Coming To Reason (A Long Road to Love)

by O'Connor, Liza

  “Completely and absolutely.”

  Only one thing remained. Would he place her needs over his own? “And you don’t mind me leaving your employment?”

  “My company will miss your brilliance, and I will regret I can no longer spend every day with you, but, Carrie, I love you with my whole heart and I would never stand in your way. You’ve been offered an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. You have to take it.”

  “Finally,” she whispered and hugged him with all her might. After two very bad choices, she had found her perfect man. She pushed back so she could look him in the eyes.

  “Dave wants me to start working today, which I want to do. However, we need to start our forever love off right, as well. Do you have any suggestions how we can achieve both?”

  His long hands cupped her face. “I do.” He leaned in and kissed her. When she opened her mouth to his, her body purred with pure joy.

  This time she got it right; this time she found her forever love.

  ***

  Trent’s Redemption:

  Chapter 1 of Climbing Out of Hell

  Book Four of A Long Road to Love

  Trent Lancaster lay on the sidewalk where his driver had tossed him. For one glorious month, life had been perfection. Well, he’d thought the first week was hell, but compared to his life now, it looked like Nirvana.

  He’d lost Carrie forever, broken a love he’d thought to be impervious to damage. Due to a stupid error he’d made months ago, a cascade of problems had rained upon him, which he tried his hardest to protect Carrie from, only he couldn’t. He thought if he hid her away in Trenton NJ, she might never find out the truth, but Carrie chose to work in NYC instead and then Angela broke her agreement and wrote a scathing article for Gossep, revealing all the shit he’d done in his desperate attempt to keep Coco’s father from going after the finest woman he’d ever met, Carrie Hanson.

  Tears streamed down his cheeks for all to see. Normally, he’d be horrified to allow common people to gawk at him, but his self-respect and pride had been stripped away when Sam, his driver, had to pull him from his limo to save Carrie.

  From him.

  He’d almost raped her—the woman he loved more than anything in the world. He’d thought if they could just make love, she’d forgive him. But he managed to break the unbreakable and she wanted nothing more to do with him.

  Burying his face in his hands, he sobbed. There was no way back to his month of happiness. Everything good in his life was gone.

  A gentle hand touched his shoulder. His heart leapt in joy. Carrie had returned and forgiven him. He looked up and stared at an old man in black—a priest—staring down at him. “Are you ill? Do you need help?”

  The old guy studied him with worried eyes and furrowed brow. Maybe the man could help him. “I think I need an exorcism.”

  ***

  Trent had never been in a catholic church before but the high ceiling cathedral gave him certainty ancient wisdom permeated these stone walls. The fanciful stained glass art would have made him cringe in the past, but now in his darkest hour, with the sun shining through the bright colored glass, he felt at one with the men in robes, especially the tormented ones with flames around them.

  As he followed the priest down the main aisle of the nearly empty church, a few people sat in the pews with their heads bowed. He thought it a strange place to nap, but the church did hold a sense of peace hard to find in New York City.

  His penthouse had once held the same feeling of rightness and calm. His memories returned to Carrie snuggled against him, watching a video of her near deaths and him saving her life, then getting arrested for doing so.

  Having no clue how good things had been, Trent had thought it the worst week ever, when in fact it had been part of the best month of his life, a time when Carrie loved him and everything was perfect…well, almost perfect. He had Carrie and nothing had stood in their way.

  A gentle hand settled on his back as the priest led him through a door to a small room with two high back chairs angled before an empty fireplace. The old man encouraged him to sit while he turned on the gas jets and created the illusion of a fire burning fake logs.

  Rather like his life. He’d never gotten the real thing, except for one month. Then it all fell apart and nothing he did could stop it.

  The priest sat down in the other chair and began a soft chant.

  Trent was about to interrupt the fellow because the chant was soothing and had no shot of exorcising a demon. But he caught some of the words the man spoke. Forgiveness of Sins. Delivery from evil.

