Coming To Reason (A Long Road to Love) (23 page)

Trent leaned forward and gripped Carrie’s fisted hands. “He
would have come after you. He would have destroyed everything good in your
life. There would have been no place on this planet we could have escaped his
wrath. I had no choice, no other way to save you from harm.”

His words baffled, angered, and hurt her. Was this another
of his outrageous lies? She studied his anguished face. God help her, she
believed him.

She moved to his seat and he pulled her into his arms,
holding her tight.

“Forgive me,” he whispered. “I should have told you, but I didn’t
think even you could be so generous.”

He covered her face with kisses as numbness returned to her
body and her brain desperate
ly
tried to take control.

When her brain kicked in, she pushed him back. “Wait. Why didn’t
you have a DNA test done to prove the child isn’t yours?”

The guilt in his eyes moved her back to the other seat.
The
son of a bitch!
“It
is
your child. Which means, even as you claimed
you hated Coco, you had sex with her.” Proving, once again, their whole
relationship had been a giant lie on his part.

“You were on the West Coast,” he muttered, as if her
absence made this her fault.

“You
sent
me there.”

“You could have refused.”

His inability to take blame infuriated her. “And you could
have left me in my job as your EA and then I would not have needed to be
trained for my new job.”

He leaned back and stared at the limo’s skylight. “Who
cares whose fault it is? It’s water under a fucking bridge, long gone.” He sat
up, his fingers caressing her knee. “We can still make a future together.”

A future? Did he think she’d ever trust him again? Not even
she would fall to this new level of gullibility. “Your life seems clear cut.
You’re marrying Coco and will soon have a child with some of the worst genes
imaginable, God help the poor thing.”

He shifted to her seat. “Her father is not total
ly
unreasonable.
I’m allowed a mistress, which is why I bought Patty a house five minutes away
from Denver. When I go visit her, I can slip over to see you.”

“That’s the future you see for us? I’m to be your secondary
mistress?” Dear God, did he think her so pathetic and desperate she would
settle for so little?

“You’ll always be first in my heart.” He leaned in to kiss
her, but she dodged his lips and pushed him away.

“Sorry, but I deserve better.” She finally got it. Trent
really
did see her
as
his
toy
, one which he could leave out in the rain, drag
through the mud, and throw to the side while he played with other toys, but would
always be there when he got bored and wanted to drag it through the mud again.

He gripped her hand. “You do deserve better, but it’s all I
can offer. Over time, I think we can carve out a happy life.”

A happy life as one of his many mistresses? Why had she
ever fallen for this horrible, self-centered tyrant? It’s not like he was the
only
man out
there.

The image of a very good, rational, and loving man came to
mind. Dan, always there to help her, to make her life better, to ensure she
ate. Why hadn’t she left Trent before now? Why had she put his happiness before
her own, over and over again? She opened her mouth to tell him they were
through, but he spoke first.

“Maybe you can take Patty’s newest boy, and we can raise
him as our own.”

His suggestion offended her in so many ways she struggled
to reply. “Trent, you’ve lost your mind.”

“Over you.” He gripped the back of her head so she couldn’t
dodge his kiss.

She felt nothing but disgust as his mouth pressed to hers. When
he pulled at her slacks, ripping at the zipper, her disgust turned to panic and
she fought with all her might. She was not his damn toy anymore. She was not
his
anything
!

“Get off me,” she shoved against his chest. Even now, he focused
only
on what
he
wanted. Her feelings meant nothing. She pounded against him, but with
little effect. His mouth covering hers muffled her protests.

Dear God! Her nightmare of a relationship would end in a
rape.

She doubled her efforts and for a moment screamed full
force. The car jerked to the left, causing Trent to fall to the floorboard.

Before he recovered enough to attack her again, the back
door opened. Sam grabbed him by his jacket and yanked him from the car then
slammed the door shut. A few seconds later, Sam entered the driver’s side and
pulled away, leaving Trent the rapist behind.

Traumatized and numb, Carrie studied her pants. The button hung
looser than it had before the assault and the zipper had a missing tooth near
the top but, with a little effort, she put herself to rights.

Sam glanced at her though the mirror. “Might want to fix
your hair.”

She rifled through her purse and cursed beneath her breath.
“I don’t have a brush.”

“What type of woman doesn’t carry a brush?” The anger in
his voice went far beyond the lack of proper purse accoutrements. Trent would no
doubt fire him for his time
ly
and, on her part, much appreciated intervention.

“An astoundingly stupid woman,” she replied.

He reached over and pulled a wooden block with bristles from
the glove box and tossed it back to her.

She picked up the rectangular item off the floor where it
had landed and studied it. “Is this for grooming a horse?”

“It’s mine.”

She studied it further. “Then why don’t I see any of your
hairs in it?”

“Oh, for God’s sake. Give it back if you’d rather return to
work looking like a well-ridden whore.”

His words hurt. “Why did I ever think of you as my friend?”

“Beats me. I sure as hell never sought your friendship.”

Liar.

She pulled out the address Mars had given her and asked Sam
to drop her off there.

“Why?”

“Because I need a real hairbrush and think Jon may own
one.”

He pulled a U-turn in the middle of the busy street, eliciting
a cacophony of horns. The mayhem fit her day. The off-key singer must finally
face the truth.

When he pulled over for her to get out, she stared at him.
“We were friends once.”

“If you say so.”

