She’d told them. Sierra had betrayed him. His heart felt like it was shattering inside him. He’d felt like she was special, like she truly cared about him. The evidence was clear. Her loyalties were with his enemies.

“I can see by your face that you’re upset, Damien, but to my brother and I, this is a happy day. We’ve searched for you for years, tried countless times to find you. Your mother came to my Katherine with you wrapped in a blanket, resting in her arms. She was only there one night, and in the morning she was gone. We were unable to track you down,” Joseph said.

Damien looked at him incredulously. The man was a hell of an actor; Damien would have to give him that. Lies! It was all lies. His mother had told him the truth. They’d killed his father and then thrown out a woman in need. Only monsters did that.

“That’s a great story, Joseph, but we both know it’s nothing but fabrication. I’ve always been right here. If you’d truly wanted to find me, you would have. With your limitless fortune and resources, nothing you want can be out of reach. My mother told me the truth. By the look in Bree’s face, over there, it looks like Ms. Monroe has already told her everything, so I don’t really see a need for this farce of a reunion to continue,” Damien said as he glanced for a brief moment at Sierra.

What little color she had left in her face washed away and her expression fell, but he hardened himself against her. She’d betrayed him – he had no use for her anymore.

“Damien, please, I have proof. Your mother left a toy at our home. Katherine saved it. It has the initials D.W. on it, but we didn’t know what that stood for. Your father married her under a fake name, giving you a false identity. We had no idea how to find you, what your mother’s name was, let alone yours. The only clue we had was the toy,” Joseph said.

Damien shifted on his feet. The man made so much sense – but no, he was lying. He had to be lying. There was no way his mother carried that much bitterness around inside her unless her story was true. He couldn’t’ believe Joseph’s story because then it made his mother into a monster.

“I’m done here,” Damien said, his emotions churning. He had to get out of the room. He turned on his heel and started walking away. He needed some air.

“Damien, wait!” Damien paused in the hallway as he slowly turned, his face giving nothing away.

“What do you want?” he asked Sierra, his voice cold enough to freeze the hall.

“I…I’m sorry. I was trying to do what was right. I know you’re upset right now, but if you’d just listen, you’ll see they really are good peo –”

“Stop. I don’t care. I don’t want to have anything to do with them. I already know who they are and they’re the type to take and take until there’s nothing left to take any more. I thought I knew who you were. I was wrong. You’re fired. Notify my secretary of your address and I’ll have your belongings delivered.”

“But…Damien,” she gasped, tears spilling over as he gave her one last look. He didn’t give her a chance to finish whatever she was going to say. He simply turned and walked away.

Chapter Twenty-Five

“Why do people choose to do this over and over again? I don’t understand how they can bare it,” Sierra said, her voice quiet, her body almost numb. She hadn’t seen Damien in two weeks. The first week she’d cried so often, her face had looked like a white Oompa Loompa from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Finally, the tears had stopped and a deep sense of numbness had set in, thankfully. She didn’t smile, didn’t cry, she just sort of existed.

“I promise it will get better. I know this answer sucks, but just give it some time. He’ll come around, you’ll see. You know what, though, if he stays away then he just doesn’t deserve you because he’s a fool. Don’t give up on love. People fall in love over and over because we’re meant to be with someone, meant to have a happily-ever-after. We aren’t solitary creatures. We need a companion, someone to care for us. You will have that, either with Damien or another very lucky guy. Whoever wins you has won the lottery,” Bree said.

“You have to say that, Bree. Thanks anyway, though. I need to get out for a while. I’ve stayed in here feeling sorry for myself for long enough. I’m through with love forever, but I do need to get a life. I have job hunting to do.”

“You can take as long as you want. I love having you stay with me. I’ve been trying to get you to do it forever. Before you start working full-time again, we’ve got to have some play time, please?” Bree begged, a smile on her face.

Sierra could see Bree was trying her hardest to act positive, but she knew her best friend, and knew she was worried. She needed to quit stressing Bree out. She had enough on her plate with her son Mathew and her ever-growing family.

“I’ll be fine, Bree, and I’ll spend as much time with you as possible, but I really want to work. I miss Damien, but I miss my job, too. I enjoyed working for him. I hope to find something similar to that. I’ll just make sure my boss is ugly and old. There’s no way I’m working for a hot guy again,” Sierra vowed.

“They’re not that easy to hide from. I so wasn’t looking for love when my brothers decided I needed a personal bodyguard, but I’m thankful every night I lay down beside him. Don’t give up – love is worth the pain you have to go through sometimes to reach your happy ending.”

“I truly envy you right now, not enough to hate you, just enough to steal your husband,” Sierra joked.

“You don’t even know how those words are music to my ears. I’d loan him to you, but then I’d have to kill you, and I love you too much to do that,” Bree gave right back.