  He silenced his protest before he ruined his chance for salvation. What did he know about exorcisms? Movies were notoriously wrong about details. His thoughts turned to Carrie. She had had the ability to sooth his anger with just a touch or kind word. She had made his life tolerable, and then in their precious month of perfection, happy. For the first time in his life, he’d been happy.

  And then his ex-fiancée Coco showed up as their newly hired Human Resource person and the troubles started. At first, he thought he could handle the matter. After all he had once been engaged to the demon and knew all her tricks.

  He covered his face with his hands. What a damn fool he’d been. He should have called Dan Marshal at once and demanded another HR specialist. Instead, his arrogance made him believe he could use and then discard her. Only he was wrong, and his mistake cost him Carrie.

  Pathetic unmanly sobs burst forth. Had he never allowed Coco back into his life, he would still have the only woman who had ever loved him.

  “My name is Father McClellan. Can you tell me what causes you such pain?” the gentle priest asked.

  The only person Trent had ever shared his feelings with had been Carrie. To others, he’d remained aloof and closed, something he’d learned from his horrid, unloving parents. But his pain needed a channel, so he opened up and shared his sorry excuse of a life.

  The priest didn’t interrupt, even when Trent rambled incoherently. Like Carrie, the old man seemed to understand what he meant, regardless of his words. Trent confessed how easily he’d been manipulated by Coco. “I despise the woman, but while Carrie was away, she did everything possible to get me into her bed. I wanted nothing to do with her. But one day I woke up in bed with my brain wanting to burst from my skull. When I was able to focus on who lay beside me, shame and rage filled my heart at the sight of Coco.

  “She had to have drugged me. I would have never touched her otherwise. That night when I called Carrie on the West Coast, I almost told her what happened, certain she’d understand, almost certain… but I couldn’t. She was so happy and learning so much about becoming a change specialist. I couldn’t ruin her moment. Besides, it’s not like it would ever happen again. I never intended to drink anything around Coco in the future.”

  “Did you admit the truth when the young lady returned?”

  “No. She came back so full of enthusiasm. Instead, I put it behind me. I told Coco if she said one word to Carrie, I’d deny it and fire her at once.”

  Trent rubbed his face. “And thus began my journey into hell. Her father summoned me to his office a month and a half later. Coco was pregnant with my child. I expected him to threaten to kill me if I didn’t marry his precious daughter, and intended to tell him to take his best shot, because I would never marry her.”

  Gasps of pain erupted from his broken heart. “But that wasn’t his threat. His target of torture would not be me, but Carrie. He assured me unless I got rid of her and married his daughter he’d destroy Carrie’s reputation, career, and life until her only recourse would be suicide.

  “I would have tried to kill him with my bare hands, except two of his security guards stood close by. So I agreed to give up the only good thing in my life. I had no choice, I had to protect her. If I’d had thought we could escape and disappear, I would have taken her away. But the man has connections everywhere. There is no place to hide from him. The only way she’d be safe is if I gave her up.”<
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  The priest leaned over and patted his arm. “Then you did the right thing,”

  Trent shook his head. “But I didn’t. I couldn’t let her go. So I started thinking of ways around the matter. Coco’s father had told me I could have mistresses, just as long as none were Carrie. So I grabbed the most convenient one available and set her up in a home in a town next to Carrie’s. I thought I could visit the woman, then sneak over to my true love.”

  Father McClellan shook his head.

  “It’s worse than you think. The woman I grabbed was my best friend’s wife. They both wanted out of the marriage, but he was my friend, I should never have made her my mistress. I should have chosen someone else, only she was primed and ready, and I didn’t have the time or heart to woo a mistress. The only woman I wanted was Carrie.”

  “These are heavy sins indeed.”

  “I’m not done yet. I started going out at nights with my sales force….they’re all young pretty women, having my picture taken with them, hoping to embarrass Coco enough to make her find some other guy to force into marriage, all the while convincing her father Carrie meant nothing to me.”

