“Hello Pierce,” she said softly.
He hesitated. “Amour…”
She glanced away and walked over to one of the large picture windows that cornered the office. “Surprised?”
He threw the folders he’d gotten out of the file cabinet on his desk. “Very.” When she turned to face him again, he looked at her with a somber expression. “My god you look so much like her.”
“That’s what they tell me. Sorry for just popping up on you like this…well actually, no I’m not.” Instead of responding, he just stared at her and she frowned. “Are you just gonna gawk at me with stupid look on your face or are you going to give me the explanation that I deserve?” She put her hand up. “And there’s no need to bore me with all the crap about you and my mother’s affair because I’ve already heard it so you can just cut to the chase.” She gave him a snarling look. “Daddy.” When Amour let out a breath and raked her hair out of her face, Pierce frowned. “What?”
“That bracelet.”
“What about it?”
“It’s beautiful. Where did you get it?”
He knew exactly where she’d gotten it. “It was my mother’s but I’m sure you already knew that. The cops gave it to me when they found it in her house. Now don’t change the subject, I said I wanted an explanation!”
He looked down at his desk. “I know I owe you so much, Amour. I don’t even know where to begin.”
“Why don’t you start by telling me why the hell you allowed another man to raise your child?”
He looked back up at her. “It’s not as simple as that.”
“Why not?”
“You have to understand what my position was.”
She scowled. “Your position?” She shook her head. “Your position should’ve been making sure you took care of your responsibilities instead of leaving them up to another man to do so! Your position should’ve been, being my father!”
“I wanted to make you a part of my like Amour, I really did. God knows I tried.”
Anger boiled inside of her. “Apparently you didn’t try hard enough. It would’ve been nice to know I had a sister and anybody else for that matter. Did you even care that I would be cut off from my family? Were you embarrassed by me?”
“Absolutely not!”
“Then why all the lies and secrecy?”
He sat down in the large brown chair at his desk and rubbed his temple with his finger tips. “I told you, I couldn’t. I would’ve lost everything if it would have been known that I was not only having an affair, but had a child because of it. Don’t think I didn’t care about you Amour because did. I loved you; I still do. But when Beatrice found out about you and Carly, she threatened to divorce me and take Caroline away if I didn’t end it with your mother. The divorce alone would’ve been a huge scandal for me. I couldn’t let that happen; I couldn’t stand to lose my job and both of my children as well.”
“Well I guess the best daughter won huh?”
He slowly shook his head. “No sweetheart. It was no competition. If I could go back in time I would’ve chosen a different path especially now that I’m losing my job anyway. I see now that it wasn’t worth losing you over.” He stood, came from behind the desk and walked up to her. “Back then I figured that was the best thing for all of us especially you. I knew Ted would be a good father to you and he would bring you up right. Judging by the kind of woman you turned out to be and all of you accomplishments over the years, I see that my decision has paid off.”
She frowned. “How do you know what I’ve accomplished? You weren’t even there and I was in Nebraska.”
“Oh I know sweetheart. I kept in touch with Ted over the years through email and phone calls. He’d always give me updates on you. I was so proud of you when you won your first racing trophy.”
“You saw it on TV?”
“No, I was there.”
Her frown dissipated. “Really?”
“Yes. I told you, I know everything about you.”
“I can’t believe he never told me.”
“Don’t be upset Ted. He only did what I asked him to do. He wanted to tell you but I was against it because I saw what my lifestyle was doing to Caroline and it would have been ten times worse for you and I didn’t want you to go through that. I wanted you to have a normal childhood.”
“Did you care about my mom at all?”
“I loved Carly very much.”
“Even though she was sleeping with my father and all those other men?”
“Other men? I knew about Ted but there were no other men. Where did you get that from?”
“Angela Marx told me.”
He breathed in deeply and slowly let it out. “You mother was not a tramp. We were very much in love. True, I had been with a lot of women back then but when I met Carly, I fell hard for her. She was different than any other woman I’ve ever known. She’s actually who I wanted to be with. Beatrice was not my soul mate, we were together for appearances and Angela was just for kicks and nothing more. She’s always been jealous of Carly and in ways she still is. She’ll do anything to make her out to be the worst person in the world.”
“I’m sorry if I’m not okay with any of this. My father loved her as well and suffered a lot of pain because of you and my mom’s relationship.”
He sat on the edge of the desk. “She loved Ted as well, especially towards the end of our relationship.”
“But she was only with him because you broke it off with her.”
“No sweetheart. She genuinely loved him. When you were born, probably around the time she died, she realized that she’d be better off with him than me. Ted was good for her and she knew that. That’s why she decided to take you and move to Nebraska with him so the three of you can be a family. Your mother was very young Amour, and very naive. When she got a little older, she made better decisions.”
“Why did she get a paternity test if she knew I was yours?”
“Because she wanted proof of it.”
“Why?”
