Love Never Fails

by Ginni Conquest

  Lowering her gently to the floor, I put my forehead to hers.

  "I have to go. God knows that I don’t want to but this isn't happening now. I don't want meetings and deadlines to stop me from enjoying you as much as I would love that right now."

  Selina just nodded her head in agreement. I touched her by her chin as I moved my thumb across her bottom lip.

  "God you are so beautiful.” I hugged her to me as though she was my last breath. This woman had the power to destroy me.

  “Ok, I have to go and will call you later.”

  I hated leaving her. DT was waiting for me at the curb to rush me into work. Just knowing Selina was safe at the condo made me relax a bit until we figured out what happened yesterday. I couldn't shake off the uneasy feeling of waiting for the other shoe to fall. Call it my military training or just intuition but something wasn't right here.

  Going thru emails, I saw call coming in. Mom. My Mom, who doesn't take no for an answer, insisted that she go by the house later with food for lunch and to meet Selina. I warned her that I would disown her if she made Selina uncomfortable.

  "Now, why would I do that son, especially if she is the girl that is stealing my son's heart. Is there something here that you need to tell me?"

  Really not wanting to share anything with her just yet, I told her in no uncertain terms no. I could tell she didn't believe me. Mothers have a knack of figuring when their sons are keeping something from them. I felt like I was a 10 years old again and getting into all kinds of trouble.

  "Damien love, your secret is safe with me. It's your Father you need to worry about."

  "I've been avoiding him."

  "It's obvious. Just talk to him. To Hell with the Board and what they might feel about this. In the meantime, please let Selina know I'll be at your house say around noon with a delicious lunch. God knows hospital food is not the most appetizing." Hanging up abruptly on me so it didn't give me a chance to argue with her, I called Selina to let her know that my Mom would be by at noon.

  "No problem Damien. I'm looking forward to meeting her. I'll start working out all the data from yesterday too do we don't lose any time."

  "Ok. I'll call you later."

  Chapter 28 The Meeting

  "Dad how are you?" I strode forward into my office as I saw my Father standing by the windows. Standing at 6'3, we were practically identical in height and looks. Let’s just say I know what I would look like say in about twenty-five years. He still commanded respect when he walked into a room and I could tell by his stance, this was going to be a conversation I'm was not going to like. I’m trying very hard to keep my anger in check but was slowly losing control of it.

  Reaching for my phone, I called my assistant.

  "Anna, please hold all calls." Slamming the door, I turned to him and got ready for this confrontation.

  "Has Steve gotten you up to speed on what happened yesterday?"

  "Yes. How is Dr. Harrison?"

  "She is fine and already working on her report from her findings."

  "Good. Where is she Damien?"

  "She’s safe at my condo. Until we find out what Sam discovers, I felt it was best that she is protected in case this was an incident to harm her."

  "Damn it Son! The Board is already buzzing with rumors that you are sleeping with the girl. You are the CEO for God's sake. You need to set a prime example to the staff about not fraternizing in the workplace."

  "First of all, I'm not sleeping with her Dad. I respect her as a colleague and for the work she has accomplished in her life. Second, it's no one's fucking business, yours included, what goes on behind my closed doors and personal life. And third, Selina almost died out there on my watch. We are trying to determine if this was an intentional act of sabotage and attempted murder on one of our staff. So I don't need you or anyone else to dictate to me how I decide to protect one of my staff, are we clear on this?"

  "Enough Damien! We can argue this shit until we are both blue in the face. Damn it Son. I'm not going to start a fight with you over this. You are a smart man and know how the Board can be. I'll dispel any rumors with them as best I can and tell them what you have told me." I saw my Dad walk over to the windows as he pushed his hands thru his hair.

  "Ok Damien, now I'm speaking to you as your Dad and not one of the Board. I want you to tread carefully. I can see that you have feelings for this girl; God knows your Mom and I are happy about this. We never thought we would ever see the day. Just take this one day at a time and discretion please."

  "Ok Dad."

  "Now your Mom has plans to bring Selina lunch today and to meet her."

  "That's the plan." I couldn't help but feel put off by the fucking Board. My Dad represented them but right now, he was my Dad. I recognized what a hard role he had to play in this.

  "Son, I want you to be happy. You deserve it after everything that you have done with your life. She seems to be the right woman to be at your side; and maybe someone who can handle you," he chuckled.

  "Thanks Dad." Giving him a handshake and hug, I walked him to the door as he left. Now with that behind me, I could get on with my day.

  Chapter 29 Mrs. Stone

  So as noon came closer, I put the finishing touches to my appearance. Anna brought my favorite jeans and I paired that with a cute peasant type blouse. I kept my hair back in a pony tail as I love to keep my hair back when I work. As for my makeup, I kept that to a minimum. I already had a nice glow from the sun. I wanted Mrs. Stone to like me for me. Hearing the buzzer and seeing it was noon, I told security to please send her up. Taking a deep breath, I opened the door to a beautiful woman. About my height and blonde hair, Mrs. Stone was a striking figure.

  “Selina, so nice to meet you.”