  The priest muttered softly beneath his breath. “You have much to atone for, my son.”

  “Still not done. I, um, got my best friend’s wife pregnant, and have ruined all his little boys’ lives.”

  Tears flowed once again. “They were such happy little guys. So cute. I remember telling Carrie I wanted one just like them. She teased me in return saying Patty and Jon probably wouldn’t give any up, no matter how much they like my penthouse.”

  “Penthouse?”

  “They’d been struggling, so I let them live in my place in the city. I’d intended to live with Carrie, but now I couldn’t, so I returned and shared my home with them. Soon Patty let me know her interest in me. Since I needed a mistress to convince Coco’s father I’d moved on, we became intimate.

  “And when she got pregnant, she told Jon they were having another baby, only it turns out Jon had a vasectomy after the last boy, so everything blew up. He quit his job as my marketing specialist and left. I asked Patty if she’d like to move to Mountain Lakes. She agreed, and I bought her a million dollar home to live in. That way, I could visit Patty, then sneak over to Carrie’s.”

  “Anymore?” the priest asked, his brow furrowed deeply.

  “Oh yeah. I haven’t gotten to the bad part yet. I tried to keep all of this a secret from Carrie. She’s so trusting and innocent, she never suspected anything had changed. But she still worked for me, which Coco’s father didn’t like. He wanted her fired; he didn’t care how important she was to my business.

  “So I took Carrie home early on Friday and spent Saturday with her. Then Mars called and warned me Coco’s father wanted to see me, no doubt to confirm I had fired her.

  “I texted Sam to collect Carrie’s iPad, laptop, and phone while I let her know she no longer worked for me.” Trent shook his head, recalling the shock and pain in her eyes when he fired her. “She loved my company. She’d single handedly pulled it out of bankruptcy and now without any notice, I pushed her out.”

  “I imagine she got angry.”

  “No, I hurt her, but she forgave me. I promised her I’d find a way to give her money, but all she wanted was three months’ severance, which I couldn’t give her, because I had to fire her with cause.”

  “So you cheated the woman you loved out of three months’ pay and left her unemployed.”

  “Yes, and then I asked her to take all my clothes to the cleaners because they smelled musky. They didn’t, but I could smell her scent on them. And if I could, so would Coco.”

  “And she agreed?”

  “I’ve no idea. Things blew up so quickly. I found her a job in a warehouse in New Jersey, but Carrie had already gotten a job in New York City. It wasn’t safe for her there, so I tried to bully her into taking the Trenton job. Unfortunately, I hadn’t realized my namesake has a bad safety record.”

  “Has Coco’s father harmed her?”

  “No, I did. The Gossep magazine, which I’m sure you don’t read, wrote a major spread about me and my engagement to Coco. It’s got Coco and her father in such a rage, they may have finally forgotten Carrie completely. The article dismissed Carrie early on, as is she had been nothing to me. I was relieved when I read it. Only, it turned out, Carrie believed it too.”

  The priest handed him a box of tissues.

  “She called me and asked if it had all been a lie. All I could hear in her voice was pain and heartbreak. I didn’t know what to say. I needed her to let me go, so she’d be safe, but I couldn’t pull the trigger. Instead, I’d said I’d explain in person, if she came downstairs to my car.”

  Trent ran his hand through his hair. “My driver, actually, he’s my half-brother whom I’ve never acknowledged, screamed at me for being the worst bastard in the world, telling me I should leave Carrie the hell alone and let her get on with her life, that my selfishness knew no limit.” Sam’s word stung even now.

  “He only stopped screaming when Carrie opened the car door and climbed in. I tried to explain matters, and for a brief moment, I thought beyond all hope, she’d forgiven me yet again. But the second she realized why a paternity test wouldn’t save me, I lost her. I could see the change in her face. Within seconds, her undying love for me disappeared. I had to stop this from happening. I thought if I could hold her in my arms, make love to her, I could restore her feelings. But she didn’t want me. She tried to push me off.”

