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The world grew brighter, bells began to chime in her head. Most importantly, the fear and sadness she’d been carrying around for a week fell away in a rush, leaving her feeling clean, whole and new.
“I didn’t believe I was capable of love or commitment.”
“I remember,” she said. “So what happened?”
“I was wrong,” he said simply.
Then he fell silent, waiting for her. Not for a second did she consider denying him. She merely slid her fingers into his hair to pull him close and whispered, “I love you, too, Damien. I have for a lot longer than I’ve been willing to admit, even to myself. Walking away from you was, believe it or not, an act of that love...even if it was the most painful decision of my life.”
“I know,” he said. “And I forgive you for it, even if you did leave me a miserable mess for two days.”
They kissed again, slowly this time, with warm emotion. Viv put all her love and joy into the kiss, and tasted all the same on his lips. He stroked her body, tenderly and passionately, making her feel cherished and desired.
They embraced for several long moments and then she murmured, “About your family. I will try to get along with them.”
“Not necessary,” he said with a shrug. “At least, as far as Sylvia goes. She hates your guts.”
Viv flinched.
“But that’s okay, because she hates mine, too.”
She wasn’t shocked at the words, but tried to say the right thing. “I’m sure that’s not true.”
“Oh, yeah, it definitely is.”
Damien didn’t sound at all dismayed by that. In fact, he seemed almost cheerful.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, I finally got her to admit how she really feels about me. And why. Are you ready for this?”
She was ready for anything, as long as he was with her.
“She’s not my mother.”
Viv gasped. Okay, she hadn’t been ready for that.
Damien held her tightly as she swayed on her feet. “Shocker, right? It turns out my biological mother was my dad’s college sweetheart. Dad, being a typical dumb twenty-one-year-old dude, got drunk and cheated on her one night at a party.”
Not unusual. Still sad, though.
“She found out, dumped him and disappeared. Nine months later, after my Dad was with Sylvia, he got a letter.”
“From your mother?” she asked, fascinated by the story.
He shook his head. His light tone darkened, as did his gleaming eyes. “No, from her roommate. Apparently my real mother was from a pretty conservative family. When they found out she was pregnant, they cut her off. She’d moved to Atlanta and was living with a friend when I was born.”
“You were a love child,” Viv murmured.
“Sylvia preferred to use the word bastard.”
“Yeah. She would.” The bitch. “Why didn’t your father marry your mother when he found out about you? If he really loved her, I mean?”
“The roommate wrote the letter to tell Dad about me...and to let him know my mother was dead.”
He swallowed visibly. Finding out he had a different mother, one who’d been dead for decades, must have been devastating. Again, Viv mentally kicked herself for running away the other day. She should have been there, waiting for him in the penthouse, ready to share his grief over the truth of his parentage. Instead, she’d left him alone to deal with all of this, as well as her own defection.
Stupid. How could she have been so stupid?
Apparently not noticing her mental self-flagellation, he continued. “She’d had no insurance, no decent prenatal care. There were complications that weren’t diagnosed until she was in labor, and they couldn’t save her.”
Tears welled in her eyes for this latest loss, among the many Damien had endured in his life. Viv cupped his cheek and stroked his face. “I’m so sorry.”
He kissed her palm. “So am I. I wish I’d known her. Sylvia had nothing nice to say, but considering my father loved her until the day he died, she must have been pretty special.”
His father had been in love all his life with a girl he’d wronged. Perhaps that’s why he’d stayed with a cold, uncaring wife. Maybe he’d been punishing himself all along.
“When Sylvia found out, she told Dad she’d marry him and raise me as her own, be a mother to me. But only if he agreed never to reveal to me that she wasn’t my mother.”
“I can’t believe he would say yes to that.”
“He didn’t. He got her to agree that he’d explain everything me when I was an adult. I wonder if that’s a conversation we might have had the weekend of my graduation.”
