Redemption Series Boxed Set, Books 1-4

by Sandi Lynn

  “Stop it!” She grabbed the sides of her head.

  “Don’t you dare tell me to stop it! This is my home! You said you hadn’t had a seizure in a very long time? What happened? Were you a drug addict and then got clean and slipped up again? Did something happen back in Minnesota and that’s why you ran away, quit your job, and decided to spend whatever money you got from your mother’s life insurance to travel around the US? Did you get into some trouble?” I shouted. “I want you out of my house!” I pointed at her.

  She stood there and stared at me as tears fell from her eyes.

  “Okay. I’ll pack my things and go.”

  “Damn right you will. Fuck this and fuck you,” I spoke as I stormed out of the bedroom.

  Chapter 19

  London

  I never meant for him to find out. The less he knew, the better off we both were. I understood his anger. He felt betrayed, just like he did by his parents. I grabbed my suitcase with my trembling hands and neatly packed my things. I was exhausted and my head was pounding, but I was strong, just not strong enough to walk away without an explanation. I loved him. It wasn’t part of the plan and I tried so hard to keep my emotions out of it, but I couldn’t. He was unlike anyone I’d ever met before. I didn’t want his pity, but right now he hated me and maybe it was for the best. It would be easier this way. I had thought a lot about the day I’d walk out of here and go to my next destination, and every single time, it brought tears to my eyes. I found myself loving it here and loving him, but I couldn’t stay and he would have to understand that. I inhaled a deep breath, composed myself, and went downstairs, where I found him sitting on the couch in the media room with a drink in his hand.

  “Just fucking go, London. I don’t ever want to see you again.”

  “I’m so sorry, Damien. None of this was supposed to happen. I never should have agreed to stay here.”

  “Damn right you shouldn’t have, and I never should have offered.” He downed his drink. “Just go. Get out of my fucking life.”

  I had to weigh the options as to what would cause him more pain: him believing I was a drug addict or the truth. I needed just to go and put all this behind me. I’d catch a plane to Arizona first thing tomorrow morning.

  “I hope you can forgive me.” I turned and walked away.

  “London!” he shouted. “It’s the middle of the fucking night. Just go to bed. I want you out of here by time I get home tomorrow.”

  “Thank you, Damien.”

  He got up from the couch and walked over to where I was standing.

  “Don’t you ever fucking say those words to me again,” he spoke through gritted teeth, walked away, and slammed his bedroom door shut.

  I climbed into bed and held the covers tightly against me. He’d be okay over time.

  Damien

  I slept an hour at the most. My head was filled with anger and my heart was filled with pain. This was what I got for letting someone into my life. Never fucking again. I’d learned my lesson. I got up, got dressed, and prayed she wasn’t up yet. Hell, maybe she already left. Good riddance. I got to the office and I was in the worst mood ever.

  “Joslyn, get me a fucking cup of coffee now!” I shouted.

  “Yes, sir.” She quickly got up from her chair.

  “What the hell is the matter with you?” Scott asked as he followed me into my office. “How is London? I was texting you all night and you never answered. Madison was texting London and she didn’t answer.”

  “I kicked her out.”

  “What the fuck, man?”

  “She’s a drug addict. I found a bunch of pills in her nightstand drawer.”

  Joslyn walked in and set my coffee down on my desk.

  “Did she try to deny it?” Scott asked.

  “Nope. When I told her to get the hell out of my house, she just said okay and that she’d go. No explanation, nothing. I can’t believe how fucking stupid I am. I knew something was up with the way she was always tired and sleeping all the time.”

  “Excuse me, Mr. Prescott?” Joslyn spoke.

  “Can’t you see I’m in the middle of a conversation? What do you want?” I shouted.

  “There’s something you should know.”

  “Jesus Christ, Joslyn. What is it?” I sighed.

  “London isn’t a drug addict. She’s dying.”

  “What?” I laughed. “Is that what she told you? Because drug addicts are really good liars.”