“Because at the time, I was being a jackass. She just wanted to make sure I took care of the child that I helped her create.”
“How could you stay with the woman that killed her?”
“I didn’t know any of that until now; I swear. I was told the same thing as everyone else, that she’d had a heart attack.”
“Are you going to divorce her now?”
“I don’t know, but I definitely won’t do anything to help her out of this situation. She needs to pay for what she’s done.”
Before she could respond, there was a knock at the door. “Yes?” Pierce yelled.
“It’s your other daughter sir!” The guard yelled from the other side of the door.
“Let her in!”
The door opened and Caroline walked in. After seeing Amour, she paused in mid stride. “Oh, I didn’t know you had company.”
Pierce walked up to her and put his arm around her shoulders. “This isn’t exactly company sweetheart…this is your sister Amour.”
Caroline didn’t say anything but Amour noticed that she was balling up her fists very tightly. She extended her hand out to her. “Hello.” She didn’t shake it nor did she speak.
“Caroline, don’t be rude.” Pierce said.
She seemed to have snapped out of whatever mood she was in because she smiled but she still didn’t shake Amour’s hand. “My apologies. I’m not usually happy to see people that accuse my mother of murder.”
“Caroline don’t…”
“No.” Amour interrupted. “You don’t have to fight my battles for me.” She turned back to Caroline. “Okay first of all, I haven’t accused Beatrice of anything. She confessed to killing my mother and secondly, there was a witness that saw her at my mom’s house that day. So if you wanna blame someone for your mom’s situation, blame them. Better yet, blame her; she’s the one who committed the crime!”
Pierce gently grabbed Caroline’s wrists. “Honey, your mother confessed to i
t.”
“She’s not a criminal!” Caroline exclaimed.
“I’m not saying she is but I can’t excuse what she did either. This is not her fault thought honey, it’s mine. I failed all of you; including Amour and Carly.”
Caroline held the same scarf in her hands she’d held at the courthouse. She was clenching it hard again, this time so hard her hands were shaking. “Why couldn’t you just be faithful to her?”
“Sweetie you know what kind of marriage we have. Our love for you is what kept us together and you know being divorced wasn’t a good image for a senator to have especially back in those times. I know this is hard for you to hear, but I did love Carly very much and I want Amour…my daughter, to be a part of our family. Wouldn’t it be nice to have the sister you’ve always wanted?”
Caroline looked down at the floor. “I don’t know father.”
“Please don’t blame your sister for the mistakes your mother and I made.”
Caroline gave Amour a blank expression. “I apologize. This whole this is just so crazy. I never knew about you.”
“It’s okay.” Amour responded.
Caroline shook her head. “I don’t know how to feel about any of this. All I do know is that I went to bed one night with a normal life, well as normal as the life of politician’s child can be and woke up one morning with my mom in jail for murder, a philanderer as a father and a sister I never knew I had.”
Amour patted her on the shoulder. “Believe me, I get it. I woke up one morning to find out that not only do I have a sister, I also have a step mom who killed my mother and that my father is not actually my, father because it turns out that my real father is actually one of California’s state senators.”
Caroline chuckled. “I guess we’ll both be needing therapy after this huh? It would be nice to have a sister though; even though we don’t look alike.” She held out her hand. “Friends?”
Amour grabbed her hand and shook it. “For now.” She laughed. “Hey, at least we’re both blondes.”
Caroline looked at her Pierce. “I’m still pissed at you father!”
I know sweetheart. I’ll make things right, I promise.” Pierce put his arms around both their shoulders. “My two little girls.” He squeezed them tighter. “I’m having a barbeque at my house, sort of a retirement party. Maybe you’ll join us Amour? It will give you a chance to meet your family.”
After some thought, Amour decided that there was no reason not to. “Sure.”
“Great!” Pierce said. “Maybe you can be a part of the family now.”
“I can’t promise you anything because I’m still a little angry and this is all new to me but I’ll try.”
He released Caroline and gave Amour a hug. “That’s all I ask.”
CHAPTER 41
The Harrington home was large and extravagant just as Amour had suspected. It was also cold and uninviting which is why she was grateful she wasn’t raised in it. One of their five butlers greeted Jason, Alex and she at the door when they’d arrived. After walking through a few large rooms in the house, the smell of barbequed meat filled the air. Once they’d hit the backyard, the smell became overwhelming.
“I could definitely get used to this,” Alex said as they all admired the plush surroundings.
Jason snickered. “Man, the three flat screens alone would make me never wanna go inside, and I haven’t even gotten started on the basketball courts and the big ass swimming pool.”
Amour shook her head. “Sports and women, I swear that’s all you men think about.”
Alex smiled and winked. “Says the hot race car driver.”
Caroline approached them dressed impeccably in a designer sundress made of linen. “Hello!” She kissed each of them with that pretentious kiss on both of the cheeks thing that Amour absolutely hated. “I’m so glad you guys could join us. This is an important day.” She looked at Amour again. “And how are you...sister?” she said with a wink.
