Billionaire's Revenge (28 page)

With a soft groan she
stared back at him, her expression a mixture of pain and desperation, as tears
sat on the sill of her eyes
, her head shaking as the tears
slid down her cheek
s
. 
“It’s such a mess Darius.  I have tried juggling everything, fixing everything myself and it is all j
ust tumbling down around me”
,
her eyes searching his
. 
“I am failing Carly...I am failing everybody
”
Darius
took
her hand, his voice soothing
-
comforting
but firm
. 
“
Tell me what is going on Sara”
 
Pulling her hand from his, she gave
a long heart
-
rending sigh, her eyes falling to look so intently at her hands clenched so tightly on her lap.
 

“Do you remember Tara?”
 
The vague memory of the one person he had
often seen her spend he
r lunch breaks
with
six years ago
saw
him nod his head
,
“
S
ure...nice girl
”
Sara
g
ave
a brief smile and nod
ded. 
“We were friends our whole life. 
From school right through
too
...
”
he
r
voice trailing off as she
paused
.

“When I left Nigel my mother was furious.  She told me to go back to my husband.  That I should learn better how to
please my husband
,
not anger him
”
She
heard the hiss of anger from him, Darius furious that any mother would ever allow
-
never mind insist
-
that her child return to such a dangerous environment.

“I couldn’t handle staying with Angela and Nick”
,
her look flicking to him briefly
,
“Nick came onto me a few times...Angela seemed to think I was flirting with him...I had
no intention of staying there
”
A
s
mall shudder r
an
through
her
as Darius
sat so silent and still, the small nerve on his jaw throbbing
as he
gritted his teeth so hard.

“Tara insisted that I come and stay with her and her little girl Carly
.  She
had
a rental and it meant that I could help her pay the bills
”
Her
voice softened
at the memory o
f her
friend’s kindness.
 
“Was Tara divorced?
”
he asked gently as Sara shook
her head softly.
 
“No.  Tara never told me who
the
father was.  Only that he was married and
had
moved back to Sweden...she
had
no contact with him.  She was bringing Carly up herself”
 

Pausing
,
she pulled at her fingers
,
“I was determined to fight Nigel...let others see what kind of a monster he was and he was desperate for me not to...he wanted me to come back, learn to love him, but I refused, so then he wanted the no
-
fault divorce”
,
her eyes flying once more to Darius
. 
“I swear to you that I am no quitter Darius...I would have taken him all the way”
,
her voice
faltered once more
. 
“One morning Carly came into my room...she was laughing.  Told me that mummy was being sleepy and pretending not to wake. 
That was not like Tara...so
I went in
...
and
...
”
her voice
broke
as more tears
f
ell
down her cheek
,
her voice trembling with emotion
.

“They told me that it was a brain aneurism...that she died in her sleep”
,
a sob leaving her as Darius rose
,
pulling her into his arms as she
cried gently against him.  Finally her hands
pushed him from her, determined to finish her story as he
once more sank into the chair.
 
“Carly
had
nobody.  I wanted to bring her up, be her mother but
ch
ild services were
against it.  Then in her will Tara
named me as her guardian if anything was ever to happen to her”
,
a small smile
rising
to her mouth
.

“I fought them.  Demanded that I be allowed to take guardianship of Carly...but they told me that I was not a suitable care-giver.  That until I had
my life in order and
had
a job and a place to stay
then they would not allow me to adopt her
”
Her
eyes
flicked once more back to him as she
g
ave
another long sigh
.
 
“So I agreed to the quickie divorce from Nigel, the last thing I needed at that moment was proof of an unstable environment for her to be going into...I needed to show that my life was settled.  Then I spent most of what was left of my savings applying to the court for a period of time to prove that I would be able to provide a secure home for Carly.  They finally agreed to give me three months.  Three months to
‘
turn my life around
’
.  Three months in which they would not place her for adoption to a family
”
,
she gave
a small hurt laugh
as her lips twisted bitterly
.
 