  “She didn’t tell me anything. I follow her blog. I’ve been following her journey for about a year. I knew she was coming to New York and I was going to contact her to see if she wanted to meet for coffee because I wanted to praise her on her strength. Then she walked in here with your wallet and I couldn’t believe it. I couldn’t bring myself to say anything to her because, I don’t know, I felt weird and I didn’t know quite what to say. If you’ll hand me a piece of paper, I’ll write down her blog address and you can check it out for yourself.”

  “Damien,” Scott quietly spoke.

  I sat there and swallowed the lump in my throat as I handed Joslyn a piece of paper and a pen.

  “I’m not surprised she didn’t tell you. She only stays in one place for a month or so to see everything she sets out to. Mr. Prescott, she’s fulfilling her bucket list before she dies.”

  “Thank you for telling me, Joslyn,” I softly spoke. “I’m sorry I yelled at you.”

  “It’s okay. I’m used to it.” She smiled slightly before walking out of my office.

  “I can’t believe this, Damien. My god, what did you do?”

  “She could have told me last night, but she didn’t. She was never going to tell me. She was going to leave in two weeks and I never would have known. Can you give me some time alone, please?”

  “Yeah, sure, man.” He placed his hand on my shoulder.

  I stared at the piece of paper with her blog address for a moment. I turned to my computer, typed it in the address bar, and hit the return key. I started reading and scrolling. Pictures of her at the Empire State Building, Central Park, a Starbucks, and other places filled the screen. A video of her giving a tour of her Airbnb cut into me like nothing other. There were pictures of Tennessee, Chicago, and Florida. I scrolled further down, reading her posts about what she was doing, what she’d seen, how she felt. She had an inoperable brain tumor in an area of her brainstem that was much too dangerous and impossible to remove. She referred to her tumor as “Teaghan,” and as I scrolled down farther, I came across a letter she had written. Tears filled my eyes and the lump in my throat was bigger than ever as I sat and read it.

  Dear Teaghan,

  We first met when I was ten years old. You wanted to be friends and I accepted you at first. But I was the one in control and you didn’t like that, so you took it upon yourself to make me very sick. Sick to the point where it was time to end our friendship and say goodbye. But after the surgery, a part of you was still there, inside me, lying dormant and plotting your return. I get it. I really do. You were pissed. I’d be too if someone cut ninety-five percent of me away. I said goodbye to our friendship, and I thought you accepted it. Now, all these years later, you decided to rekindle what we had and come back bigger and stronger. You nestled yourself away into the depths of my brain where you knew nobody could touch you. If you think you’ve won, you haven’t. The fact is we’re all going to die at some point in our lives. For some, it’s unexpected and out of the clear blue. But you’ve given me the courtesy of giving me time to do everything I want to do and see before my time is up and you completely take over me. You may have taken things from me such as marriage and starting a family, but that is all. I’ve accepted you into my life again and I’m going to live each remaining day to the fullest, seeing and doing everything I’d always dreamed of, and that is something you can’t take away from me. Til the end, my dear friend. ~ London

  I wiped my eyes and leaned back in my chair, trying to catch my breath. What the fuck had I done? I pushed the in
tercom button on the phone and asked Joslyn to come into my office immediately.

  “Yes, Mr. Prescott?”

  “Cancel all of my meetings for today. To be honest, cancel them for the rest of the week. I don’t know when I’ll be back.” I got up from my chair and put my suitcoat on.

  “Where are you going?”

  “To find London and do what’s right.”

  “Oh, Mr. Prescott. I’m so happy to hear that.” She clapped.

  I hailed a cab back to my penthouse and looked around for Sammy in the lobby, but he wasn’t there. The minute I stepped into the penthouse, I ran up the stairs and into her bedroom. Her suitcase was gone.

  “Shit!”

  I looked at my watch. It was ten o’clock. I pulled my phone out and dialed Joslyn.

  “Joslyn, get online right now with the airlines and see what time the flights to Arizona are leaving.”

