Crystals (7 page)

Gwendolyn
tried her best to stare him down, but Shane was having none of it. There was no
way this woman was going to dictate his and Crystal’s relationship.

“This
conversation is at an end. Therefore, I will tell you this once more; stay away
from Crystal and that means don’t even think about showing your face at her
birthday party. If you don’t heed my words, I
will
take matters into my own hands and maybe
you’ll end up in exactly the same place as your brother.”

There it was.
Her first admission that she knew about his family. He had encountered this
type of attempted intimidation before. It had come from people in all walks of
life, the police,
neighbors
and even hard men his
father and brother had pissed off. By comparisons of what he and his mother had
endured, Gwendolyn wasn’t even making a dent in his amour.

Shane laughed
at the same time as he pushed back his chair and stood up. “I don’t threaten
easily. So just go ahead and do what ya have to. Just remember, I’m already in
your daughter’s life and I’m not going nowhere.”

Not waiting
for a response, he walked away from a stunned looking Gwendolyn. The red bottle
of water remaining untouched.

~~~

Memories of his
meeting with Gwendolyn was exactly what Shane needed to bring him to his
senses. He had promised the woman he loved he would attend her birthday party
and that was exactly what he was going to do.

With his mind made
up, he felt the tension leave his shoulders. About to call Crystal to tell her
of his decision, he set the phone aside. He would much rather surprise her.

Chapter 5

Since leaving Shane’s home, Crystal’s emotions had
moved from disappointment to sadness. She had been racking her brain in an
attempt to decipher whether there was another reason for his refusal to
accompany her to her party.

Her one persistent
thought was that her mother had a hand in his decision. If that were the case
and Gwendolyn had somehow gotten to him, then he should have been honest with
her.

Pushing the
thought aside, Crystal gave her reflection one last look. She had bought the
gold and black mini dress because it was the same shade of gold as Shane’s
eyes. Contemplating whether to change, she
was pulled
out of her indecision by the sound of the bell.

Pulling open the
front door, Crystal smiled at her escort for the evening. Owen Harvey had
always been her go-to guy. They had been friends for as long as she could
remember. They had always looked out for each other and over the years nothing
had changed.

At one point, they
had decided that maybe fate had thrown them together because they were each
other’s destiny. Putting that theory to the test, when they were both seventeen
they had shared a kiss and nearly thrown up. It had been like kissing a
sibling. With the kiss out of the way, they had settled into a friendship that
had stood the test of time.

When she had
called him and explained that Shane was no longer attending her party, he had
offered to take her. And here he was, on time and looking like a dream.

“You look
handsome.”

“I know. I smell
really good too.”

Crystal rolled her
eyes, and left him standing at the door. Returning to the living room where she
had left her coat and purse, she stopped by the mirror to give her makeup one
final check.

When Owen’s
reflection appeared behind her in the mirror, Crystal just shook her head. The
man was actually checking himself out and smiling while he did it.

“You’re something
else, do you know that?”

“What?”

“I tell you that
you look handsome and all you can say is,
you know
. How about returning
the compliment? No wonder you didn’t have a date for tonight.”

“Crystal, I’m a
free spirit. I don’t need a woman to define me or tie me down. I willingly give
of myself to many. I call them and they come. Or, maybe that should be, I
stroke them and they come.”

“Shut up, you
whore!” Crystal teased but she couldn’t help laughing at his self-absorption.

“Did you notice
how long my locks are now? What do you think about the color at the ends?” He
asked ignoring her put-down.

Knowing he
wouldn’t stop until she answered, she turned and looked him over. There was no
way anyone would ever call Owen handsome because he wasn’t. He had something
way better than mere good looks. He had a mixture of confidence and that
indefinable something that women found irresistible—charisma.

Crystal had seen
him in action on more occasions than she cared to remember. He had somehow
worked out how to speak to a woman to make her believe, at that moment, she was
the only person he wanted. To his credit, he never told them he was interested
in anything long term. Yet they hung around him as though he were the holy
grail of manliness.

Owen was around
five-nine and spent most of his free time in the gym. His dreadlocks were now
past shoulder length, and since the last time she’d seen him, he’d dyed the
ends a golden brown.

“Your hair looks
lovely, Owen.”

“You look good
too. My boy’s a fool.” Without warning, Owen fired another question at her.
“Did Gwendolyn get to him?”

“I don’t know for
sure, maybe.”

“Well, he better
man up. That woman likes cracking nuts. And if he lets her get away with it, as
soon as he grows another pair, she’ll break them as well. ‘
Owen
,’ his
voice rose a couple of octaves, and that one word was enough for him to sound
exactly like her mother. ‘
I only entertain your presence because I know you
and my daughter are just friends. Should that ever change, you will no longer
be welcome here! My daughter is meant for someone far better than you will ever
be.
”

“She did not say
that to you,” Crystal exclaimed in genuine shock.

“Yes, she did and
I’m still around. As I said, my boy needs to man up! Although I can’t lie,
Gwendolyn scares the shit out of me!”

