Coming To Reason (A Long Road to Love) (28 page)

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.”

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.”

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 always 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