  “How do you know which airline she’s flying with?”

  “Shit. Well, she flew Delta from Tennessee to New York. With any luck, she’ll fly that again. Hurry up and call me back. I’m going to pack.”

  I ran down to my room, grabbed my suitcase, and started throwing clothes in it. Once I finished, I took the elevator down to the lobby and saw Sammy.

  “Sammy!” I ran up to him. “What time did London leave the building?”

  “She left about an hour ago with her suitcase. She said she was going to Paris and hugged me goodbye.”

  “Paris! She’s supposed to be going to the Grand Canyon!”

  I pulled out my phone and called Joslyn.

  “Forget Arizona. What time is the flight to Paris? Sammy said she left an hour ago, so there’s no way she got on a plane yet.”

  “I’m pulling it up now. If she left an hour ago, she must be on the 11:50 flight. She wouldn’t have made the one before that.”

  “Book me two tickets in first class.”

  “Mr. Prescott, you’re not going to make it in time.”

  “I’ll make it. Book them now.”

  “There’s two seats left, row two, seats C & D.”

  “Book them now. Put it on the company card. I’m on my way to the airport. Wait, they’re not the Suite seats, are they?”

  “No.”

  “Okay. Book them.”

  “And what if she’s not on that flight?”

  “Then we’ll keep searching until we find which flight she’s on. I don’t care how much it fucking costs.”

  “I’m on it, Mr. Prescott.”

  “Thanks, Joslyn.”

  “Don’t you need your passport, Mr. Prescott?” Sammy asked.

  “Shit! Watch my luggage and get me a cab!”

  I pushed the button to the elevator and thanked god that the doors opened immediately. I ran to my study, opened my safe, grabbed my passport, and took the elevator back down.

  “Your luggage and your cab, sir.” He smiled.

  “Thanks, Sammy.”

  “Where to, buddy?” the driver asked.

  “LaGuardia and step on it. I need to get there as soon as possible.”

  “I’ll do my best.”

  I reached into my wallet and pulled out a hundred-dollar bill.

  “You’ll do your best?” I handed it to him.

  “I will get you there ASAP.” He smiled.

  The cab driver pulled up to the curb and I grabbed my luggage and flew out of the cab and into the airport.

  “ID and passport, please,” the man behind the counter spoke.

  I pulled out my passport, handed it to him, and then pulled my ID out of my wallet.

  “You have two seats?” he asked in confusion.

  “Umm. Yes. I don’t like anyone sitting next to me on a long flight.”

  “Thank you very much, Mr. Prescott. Enjoy your flight.” He smiled.

  “Thanks.”

  The line for sky priority wasn’t long at all and I couldn’t believe it. Everything was moving quickly. Once I got through security and ran through the airport to my gate, they were already boarding. I placed my phone on the scanner and was cleared to go. I took in a deep breath as I stepped onto the plane, praying she was on this flight. Placing my bag on my seat, I stepped out of first class and let out a sigh of relief when I saw her sitting in a seat with her head leaning against the window, staring out. I headed towards her and stopped when our eyes met.

  “Damien? What—How?”

  “We need to talk, London.” I held out my hand to her and the lady sitting next to her gave me a dirty look. “Excuse me, ma’am, but she needs to get out of her seat and come sit in first class with me.”

  “Damien, what are you doing? Did you buy a ticket?”

  “I bought two first class tickets. I’m going with you to Paris.” I smiled.

  “How did you know I was on this flight?”

  “I talked to Sammy and he said you told him you were going to Paris, so I had Joslyn look up the times and this is the time that made the most sense. Come on. Come with me.”

  “I can’t believe you did this.”

  She placed her hand in mine as the woman sitting next to her got up from her seat, and I led her to first class.

  “Take the window seat,” I spoke.

  “Thank you.”

  As soon as we both sat down and got settled, I grabbed hold of her hand.

  “London, I’m so sorry for the things I said to you.” I brought her hand up to my lips. “I will never be able to apologize enough to you.”