~~~

Shane couldn’t
stop thinking about the error he’d made. Crystal was his priority and he had
allowed her overbearing mother to get into his head. He wasn’t like his brother
and father. He had never been like them. Molly, in her detached way, had seen
to that.

Finally at his
destination, Shane pulled into the car park and
was
immediately surrounded
by the trappings of wealth.

Before him were
some of the vehicles that had always been a part of his youthful dreams. He
spotted Porsches, Bentleys, Range Rovers and even a Rolls-Royce.

He wavered again,
but Crystal wanted him here. Therefore, he straightened his suit jacket and
walked towards the entrance with long strides of determination.

The security at
the entry of the venue took his name, and spent such a long time finding it on
the guest list, he knew something was going on. Even though he was reading
upside down, he found his name immediately.

When he finally
stood inside the banquet suite, Shane searched the crowd for Crystal. The first
person he saw was Gwendolyn, who was staring at him as she removed her mobile
phone from her ear. She had obviously instructed security to inform her if he
turned up, hence their hesitation at allowing him entry. Shane disregarded her
look of disapproval as his gaze moved on.

Another sweep of
the room and his glance landed on Crystal. To him, she looked as beautiful as
always. Her dress was gold with threads of black running through the material.
There was something about that particular shade of gold that fought to pull up
a memory, but it eluded him.

As he watched her,
a muscular man with two-toned dreadlocks pulled her into his arms and they
began to dance. The steps they performed were intricate and at the same time
intimate. Shane felt the color rising into his face as jealousy took hold. He’d
met a few of her friends, but this man was a stranger to him. They apparently
knew each other well, if the way they laughed and moved in perfect unison was
any indication.

“I thought I told
you to stay away from my daughter and this party!”

The sound of
Gwendolyn voice pulled Shane’s death glare from Crystal and her dance partner.
Never in his life had anyone annoyed him as much as this woman. By her tone,
the feeling was mutual.

“Good evening,
Mrs. Buchanan.”

“I want you to
leave. Do it now, before Crystal realizes you’re here.”

Shane watched
Gwendolyn glance over his shoulder and almost laughed at the telling action.

“Do ya know what,
I think I’m gonna stay.”

Dismissing her, he
again turned his attention to Crystal and readied himself to cut into her
dance. He didn’t know the steps she and her partner performed, but he knew how
to do a good old fashioned side-step. That would have to do.

Gwendolyn grabbed
onto his arm and held on, her fingernails biting into his flesh. “Do not
attempt to take me on because you’ll lose!”

“For the most
part, I’m up for a good fight. But I don’t spar with women and especially not
my girlfriend’s mother,” Shane informed her looking down at her offending hand.
When he glanced back at her, his pupils had dilated to the point of almost
reaching the outer rim of black that surrounded his irises. “I always thought
you were a classy lady, Mrs. B.”

“Do not call me,
Mrs. B. You will refer to me as, Judge Buchanan!”

“Whatever ya say,
J.B.,” Shane laughed in her face and pulled his arm out of her grip.

“I’m glad you
decided to come, Shane. But you’re both causing a scene!” Crystal whispered
from beside them.

“He has just
arrived and already he’s lowered the tone of the whole evening.”

“For God’s sake,
Mother, you’re not helping!”