“All right, I guess I won’t flirt shamelessly with him. I can’t promise not to gaze at his incredible chest when we’re all swimming, though.”

“Deal,” Bree said as she laughed. “Don’t worry, I’d be doing the same if the situation were reversed. When Chad comes in from a long run, and his chest is gleaming, I become an animal. I don’t think I’ll ever get enough of that man!”

“Okay, Bree, Damien introduced me to the most earth-shattering, phenomenal feelings in the world, and then took it away. I so don’t want to hear about your amazing sex life,” Sierra said, but she smiled to take the sting from her words.

“You started it,” Bree pouted. “How about we go shopping? That will get you out of the house.”

“That sounds perfect. I have a quick errand I have to run first, so why don’t I do that and then pick you up here in one hour?” Sierra asked.

“That’s great. It’ll give me enough time to shower and change. Mathew decided it would be funny to spill his breakfast all over mommy instead of eating any of it,” Bree replied pointing at the dried milk on her shirt.

“I wondered what that awful smell was…” Sierra joked.

Bree left to get ready and Sierra walked downstairs, climbed in the borrowed car, and started driving to her father’s home. There was one employee still working there, a maid, who Sierra had befriended. The girl had begged Sierra to get away, threatening to turn her father in, but Sierra had finally managed to convince her that he’d just make her go away and Sierra would lose her friend if that happened, so Mara had agreed to keep silent.

Sierra realized she’d left her ornaments behind. It was a tradition for her mother to buy the girls a new Christmas ornament each year, and Sierra had to have them. Mara had told her that her father was away for the entire day in business meetings, so Sierra should be safe to run in and out. She knew if she asked her dad for them, he’d just destroy the irreplaceable treasures. She couldn’t let that happen.

Mara opened the gate for her and Sierra parked up front. She wanted to get in and out as quickly as possible, not taking any chances of running into her father.

“Sierra, I’ve missed you,” Mara said as she flew down the steps.

“I’ve missed you, too. As a matter-of-fact, Bree told me she’s looking for a new maid. Hers got pregnant and is moving in two weeks. The position comes with room and board,” Sierra told her.

“Really?”

“Yes.”

Mara gave her another hug, obviously excited to get away from Douglas Monroe.

“Let’s hurry and find your treasures so you can leave here. I don’t want to take any chances on your father returning early,” Mara said as she looked around.

“I agree. Go finish cleaning so you don’t get in trouble. I’ll tell Bree you want the job. You can leave here in two short weeks. I can’t wait to visit with you again.”

“You’re right. I’m already behind schedule. I’ll see you soon, my friend.” Mara quickly left and Sierra made her way to the stairs. The decorations were in the attic.

When she reached the top of the landing, terror momentarily paralyzed her.

“You do realize I have all the calls made to and from here monitored, don’t you?” Her father was standing before her.

Panic filled her as fight or flight kicked in. She didn’t know which direction to run, she just knew she had to get away. The stairs – that would be her quickest escape route. She turned and took a step when she felt his foot in the small of her back.

She desperately tried to regain her balance, but it was a losing battle. With horror flashing through her, Sierra went flying down the stairs. She felt a shooting pain in her leg before everything went dark.

∞∞∞

Damien took a drink of coffee as he prepared his briefcase. He was utterly exhausted, not having slept more than a couple hours a night since he’d broken it off with Sierra.

He missed her.

Refusing to cave into even himself, he guzzled the rest of the hot liquid and grabbed his keys. She was the one in the wrong, not him. She’d betrayed him. He opened his front door, barely catching himself from stumbling backward.

“You miserable, rotten bastard!”

“What the hell.” Bree poked him hard in the chest, her short but sharp fingernail almost tearing through his shirt.

“Sierra is lying in the hospital right now, black and blue, three broken bones, and a partial concussion all because of you!” Bree yelled as she poked him again.

It took several seconds for her words to compute in Damien’s brain. Sierra was at the hospital? He needed information. In his worry, he forgot Bree was the enemy.

“What happened? My fault? How? Why? Is she going to be okay?”

“No, she’s not. She’ll never be okay again because you’ve ripped her heart out into a million pieces and then stomped on those just to make sure there was no chance of her healing,” Bree snarled.

“Did she try to kill herself?” Damien asked in horror, all color leaving his face at the thought.

“Of course not, you moron! Sierra would never do something like that. What I meant was that her father nearly killed her, but that doesn’t compare to the devastation you’ve put her through. She has to want to get better in order to survive; otherwise the slightest infection can sneak up on her and take her life. Right now, she’s so miserable because she’s in love with you and you tossed her aside like yesterday’s news, so she’s not trying hard enough. She doesn’t feel like she has anything to live for anymore…”