise in my stomach, “I am sorry for my outburst. It’s, well . . . it’s just all been sickening.” I’m sure her brow would raise at my choice of words but her face is chemically frozen. She’s only just twenty six and I think a line or wrinkle would be too scared to dare attempt finding a home on her face.

“Bethany.” She sways toward me and I panic that she might actually try to embrace me and I know my instant reaction would be a take-down followed by a swift elbow in the face. I move to the side and toward Daniel with a half-smile at my violent fantasy.

“Kassandra, would you like something to drink, tea, coffee?” I ask her kindly as I walk toward the kitchen whispering “Hemlock” under my breath.

“I’ll have a beer please baby.” His eyes are deep blue and sparkle, his smile dazzles me.

“Oh no, no I won’t intrude.” I return with a beer for Daniel and a bottle of water for me. I’m a little dehydrated from my class and I start to drain the bottle as I sit opposite Kit who is sitting next to Daniel; her knee touching his. “I have to say I am rather pleased you have chosen to wear more clothing this time Bethany.” She laughs at her funny little remark.

“Any clothing is too much clothing.” Daniels voice rumbles low and he moves with stealth across to my sofa. With a predatory glimmer in his eyes he scoops me into his lap and dives his nose into my hair inhaling deeply. He strokes my body as if we were alone and he sends tingling sparks where his fingers touch my skin. It would seem ‘polite host’ Daniel has left the building and with his massive erection pressing through the thin fabric of his sweats and the thinner cotton of my dress I am not entirely sure he even knows Kit is still in the room. But then she coughs and stands, brushing the creases from her dress, well, caressing the creases and fondling herself in the process. It’s a move that is wasted though, if only Daniel was looking.

“I only wanted to check you were Ok and I can see that you are, which warms my heart.” I bite back ‘like you have a heart to warm’ with all my self-control, I am super proud of myself and I give
me
an internal high five for not having a melt-down. “Bethany, may I have a private word.” She walks toward the hall and Daniel reluctantly lets me go and adjusts himself discreetly, I laugh, not
that
discreetly. She turns and steps close so her face is hidden by mine and her voice too soft to be heard, her eyes narrow to tiny slits. “I think you are so very cavalier with someone so precious to you and you are so very naïve to think I was bluffing.” She leans in to air kiss my cheeks pleased with the affect her words have caused, my face is now drained of the flush I felt from Daniels attentions. “Good bye darling.” She steps aside and back toward the living area, “and I’ll see you tomorrow at your Mothers, I understand you are her date at my table? It will be such fun, so glamorous. Anyway, do enjoy your cosy evening in.” Drained and winded, like I said I don’t stand a chance.

I take a moment before I return to Daniel. I told Sofia I would fight for us and the only way, is to tell Daniel the truth. But how much truth? I have no evidence and I have already come across as crazy, unstable and mean. I don’t want to add vindictive too because I know Kit is a professional at playing the victim. Still, I have to try. Daniel is lying fully stretched on the sofa with his arm lazily drooped over his eyes. He looks relaxed and his lounge pants are barely hanging on to his hips so he looks incredibly sexy too. I walk over and slide to the floor on my knees beside him. He lifts his arm and grins with a raised brow.

“Oh baby, I like where you’re going with this.” He goes to sit but I place my hand on his taught stomach and he sinks back down.

“Daniel . . . I need to tell you something.” I can feel my mouth dry.

“Anything baby . . . you can tell me anything.” His hand stretches to cup my neck and the warmth and love I feel gives me much needed courage.

“It’s about Kit . . . Kassandra . . . She left me Daniel but she didn’t just leave me, she left me with my mum and all the bills too.” I swallow hard. His face seems to darken and he draws in a deep frown.

“She didn’t leave you baby . . . She would’ve come back if she knew how . . . I know its hard-“

“-Daniel she sold my home and took all the money for herself . . . she is the reason I work two sometimes three jobs.” My pitch in my voice is starting to raise and I take a steadying breath.

“Is that why you didn’t look for her? You were angry?” I drop my head because his eyes look . . . I don’t know. They look sad but I don’t know if that’s for me or Kit. “It’s understandable baby but she didn’t know. How could she? You can’t keep blaming her. We all make mistakes in our past. You have to be able to forgive her baby. I need to know you can forgive her past.” His voice is almost pleading and his face flashes with something I don’t recognise, something distant but then its gone.

“I don’t trust her Daniel.” I try one last time.

“And thats Ok. That is completely understandable. It will just take time thats all and I’ll be right beside you all the way. She’s not expecting you to let down your guard right away. Well she probably is given that she feels abandoned but she’ll understand. She just wants to be a part of your life. Is that too much to ask ?” His warm palm caresses my cheek.