Shane followed the
direction of Crystal’s gaze and saw that she was right. They were the center of
many people’s attention. He would never want to embarrass her. But it seemed
that without even trying, he had accomplished exactly that. Add the
disapproving looks of the guests and Gwendolyn’s persistent animosity, and the
remainder of the night did not bode well. They all stared at him as though he
didn’t belong—and he knew he didn’t.

Shane made up his
mind to leave without thinking through the ramifications of his actions. His
only thought was that he didn’t need the hassle. “I’m out. Call me tomorrow.
That’s if ya want to after your mother’s finished mauling me character!”

He heard her
repeatedly call his name but chose to ignore her. As the cold night air swirled
around him, he stuck his hands into his pockets and hurried to his car. The
vehicles that had held his attention less than fifteen minutes before were now
invisible to him. An insistent hand pulled at his sleeve. Crystal had followed
him.

“I’m glad you
came, please don’t leave.”

“I never thought I
would see the day that my daughter chased after good for nothing rubbish!”

Shane had held on
to his temper for as long as he could. The woman had got her way, he was
leaving, but that wasn’t enough for her. She had to follow them outside to
continue her harangue of him.

“If I didn’t
respect Crystal so much, I’d tell ya exactly what’s going through
me
mind right now!”

“Don’t let my
daughters’ presence deter you. It’s time she knew the type of person you are.”

“That’s enough.
Both of you need to stop—right now!” Crystal demanded attempting to pull him
away from the face-off with her mother.

Crystal tugged on
his arm. At the same time, Gwendolyn also reached towards him. Recoiling from
the older woman’s touch, everything stood still as the sound of flesh
connecting against flesh reverberated through the night. The eerie silence that
followed brought with it a certainty that everything was about to go to hell.

“You struck my
daughter!”

Shane didn’t even
hear the outraged cry.

“I’m sorry, love.
Are you okay? It was an accident. Let me look, love,” he whispered as he
attempted to prise her hand away from her face.

“Get away from my
daughter. You’ve done enough damage already and I won’t let you ruin her life!”

Shane didn’t know
what Gwendolyn was talking about, and even if he did, he wasn’t interested in
anything she had to say. Crystal was his only concern.

With his care and
encouragement, she finally removed the hand that covered her eye. Shane watched
as she blinked in an attempt to stem the tears that streamed down her cheek.

“
It’s
okay, Shane. I know you didn’t do it on purpose. Just
give me a minute.”

“My God, what is
the matter with you, Crystal-Grace? The man just punched you in the face and
all you can say is that you forgive him. Where is your self-respect?”

Shane felt knots
of desperation squeeze at his intestines. Crystal was shaking and he
immediately shrugged out of his jacket and placed it around her shoulders. Then
he took her face between his visibly shaking hands and brushed away the tear
that escaped from her injured eye.

As he wiped away
the tear, another took its place and he realized she now cried in earnest. He
knew her well enough to see that she also felt that intangible something that
had gathered, and hovered over them.

Shane felt a
growing frustration that his gentle ministrations weren't enough. If he were
anything like those posh men attending her party, he would be using a handkerchief
instead of his abrasive mechanics’ fingers to dry her tears. Without further
thought, he pulled his dress shirt from his pants and ripped off a section.
This was all he had to offer her.

Intent on giving
her the love and attention she needed, he was caught unawares by the strength
of Gwendolyn ripping Crystal away. When she turned to him, he was shocked at
the look in her eyes. It was fury mixed with possession.

“He’s not sorry.
This is who he is. This is exactly the type of action I expected from someone
like him!”

“Stop it, Mother.
You know it was an accident,” Crystal pleaded as she repeatedly attempted to
pull away from Gwendolyn.

“That’s where
you’re wrong. This is what the Tierney’s do. It was no coincidence that his
father spent most of his life in prison. For God’s sake, the man only regained
his liberty long enough to impregnate his wife two times before he was right
back where he started!”

This was it. This
was the feeling of imminent dread that had been hanging over him since he had
stepped out of the party. He knew he should have told Crystal about his family
long ago, but he could never find the words or the right moment. And he was
sure Gwendolyn wasn’t finished. There was still so much more to tell. So now,
all he could do was wait for the sins of his father and brother to
be laid
at his feet.