At that point, Amour knew that this was going to be a long day. “I’m great. How are you Caroline?”
“Wonderful.”
Pierce walked over to them with a huge grin on his face. “Hello my darling! It’s so good to see you again.” He looked at the guys. “And who are these strapping young men you’ve brought with you?”
“This is Jason Kincaid and Alex Demarco. They’re friends of mine.” Jason looked up at her and frowned. She didn’t respond to it because she wasn’t sure what it had meant. The guys shook Pierce’s hand and he led the three of them to the area in the backyard where all the festivities were taking place. Sweat was beading on all of their faces.
“It’s hot as hell today,” Alex said.
Amour pointed to a shaded area full of lounge chairs. “Let’s go and sit over there.”
After eating a meal of baby back ribs, chicken and potato salad, Amour decided to explore the rest of the house; it was her father’s home after all. Jason and Alex were across the yard drinking beer with the rest of the men while being surrounded by young girls ogling them like they were dogs in heat.
The air conditioning pleasantly welcomed her when she stepped inside of the house. Pierce or maybe his wife had old world Victorian taste judging by the décor and that particular theme went through every room in the house. She entered the extremely large dining area and paused to admire all of the spectacular paintings and artifacts on display. She’d never seen anything like it in her entire life. Sure she made very good money racing cars, especially when she won a race but not enough to afford anything like this, not anywhere near. Seeing this made her think twice if only just a little about what it would’ve been like to grow up in a place like this and about how much of a brat Caroline must’ve been being so privileged. Not that she would’ve minded being in her position.
But even with all of what she was seeing, she still wouldn’t change growing up in normal Nebraska with her normal father for anything in the world. He may not have had all of this, but he loved her unconditionally and that was worth more than all the money on earth. She hadn’t talked to Ted since she’d found out about Pierce and wondered how he was doing. She also wondered what having Carly as a mother would’ve been like. Apparently she was extremely good at hiding things so who knows what else Amour would’ve never known had she still be alive.
After leaving the dining area, Amour ventured off into the massive living room, the wreck room and the kitchen where she observed the cooks preparing more of the meal she’d just eaten and eventually ended up in the large library of the house. It had what looked like hundreds of books on the walls and everything in the room was perfectly clean, neat and polished. She’d bet a million dollars that the family rarely even came into this room. When she turned and noticed the small bathroom that was attached, she decided to go in and freshen up before she ended her snooping. She opened the sliding door, stepped inside and headed straight for the sink. After washing her hands, she threw some water on her face to rinse off the sweat caused by the outside heat.
She looked at herself in the mirror as she dabbed the water off with the face towel that sat by the sink. What the hell was she doing here? All this couldn’t possibly be real. She once again reminded herself of the normal life she had with a normal father and normal friends; well, maybe not many friends but a normal life all the same and now this? How exactly was supposed to process all of this? She closed her eyes for a few seconds and when she opened them back, a small chill suddenly went down her spine. She didn’t know the nature of it, but it was definitely there.
She shook her head trying to release the tension she suddenly felt. “You’re seriously tripping out Amour. Snap out of it.” Grabbing the small brush out of her purse, she attempted to get her hair back in some kind of order before she went back outside. Her cell rang right as she began to brush her hair. She was sure that it was probably just Jason wondering where she’d gone, so she quickly grabbed her phone out of her purse and answered it. “Hello?”
“Bravo! I see yo
u’ve managed to escape death,” the caller said.
The voice was calm but it almost seemed like the person was using some kind of voice box. “What? Who is this?”
“I’ll give you credit for picking the right bodyguard but I don’t think he’ll be able to help you now.”
No…this can’t be happening; not again. The person that had been calling her was in jail now, wasn’t he? “Why don’t you leave me alone?”
“I told you Amour, I’ll leave you alone as soon as I kill you and it looks like that’s gonna today!”
She never had the chance to react to the caller’s threat because at that moment, the door slid open, someone barged in and she felt a huge arm wrap around her neck followed by something soft covering her mouth and nose. The smell of something strong with a hint of sweetness filled her nostrils when she inhaled. She tried to fight off whoever was holding her but she could barely breathe and they held her so tightly that she couldn’t break free. Her legs started to give out on her as she began to drift in and out of consciousness. In her now woozy state, she felt someone scoop her up right before her eyes drifted closed and everything went black.
* * *
“Do you enjoy being a bodyguard?” Caroline asked Jason as she sipped her cocktail.
“Yes I do, very much.”
“I don’t see how you guys do it. I mean putting your life in harm’s way just to save someone else? I know it’s a noble thing to do but that has to be frightening.”
“Yes it can be a bit dangerous,” Alex responded. “But it has its good moments as well. All of our assignments have the potential to be hazardous but a lot of them don’t turn out to be.”
Love's Protector: A Maverick's Shield Novel Page 29