“I do. So I’m giving you a piece of hard earned advice.
Trent’s selfishness is all consuming. Hanging around him is like eating poison,
worse than the Europa cookies I made. You need to get away from him. If you’re
waiting for him to discover you’re his brother and do something astounding,
like recognize you, it’s never going to happen. He already knows you’re his
brother. He won’t recognize you as such because then you couldn’t be his
chauffeur, and he likes having you drive his car. You need to walk away and
stop wasting your life on Trent.”

“You gonna take your own advice?”

Did he think she intended to stay in this sick
relationship? ”I’m done with Master Trent. I deserve better, and so do you.”

His eyes narrowed. “Jumping into Jon Javit’s bed isn’t
going to cure you, you know?”

“No, but I bet he has a normal hairbrush he’ll loan me
without throwing a fit.”

She opened the door and climbed out of the limo. Sam pulled
away before she even had a chance to shut the back door. Fortunate
ly
, it seemed to
close on its own before hitting the parked car farther up the street.

Taking a deep breath, she walked up five flights of steps
and knocked on Jon’s door. He opened on her third set of raps.

His eyes rounded at the sight of her.

“Could I borrow a hairbrush?”

He chuckled. “I’ll have to use your line in my current
book.”

“You write science fiction.”

“Yeah, well, they still have hair. At least mine do.”

He closed the door once she’d entered and led her to the
small bathroom where he offered her a normal hairbrush full of blond hair.

“Can I fix you a green tea? You look like you’ve been
dumpster-diving in crap magazines today.”

“Tea sounds great,” she replied, her numbness firm
ly
in place
again.

After cleaning out his brush and washing it, she detangled
her hair. How the hell had Trent done so much damage in such a short time? Rather
symbolic of their entire relationship. No matter; the destruction could be put right.

Fifteen minutes later, she entered Jon’s kitchen, which he
had turned into his writer’s corner. She grabbed the steaming mug on the counter
and sat down to watch him type.

After twenty minutes, she moved to the living room and
called Dan, knowing by now, she’d be missed.

“Carrie, where are you?”

“I’m at Jon Javit’s apartment trying to clear up a few last
strands of the worst relationship in my life. Then this can all become a story I
can use to terrify young girls from believing everything they’re told.”

“Destiny and I will come get you.”

“Since this is my last stop before starting my new life, I
would appreciate your company.” She provided him the address and then returned
to the kitchen. “My friends are coming over to pick me up. Any chance I can ask
you a personal and painful question before I go?”

“Oh, I live for those. Especial
ly
when people
leave me to my own bitter thoughts after they’ve raised them. Shoot.”

“Never mind. It’s not worth torturing you over.”

He held his hands over his tea, as if he’d become a fortune
teller. “The lady wishes to know if Patty’s baby is Trent’s.” He turned and
faced her. “I can’t say for certain. But it isn’t mine. However, if there’s a
Las Vegas bet on the matter, I’d put my money on Trent. Patty’s been giving him
come-fuck-me hints like crazy from the moment he ‘saved us’, and he bought her
a multi-million dollar house.” He stared up at the ceiling. “Although he may
have bought the house to piss off Coco.”

Carrie needed facts, not speculation. “How do you know you’re
not the father?”

His hands fisted. “After our last accidental child, I got a
vasectomy. Still, Patty looked me straight in the eye, happy as a camper, and
announced we were having another bundle of joy. Her lie hurt me more than her
screwing the
one
friend I had.”

“I know what you mean,” Carrie said. Trent had been her
best friend.

He huffed. “I got betrayed by two people. You
only
got betrayed
by one.”

“Patty and I liked each other right away.”

He shook his head. “You can’t read people. She didn’t like
you at all. Trent, however, was my oldest and dearest friend.” His voice shook
and his eyes grew glassy.

Carrie pulled him up from his chair and hugged him. They
held onto each other for
nearly
ten minutes,
only
breaking when someone knocked on the door.

“Damn cavalry,” he muttered. “First human contact I’ve had in
two months.” He stormed to the door and opened it. “Dan? Destiny? You’re Carrie’s
rescue? Great. She got her answers and is ready to move on with her life.” He
then gripped Carrie’s arm and tossed her towards them.

Carrie could feel the pain radiate off Jon. She couldn’t
leave him like this. Once he closed the door, she faced her new best and, to
her mind, far more promising friends.

“I want us to track down Tiny and Tall and have a
celebratory dinner at Giuseppe’s.”

The tension in Dan’s shoulders relaxed. “Sounds like an
excellent idea.”

Destiny smiled and nodded in agreement.

Carrie glanced at Jon’s closed door.

“Do you need to stay here?” Dan asked.

“Would you mind if I invite him along. He’ll no doubt put somewhat
of a damper on the overall mood, but with Tiny and Tall there, I’m pretty sure
we won’t all end up crying.”

Dan’s hand settled on the small of her back. “I think it’s
a great idea. To be honest, Destiny and I had come prepared to deal with a
broken-hearted person tonight. I won’t mind if the crying person is a first-class
writer rather than my first-class employee.”

Destiny nodded and hugged her. “I can’t believe how well
you’re taking this.”

“I’ll explain why. But first, let me get Jon moving. I
believe he needs to shower before he goes anywhere. When I hugged him, he
proved to be quite ripe.”

She knocked on the door continuous
ly
until Jon
reopened it. “Sorry, I’m not sharing my hair brush again. Someone cleaned it
and I want to keep it that way.”

She smiled at his wit. “We want you to come out with us
tonight and celebrate the future. I’m going to try very hard to get Tiny and
Tall to entertain us.”