Pandora's Box (previously Worth the Wait, a Zebra print best seller) (16 page)

She let out a long puff of air. “Would I be correct in assuming that I have plans for every night this week?”

“That would be accurate. I did leave Wednesday free so that you could choose something yourself.”

“Oh, thank you. I was beginning to think that I’d lost control of my own life.”

“Have your bags packed tomorrow. We’ll leave right after the ceremony.”

She feigned annoyance, but a tiny smile betrayed her excitement He had planned on surprising her but he’d needed a distraction to diffuse the tension. She had been so angry earlier that he’d been afraid he’d gone too far.

She wasn’t ready to face up to the past. The envelope was sitting on a shelf, the twine still firmly in place. He knew she wouldn’t open the envelope until he goaded her into it, but not yet. Tomorrow would be one of the biggest days in her life, and he didn’t want anything to ruin it for her.

* * * *

Monica clutched at the sleeve of Damian’s jacket and pulled him out of the long line of people filing into the university auditorium. She had left several messages for him, but he had instructed his secretary to tell her that he would meet her at the college.

“Why didn’t you tell me you would be on vacation this week?” she demanded angrily.

Damian extracted himself from her grip and folded his arms across his chest. “I didn’t think my personal life was your concern, Mother. Would you mind? I’d like to get a seat. It’s going to be a long ceremony.”

Monica’s eyes narrowed dangerously. He knew his mother didn’t take kindly to being put off, but at that moment he didn’t care. As far as he was concerned, she shared equal responsibility with Peter for the torment that Charlie had been forced to endure.

“It’s because of her, isn’t it?”

“I don’t want to discuss this with you, Mother. My relationship with Charlotte is none of your business.”

She breathed heavily, her expression thunderous. “This is what she planned all along, Damian. She wants to destroy our family and you’re letting her do it.”

“Well, Mother,” he said. “She certainly has earned the right. You have no idea what has happened to her since you decided to stop the support payments to Peter’s aunt. And what is really pathetic is that you don’t care.”

She gasped. He’d thrown her cool poise off a notch. “How did you know about Peter’s aunt?”

“I know things you don’t. Things even Charlotte doesn’t know yet. You can build a shrine to Peter and wallow in it the rest of your life if you want, but I know him for the selfish bastard he was.”

“Don’t you ever speak about him like that! You never understood him, Damian. He was a beautiful man. He was everything to me.”

“I know that better than anybody,” Damian said. “You cheated Erik out of his sister. You cheated Charlie out of her father. And the saddest part of all is that you cheated yourself out of your own children. And for what? A man whose only love was a canvas.”

She began to pace the hallway. “No. She’s the one trying to destroy my relationship with my children and I’m going to put a stop to it”

Damian’s mouth twitched angrily. How did she have the nerve to blame Charlie when she had willingly cast her children aside to devote her life to Peter? She was still doing it.

“Don’t try it, Mother. I don’t think you’d want your friends to know what Peter did to his own daughter.”

Monica took a step back. “So, now she’s making threats.”

Damian smiled but it was without humor. “You misunderstood. I’m the one making threats. If she is hurt again, I will make sure that you feel the pain twice as deep. Have I made myself clear?”

“She’s turned you into a heatless bastard.”

He laughed bitterly. “You did that. You and Peter, and twenty-five years of lies. Leave her alone, Mother, while I still have one tiny shred of love left for you. Otherwise I might say things you don’t want to hear.”

He left her standing in the corridor with her jaw hanging slack. Her shock pleased him. As long as she was afraid of him, he felt certain that she wouldn’t do anything to hurt Charlie.

* * * *

Charlie felt a wave of excitement surge though her body. Five years of work had finally come to an end. Five years of menial jobs and waiting on other people was over. It was more than a piece of parchment. It was freedom.

Erik wove his way through the crowd of graduates and grabbed her in a bear hug, twirling her around in the air. They laughed like two idiots until they fell to the ground, dizzy, exhilarated, and hopelessly tangled in the long graduation robes.

“The only thing better than graduating is graduating with you, Charlie,” Erik said breathlessly. He gazed up at her tear-stained face. “Stop crying like a baby.”

She wiped away the tears of happiness. “Even if I had to graduate with my wimpy little brother, it was worth it.”

“You’re so sentimental, runt.”

Charlie made a face at him. “It must be all that Lawson sensitivity I inherited.”

Erik stood and hauled her to her feet. Friends and classmates offered their hands in congratulations, no one quite sure what they were babbling in the haze of relief and excitement. Thousands of people crowded on the front lawn. Visiting parents searched for their sons and daughters. Charlie knew it wouldn’t be long before Monica came looking for Erik. She tried to extract herself, but Erik kept his hand firmly on her arm.

“Look who I found,” Shelly called out from behind.

Charlie and Erik turned simultaneously. In two long strides, Damian was between them. He offered his hand to Erik. “Congratulations. Welcome to the real world.”

“Thank you. How much are you giving me for graduation?” Erik joked.

“That was it,” Damian said, extracting his hand. He turned toward Charlie. She held out her hand. “Guess again,” he said.

He took the outstretched hand and pulled her into his arms. She made one halfhearted attempt at modesty before tilting her head up to meet his. In answer to Erik’s wolf whistle, Damian removed Charlie’s cap and held it in front of their faces. Erik laughed harder, so Charlie reached back with her foot and kicked him in the leg.

As the kiss deepened, she closed her mind to everything but the moment Lord, she loved the way he kissed her. Her pulse took off and her heart took flight. She felt as if she were soaring and she never wanted to come back to earth. So she was more than a bit disappointed and surprised when Damian pulled back first. She racked her brain for something profound to say, but her attention was diverted by a classmate tapping on her shoulder.