  “It’s so nice to meet you too Mrs. Stone.” I looked behind her at the security guard as he was carrying a few bags of groceries.

  “Thank you my dear and please call me Evelyn. None of this Mrs. Stone stuff.”

  I already liked her as she was so personable. Helping the guard with the bags of groceries, I couldn’t help but notice that this was more than lunch.

  “I brought you and Damien some additional food, steaks, potatoes, veggies, yoghurt, cookies and some other things. I know he doesn’t want you even venturing out of this condo for your own safety. It’s scary for right now, just until Sam can weed out things. Ok, now let me look at you.” I felt Evelyn’s eyes take in everything about me, almost to the point of being uncomfortable.

  “Now I know why my son likes you. You are a beautiful woman inside and out. Things have a way of working out as there are no such things as coincidence. Everything happens as it was meant to be.” I lived by that mantra too. I believe in destiny and thought back to everything that happened to bring me to this point; to bring me to Damien.

  “I know how my son met you. Though I raised him better than that, I can now understand his motive. I hope you have forgiven him my dear.”

  I couldn’t help but turn a nice shade of red. She didn’t know everything that happened on that flight or did she? How embarrassing.

  “Yes, Evelyn, I have. I couldn’t stay mad at him for long as he is very charming and persuasive.”

  “Yes he is. So is his brother, Richard, but he can be a tad more serious than Damien. Dawn is just like Damien, strong willed and outspoken. I would love you to come to dinner one night to meet everyone.”

  “I would love that, thank you.”

  I have to say, I had a beautiful lunch with Evelyn. We spoke about what happened on the dive, my work, her volunteer work which I told her I would love to get involved in and my family. Before I knew it, she needed to leave. Damien’s Dad was almost done with his golf game and she was going to join him at the club. I thanked her so much for her visit, for lunch and the extra groceries.

  “It was so nice meeting you my dear. I hope to see you very soon again and enjoy each other’s company. And Selina, one thing: forget about your jobs and the Board. One needs to follo
w their journey and see where love takes them.” Giving me a wink, Evelyn let herself out of the condo.

  Closing the door behind her, I realized that Damien’s family was very close, just like mine. The thought of possibly being a part of his family gave me a good feeling as I missed mine so much. I wonder if I can get any of them to visit me soon, even my brother if my parents couldn’t get away. Thinking of waiting until Christmas to see them was just too far away. The sound of the intercom brought me out of my thoughts.

  “Dr. Harrison, you have a package that was just delivered. I’m sending someone up with it, ok?”

  “Yes, of course.”

  Wondering what that could be, I looked thru the peep hole at the security guard standing there with a white envelope.

  “Dr. Harrison, this was left for you.” Thanking the security guard, I was curious as to who had this sent to me. No one knew I was here but a handful of people.

  So I carefully opened it up and a chill came over me. It read:

  Stay away from Stone industries and Damien or else. I'm watching you.

  Dropping the letter on the counter, I picked up my cell and called Damien immediately.

  "Hi Princess."

  "Damien, who knows I'm staying here?"

  "My parents, Sam and Steve. Why?"

  "The security guard said that an envelope was delivered to my attention here. I opened it up and there was a threatening note in it that says stay away from Stone Industries and you or else."

  "You have got to be fucking kidding me?"

  "I wish I was."

  "Ok, don't touch the letter any more in case there are fingerprints on it. I'll call Sam and get him over there as fast as he can. I'll call the guards downstairs and see if they remember anything or if they have anything on the security cameras. Did they happen to say who delivered the note?"

  "I didn't ask them. I really wasn't thinking about that, just thinking about who knows that I’m here."

  "Obviously someone is watching you. Don't go anywhere. I'll get there as soon as I can. I'll call Sam now. Jesus Selina. What the Hell is going on?"

  "I don't know Damien but I'm scared and pissed at the same time."

  "That's my girl. I promise you we'll get to the bottom of this. Just lock the door and stay in the condo."

  As I hung up with Damien, I thought about how quickly my life has changed. I went from a broken woman to having sex with a stranger on a plane who has turned out to be my boss who is very attracted to me: to me almost dying to possibly being on my way to loving her boss. On my way to loving? No, I was already there. I am in love with Damien. I know for sure that in a short time, this is who I was waiting for in my life. We have gone thru more in less than a week then what some couples go thru in a lifetime.

  I'm worried that I'm putting Damien in danger being with him now. What do I do? Do I forfeit my happiness to protect him and his company? Who is this person who doesn't want me around? Could this be the same person who might have tampered with my tanks on the dive? If they are, they are very capable of doing anything to get what they want. If they want me out of the way, they would do it. Keeping my reservations of being with Damien to myself, the intercom startled me out of my thoughts.

  It was Sam. I let him up and waited anxiously for him to arrive.

  "Selina, Damien called me immediately. Let's see it."

  "Here it is Sam. I was careful to just touch the corners. I'm hoping you can get some answers very soon as this note puts me on edge a bit. Only a handful of people know I'm here and I can't see any of them causing a problem for me."

  "We have an idea who is doing this but I need them to slip up. I haven't told Damien anything yet but I may need you to help us flush out the person or persons doing this."