“You’ll be with me, always.” He nods and sweeps to capture my mouth with his hot possessive kiss. It
is
too much to ask; too much for her but for him, for us it isn’t too much at all. If he is beside me; it’s Kit that doesn’t stand a chance.

“YOU JUST LET him go? Knowing she is going to be there drooling all over his Armani clad arse?” I am nestled between Sofia and Marco, comfy clad in our onesies, sharing a huge bowl of popcorn as we settle in for an eighties fest of John Hughes movies. Marco is not in a onesie.

“Well I could’ve gone fatal attraction crazy, and he looked sorry enough to make him squirm, but that’s not my thing and I scored major brownie points the other day being super mature.” I smile and try to seat curtsy as she looks impressed. “He didn’t look happy that she dropped that bombshell and walked. Also he didn’t look convinced when I said she couldn’t have known he had wanted to take me and it can’t
possibly
have been intentional.” Sofia scoffs. “I have to let her mess up, I have no proof that she was who she was when she was young. It’s not like I kept a scrap book of my slutty sister’s extracurricular activities. She didn’t get arrested after she turned eighteen so all her prior nasty activities would’ve been expunged. It’s my word against hers and
I’m
the unstable one prone to visiting the dark side. Ooo ooo I love this bit, he’s so angry, so tortured.” Sofs looks at me and we both say, “So hot” and fall together giggling. Judd Nelson in ‘The Breakfast Club’ has just thrown a mad temper and climbed the outside of the staircase in the library, where he sits all angst ridden and moody and hot.

Marco is quiet but then asks. “Why are you even pretending to like her Boo, why are you pretending for him. He should just trust you, he should just believe you.” He puts his large comforting arm over my shoulder and I adjust to fit in the crook.

“Yes, he should, but he hasn’t known me that long and like I say I have no evidence that she isn’t who she pretends to be. Whereas me; I am definitely the uncaring sibling that gave up looking for her sister and then was hostile and unforgiving. I can’t stand the thought that he might think that about me because of her lies.” He squeezes me and plants a kiss on my head. Sofia has reached over for her laptop to check her emails, Paul was supposed to come over after work but he hasn’t shown. It’s not unlike him to be asked to work through but it is unlike him not to let her know and I know she is worried. I grab her laptop when she sees she’s had no new emails. I decide to Google the Gala for red carpet pictures, hoping this will act as a distraction. I click on the images page and start to scroll the famous and not so famous faces, sparkling and glamorous. It seems this is a really big event held in The Dorchester Ball Room with many hundreds of guests raising millions for the charity. I stop on his image, wow I was right, smoking hot in a tux. I fan myself and sigh elaborately. This is enough to make Marco go in search of more liquor. “Oh My God Sofs! I didn’t see him before he left, look, I mean look! No one looks like that! He looks like he has a full on body filter.” She leans closer to me.

“Oh yeah, he does scrub up well.” She nudges me and I scroll further down. The next picture he is walking beside his mother, judging by the striking family resemblance, they share a similar eye shape and colour. Her hair is styled in a sharp elegant dark bob, she is tall and slim and looks stunning in a floor length dark blue evening gown with a chiffon wrap. The next picture is not so palatable, Kit has her arm threaded through Daniels. There is no space between them and she is wearing a demure smile as the caption declares Daniel Stone with partner, beautiful widow Kassandra Shaw. Her bright red dress has a plunging neckline and it clings so tight it leaves nothing to the imagination, but she does look good and sadly they look good together. I close the laptop and pass it back to Sofia. Mission accomplished, I am very distracted. Marco returns with a fresh bottle of wine and some chocolate. I am going to have to go for a marathon run to work off the guilt of eating all this tonight. There is a knock at the door and Sofia leaps shouting that Paul must have lost his key, but instead of the normal noise associated with Sofia greeting Paul, there is silence. Then there are mumbled words and then there is a heartrending cry.

Marco keeps squeezing my hand trying to get some sort of response from me but all I can do is look out across the waiting room in the intensive care unit at St Mary’s hospital. I am devastated by the sadness in the room. Sofia’s mother is holding Sofia’s head in her lap, r her glossy dark hair trying to soothe the sobs that are tearing her apart. Pauls’ parents sit quietly holding each other’s hands, his mother’s face stained with tears. Sofia’s dad has gone to fetch drinks that no one will drink but he is unsuited to sitting around, waiting; and that is all we can do, wait. Pauls’ car ran through the central reservation and it was only that the roads were unusually quiet that he has even made it to surgery.