  “Damien, there’s something—”

  “I already know.” I gave her hand a gentle squeeze.

  “How?”

  “Apparently, Joslyn is one of your followers. She told me about your blog. Wow. You have over five hundred thousand followers.”

  “I’m sorry.” She looked down.

  “Don’t be. I don’t want to talk about it right now. Not here. Not on the plane. I want to talk when we’re alone and in private. For now, let’s just enjoy each other’s company.”

  “I can’t believe you’re coming to Paris with me.” She smiled as tears filled her eyes.

  “Believe it. We’re going to have an amazing time.”

  “But what about work?”

  “What about it? Scott is there and the company will be there when I get back. The only thing that matters is spending time with you in Paris.” I brought my hand up to her cheek and softly kissed her lips. “Did you book a hotel yet? If you didn’t, I’ll book one.”

  “No. I was just going to kind of wing it when I got there.”

  “Well, I’m here now and there will be no winging it.” I winked.

  I pulled my phone from my pocket and googled Paris hotels. It was imperative that I found one with views of the Eiffel Tower from the room. I found the perfect hotel and booked us the perfect room.

  “Done. Reservations are set for the Shangri La.”

  “Sounds fancy.” She grinned.

  Chapter 20

  London

  I couldn’t believe he was sitting next to me. He knew about the tumor, and yet, he still wanted to be with me. After our four-hour layover in Boston, we finally arrived in Paris the next morning at six a.m. and the not-so-smooth landing jolted both of us awake.

  “Damn it,” Damien spoke.

  “No swearing. We’re in Paris.” I grinned as I stared out the window.

  Damien took my hand and we exited the plane. When we got to baggage claim, I saw a man dressed in all black holding a sign with the name “Prescott” across it.

  “Look, there’s your name.” I smiled.

  “That must be our driver.”

  We grabbed our luggage, climbed into the car, and headed to the hotel. When we arrived, our room wasn’t ready because, technically, check in wasn’t until three p.m.

  “Do you have any rooms at all available right now?” Damien asked.

  “Yes. We have a few.”

  “Then give us your standard room and call me when ours is ready.”

  “Very wel
l, sir.”

  When we entered our temporary room, Damien wrapped his arms around me and held me tight.

  “Are you hungry?” he asked.

  “Yeah. I am. But I need a shower first.”

  “Me too.” He smiled.

  “There’s only one bathroom.” I smirked.

  “Then I guess we’ll have to take one together.” His lips softly pressed against mine.

  After our incredibly long shower, my body still reeled with the pleasure he gave me. I didn’t want to come down from the feeling of this fairytale I found myself in, but reality wasn’t too far behind and I was prepared for it.

  “Great news. The front desk called and our room is ready,” Damien spoke.

  “Already? I didn’t expect it to be until this afternoon.”

  The bellhop knocked on the door, handed Damien our new room key, and took our luggage. When we stepped inside the elevator, it took us all the way to the top floor. The hotel was breathtaking, and I couldn’t wait to see what our new room had to offer. The moment we stepped inside, the first thing I saw from the living area window was the Eiffel Tower. I ran to the large glass sliding doors that led out to a mammoth terrace, opened them, and stepped outside. The view was absolutely stunning.

  “Beautiful, isn’t it?” Damien asked as he wrapped his arms around me from behind.

  “I’ve never seen anything so magnificent in my life,” I softly spoke.

  “Let’s go find a café and sip on some French coffee and have some breakfast.” He kissed my head.

  “I’d love to. But first,” I turned around in his arms, “I have to take my pills.”

  “I’ll go get you a bottle of water.” His lips pressed against my forehead.

  I walked back into the room and took in the beauty of it all. From the French-styled furniture, marbled floors, and a touch of elegant Asian décor throughout, this suite was every girl’s dream. After sipping French coffee and eating breakfast in a quaint little Parisian café, Damien told me he had a surprise for me: a beautiful horse and carriage ride through Paris.