  "This sounds like a police drama with me caught in the middle."

  "Yes, I agree but sometimes this is how these things go down. I'm going to take this note with me and try to lift a print from it. I don't believe this is an act of a professional criminal so you can breathe a sigh of relief there. In the meantime, you are not to leave this place under any circumstances. I'll have an unmarked car downstairs watching the place. The guards already know so they are on alert. One of the guys was someone who worked with me on the force. You are well protected."

  He looked at me as though knowing what was in my thoughts.

  "Selina, if are you planning on leaving Damien because of this, he will find you. I can see the look in your face. I will find out who is threatening you, I promise you this. Walking away from Damien will not be the answer. I know that man all too well. He would go thru fire for you." Winking at me, the man of my dreams walked into the condo. Not even acknowledging Sam, he came over to me and just held me.

  "Um Damien, let the poor girl breath," chuckled Sam.

  Looking down at me, those blue eyes drowned me in emotions.

  "Are you ok?"

  "Yes now that you are here." Nodding his head at me, he turned to Sam with an attitude that was pure Damien.

  "Sam, let me see the note."

  "Don't touch it D. I'm taking it over to the lab and I also told Selina, I have an unmarked car downstairs for observation. The guys downstairs are aware of what's going on so Selina will be under 24 hour surveillance."

  “Damn it Sam. Are you close to finding the bastard that is doing this?"

  "Not yet but one thing is for sure, they are not professional. Checking with our underground sources, there is no threat or target to either of you or the company."

  "Selina, I'll be right back. I just want to walk Sam out."

  As I watched Damien close the front door behind him, I realized at that moment if God forbid something happens to me, I want to have known Damien. That means everything. Knowing that I have moments to spare, I run into the spare room with my decision that I wanted him. Looking in my bags, I saw that Anna packed my sexy new lingerie that I picked up at Maddie's. God bless Damien’s romantic assistant.

  Letting my hair down in waves, I put the black lingerie slip on and planned my seduction. Hearing the door shut, I came out of the room only to be standing in front of Lauren!

  "What the Hell are you doing in here?"

  "I can ask the same of you too. What are you doing, slutting your way to the top? Damien is mine, not yours."

  As she is talking to me, I see a glint of a knife in her hand and also a wild unstable look in her eye. I felt my heart speed up as the adrenaline flowed thru my body. Where did Sam and Damien go?

  "Answer me this Dr. Harrison. Why have you spoiled all chances for me to marry that man? Look at you just standing there, just waiting to be fucked. Well, that’s not going to happen good Doctor. You know, I ought to scar that pretty face of yours so Damien won't even look at you. Then he will be in my bed where he belongs and not crawling after you.” Lauren starts slashing the knife thru the air as try to remain calm but I’m at the very brink of hysteria now. I just knew I had to keep talking to her to distract her. I felt the tears start to flow down my face.

  “Lauren, why don’t we just talk about this? I didn’t know you felt this way about Damien. You don’t have to do anything you will regret. Please don’t do this Lauren!”

  The laugh that echoed thru the condo was eerily like a woman that was insane or definitely on her way to being insane. I didn’t take my eyes off of her eyes.

  “You should have died out in the Gulf. How you ever survived that is a miracle." Seeing Damien, Sam and a few of the guards walking quietly thru the front door, I wanted her to keep talking while they decided what they were going to do.

  "Oh my God, did you have something to do with my accident?"

  "I had help of course. I couldn’t do it on my own. So I gave him money and let him fuck me. Dave was putty in my hands. He said it was nothing to hit a valve to let some air out. He really didn’t care about you. No wait! I take that back. He thought it would be a waste to kill you as he wanted to fuck you first. You are like Helen of Troy: all of the men seem to want
you but I wanted you out of the way permanently. You can’t have Damien. I won’t let you. So now it looks like I will have to do the job myself." Lauren started to make her move towards me as I backed up down the hallway.

  I knew that Sam had enough evidence with Lauren’s confession but I wanted to see if I could try to reason with her and come out of this without getting hurt or killed.

  "Lauren listen to me. I'll leave. I'll pack up and catch a flight today to go back home. You can have Damien. That's what you want, right? You do this, you will go to jail for the rest of your life so where would you be then?"

  "You would still be alive and who is to stop him from chasing you back to the East Coast. No, I will have to kill you."

  Seeing Damien, Sam and the guards making their move, Sam was the first to react.

  "Drop it Lauren or I'll shoot. It's over. Drop the knife now and put your hands in the air. Do it now," shouted Sam.

  "I hate you Doctor. I hate that you have taken my man away from me."

  "Lauren,” said Damien. "You haven't lost me. I'm here for you. Please put the knife down and come here to me."

  As Lauren still stared at me, she addressed Damien.

  "This woman ruined my chances with you my love. With her out of the way, you would love me, marry me and we would have lots of children together. We would be the dream power couple in the business world. I would love that."

  "Lauren, leave the Doctor alone and we'll start our lives together today, just you and I. But you have to drop the knife. If you kill her, you will go to jail for the rest of your life and we'll never be together. Do you understand me?"