“Charlie. I sure am going to miss those sloe comfortable screws of yours,” Todd Mitchell said.

“Thanks. I’m not going to miss those tips you never left me at the end of the night,” she shot back. The hands that rested on her waist tightened, and she looked up at Damian’s wary expression. “It’s a drink. Sloe gin, Southern Comfort and orange juice.”

“I knew that,” he muttered in obvious relief.

Charlie broke out in a wide grin. “You liar. I’ll bet you never had one in your life.”

“No. But I’ll look forward to the day I get one from you.”

Erik tripped over himself laughing at Charlie’s red face. “You set yourself up for that one, runt.”

The shared joke ended the minute Monica’s voice cut in. “Erik. Could you possibly drag yourself away for a minute?”

Erik rolled his eyes and turned. “Hello, Mother.”

Charlie bit her bottom lip to trap a nervous giggle. She tried to back away, but Damian wouldn’t let her.

Monica glared angrily, but when it became apparent that she was not going to hold her conversation in private, she began to speak. “We have a small dinner party planned for you this evening. What time will you be ready to leave?”

Erik glanced helplessly at Shelly. “Oh, you go ahead, Erik. My parents will understand.”

Monica smiled, seemingly pleased that she was ruining everybody’s plans. “Damian. You will be joining us, won’t you?”

“No. I have a date. You don’t mind, do you, Erik?” Damian asked with no concern for his mother’s frown.

“Not at all. As a matter of fact, so do I. We’ll make it another time, Mother.”

Monica glanced at Shelly and then back to Erik. She leaned toward her son but made no attempt to keep her voice low. “What should I tell Cynthia? She planned this especially for you.”

Charlie closed her eyes and braced herself. She had never seen Erik lose his temper before, but she recognized raw fury when she saw it

“Tell her I’m having dinner with my fiancée and her parents. And then tell her Damian is having dinner with Peter’s daughter. That should give them something to talk about around the country club.” Anger turned to scorn as Monica unleashed her acid tongue on Charlie. “You conniving bitch. You’ve turned my two sons against me. I hope you’re happy now, Miss Simone.”

Charlie gasped. She wrenched her arms free from Damian’s grasp and ran across the lawn.

Erik was about to follow, when Damian grabbed his arm. “I’ll go. This is my fault, and I’ll take care of it. I know where she’s going. Why don’t you and Shelly go on to dinner?”

Erik took Shelly’s hand and left. Damian waited until he was out of earshot and turned a deadly cold stare on his mother.

“For the record, Mother, her name is Lawson. If there’s any doubt in your mind about that, I’ll be happy to show you a copy of the marriage certificate of Peter and Marguerite. The funny thing is, it appears Peter neglected to divorce his first wife before he married you.”

Monica raised her head. She sucked in a deep breath and hissed, “That’s a lie.”

“You know I don’t lie. And the only thing that stops me from telling Charlotte is what it would do to Erik. I can’t believe what you did to him today. This is one of the most important days of his life and you couldn’t stand that he was sharing it with his sister, could you? You had to ruin it” He whirled around and stormed across the lawn.

“Damian, I’m not finished,” she demanded to his retreating back.

Damian paused and turned back. Although he’d always hated public scenes, now he was indifferent to the curious stares. “Go home, Mother. You’ve done enough damage for one day.”

The sun had dipped below the horizon when Damian pulled his car in front of the apartment building. He noted with relief the inside light burning brightly in the window. She had returned home as he expected.

He remained in the car, trying to get a handle on his turbulent emotions. Both Erik and Charlie had begun the day with such grand expectations. He remembered his own college graduation, the culmination of years of hard work, finally at an end. This day was supposed to be special for her. Now ... it was one more in a long line of humiliations thrust upon her by his family. He felt so low. Even though his mother deserved it, he never should have said the things he had. But when she spewed her fury on Charlie, something had snapped inside him.

He slumped over the steering wheel. The ring of the cell phone jolted him back to the present He tried to ignore it; then with a curse at the caller’s persistence, he answered the call.

“What,” he growled.

“Are you going to sit in the car all night feeling sorry for me?” He looked toward the apartment window. Charlie waved the receiver at him, then put it back to her mouth. “If that’s your evening plan, go home.”

“Are you sure you want me to come in?”

“I don’t want to talk on the phone all night while you’re fifty feet away from me.”

She hung up before he could answer her. He smiled and grabbed the gift from his glove compartment .The door was open, so he walked right in.

Charlie was folding a pair of shorts and putting them into a suitcase. She still planned to spend the week with him in New York! At least, it appeared that way. With Charlie, he was never sure.

“Does that mean what I think it means?” he asked, lowering himself into the sofa.

“What do you think it means?”

“You still plan to go to New York.”

“It would be a tight squeeze for me to stay here with Erik and Shelly. I told Erik he could use my apartment while I was away.”

“Thank you, Erik,” he muttered like a prayer. “I’m sorry about what happened.”

* * * *

Charlie glanced up and saw the sadness reflected in Damian’s eyes. Nothing that happened was his fault, didn’t he know that? She sat down next to him and cuddled against his chest.

“Forget it. The only thing I wanted today was that little piece of paper. Nothing can take that away. I just feel bad for Erik. I hate putting him in the middle.”

“You didn’t put him in the middle, Charlie. You didn’t ask him to choose between you and his mother.”

“Didn’t I?” she wondered. “My very presence forces him to choose. You, too, for that matter. She’ll never accept me. If I don’t walk away, then I am making you both choose.”

“What angers her is that she can’t control him any longer. She doesn’t see Erik as a man but as another creation of Peter’s that she doesn’t want to let go of. Finding you was the best thing that could have happened to him. It made him stand up to her. And quite frankly, I was damn proud of him tonight.”