  Trent gasped for air as he shook his head. “I almost raped her, would have if Sam had not yanked me out of the car and driven off.”

  The priest rubbed his temples. “Does this end your confession?”

  “Yes.”

  “Thank you, God,” the priest spoke to the ceiling.

  Both breathed heavily as if they’d run a marathon.

  “Now you know why I need an exorcism.”

  “No, my son. You have no demon residing within you. What you need is a new life in which you focus on others rather than yourself. I gather by your reference to a penthouse, you have money?”

  Trent nodded.

  “Do you give to charities?”

  “No. But I do drop coins in the cup of the old woman who begs by my company door…or I did when the company was mine. Coco’s father demanded I sell it. He assured me I wouldn’t have time for such nonsense. Coco wants to tour the world.”

  “So you intend to marry this woman?”

  “I don’t intend to, but if he threatens Carrie again, I’ll have no choice.”

  “There is always a choice, my son. And to date, you have made some very bad ones.”

  Trent nodded in agreement.

  “Now, if I understand correctly, you have fathered two children.”

  “Yes, but Patty, my best friend’s wife, regrets having ever met me. She wants Jon to forgive and take her back. I wish I could undo the whole thing. I liked having a friend. He was teaching me to be normal.”

  “And this Coco, are you certain the child is yours?”

  “Her father showed me a paternity test, but he knows people who can create any documentation you want, so it could have been faked.”

  “You must determine the truth, because if the child is yours, then you have to marry her. If it is not, I suggest you give away your money and start life anew, somewhere far away from here.”

  “What if I become a priest? Coco’s father would never look for me here. We’re Episcopalian.”

  Coming in 2014

  May 2014

  Climbing Out of Hell

  Book 4 of the series

  A Long Road to Love

  Humorous Contemporary Romance

  In Book 3 we discovered how truly horrible Trent could be. Now we discover the full truth which puts him in a better light.

  Still, there is no going back. He has lost Carrie forever, but he would rather die than marry Coco, so he does just that. Determined to be the man Carrie alwa
ys saw within him, Trent gives away most of his possessions, fakes his death, and starts over with a new face. With no skills, how will he survive? Can he rebuild himself into a better man? Will he ever find love again?

  Coming August 2014

  A New Series

  Xavier & Vic

  Book I

  The Troublesome Assistant

  Humorous Late Victorian Sleuths who bicker & love as they solve mysteries

  Book I begins as the great sleuth Xavier Thorn hires a bright young man recently down from Oxford as his assistant. Vic not only possesses an extraordinary sense of intuition but also has a disturbing knack for getting into trouble.

  Xavier soon discovers the handsome young fellow is a female who has chosen to live the more interesting life of a young man. Join the fun as they solve mysteries while they struggle with the unfamiliar emotions of love.

  Other novels by Liza O’Connor

  Worst Week Ever

  Book 1: A Long Road to Love

  Humorous Disaster Romance

  Carrie Hanson has the challenging task of being the executive assistant to a spoiled, ill-tempered, rich executive who daily threatens his employees with dismissal. After a month away, she returns to the worst week in the history of employment. Her excessively good looking boss turns charming for a single night and, God help her, she falls in love with him. Never mind he’s a different species (rich socialite). Never mind that he fires her (twice in one week). Her heart wants the impossible.

  Oh Stupid Heart

  Book 2: A Long Road to Love

  Humorous Contemporary Romance

  Carrie Hanson is in love with a different species: Trent, a pampered, uber-rich socialite who’s also her boss. Everyone keeps telling her it’s a train wreck looking to happen, but her heart wants what it wants. So despite the billion and one reasons not to, Carrie commits herself to this inter-species relationship. But before they can move forward, a beautiful ex-fiancée shows up from Trent’s past, determined to reel him back in and get Carrie fired.