“That was seven weeks ago.  I never expected her to be there for two weeks never mind seven...and I f
eel so helpless. ” Her eyes finally holding his
,
“Her appendix almost ruptured...and I should have been there for her”

Darius gave
a small groan, his hands once more reaching for hers
, 
“I wish you
had
told me Sara...I might have been able to help”
 
Her snort of
derision
made his brows fu
rrow as she
pulled her hands from his
once more, a coldness filling her
. 
“Help
?
...
Y
our
sole interest
was in destroying or humiliating me...all for some belief that I was somehow involved in what happened six years ago or that I got some pleasure in firing you”
  H
urt once more filled her eyes
,
“Well I didn’t ...I had
nothing t
o do with the theft...and while you don’t see it...I was the one who helped you...but I have paid for that...over and over again”
,
her voice once more saddening as her expression
ag
ain changed, this time to uncertainty as she
stared at him
.

“When I told my mother and sister what you
had
said ...that you blamed me for being fired
,
Angela admitted that Nick
had
told her that he set you up”
 
“Are you telling me that she knew and let me be fired
?
”
,
his voice hard as she
shook
her head
.
 
“No...
He
told her years later”
,
shaking
her
head softly
. 
“Seemed that he felt that you were a threat to his chances with her...
that you were out to land yourself the boss’s daughter...
so he planted everything...
I should have guessed...
he always was a
rat
”
,
her tone venomous, surprised as he
remained silent as she
raised her chin angrily
.

“So I was not about to give you the one thing that would allow you to fully destroy me
”
Darius
looked back
at her, his features sombre
. 
“I would never have used a child Sara...never”
,
his words soft
and low as she
looked away
,
wiping away yet another tear with the back of her hand
,
nodding softly
.
 
“I’m sorry Darius.  I know that things have been going so well...but I couldn’t take the chance...not with Carly.  I have to make things right for her...I have to get things sorted”
,
looking desperately at the corner of the room
. 
“She shouldn’t be there...she should be with me”
,
her voice disappearing into a whisper.

For several moments there had
been silence between them before he
once more spoke
. 
“You said ‘what was left of your savings’ what
did you mean
by that?”
Sara’s look flew to him, a small frown of surprise on her features before she answered slowly
, “
About two days before Tara died Ted Roberts phoned me
”
Darius
remembered the burly foreman, a man he
admired and liked very much
, the only person that her father
-
an arrogant and bullying man
- had
seemed to respect
,
the two men having grown up together
.

“He was retiring and my father
stipulated in his will that he and his wife be given an
all
-
expenses cruise
as
a final gift
...apparently the cheque for the holiday bounced and he couldn’t get in touch with Nick or Angela...he called me because the money
had
to be paid that day
”
Giving
a
nother sigh she
smoothed down her dress
.

“So I went down to
the travel agents and paid the cost myself...
ten thousand dollars...I just assumed that there had
been a mistake...that I would get the money back”
,
anger coming into her eyes
.
 
“But I didn’t get
it back.  You were coming against us and Nick was telling everybody how well we were doing...how you would fail...but the whole time he had
been siphoning off money and lying about everything.  A week after Tara’s de
ath and being constantly
brushed
off for
the return of the money
,
I went down to the office and demanded
the return of my money or that I would call in the police
”
Her
head
dropped again
. 
“That night he disappeared...and then everything came out.  I
had
no money, no job and faced everything blowing up and becoming a media circus which would have killed my chances of adopting Carly”

Sitting back
,
Darius
regarded her seriously
, “
So you have been trying to sort out everything by yourself?
And all because of Carly?”
 
Miserably
,
she
nodded
,
“Yeah”
,
her tone full of defeat
as she
wiped away another tear
,
her voice becoming harder
. 
“My mother and Angela ... God they make me so mad...but for David and Carly...I
had
to do what I could...even accepting your ‘de
mands’”

She
looked up as Darius
rose
, his voice soft
. 
“I should let you get back to Carly...she needs you”
 
Sara
was
surprised
,
watch
ing
as he
moved over to the door, holding it open for her
as
she
also
stood, expecting him to ask more, not sure why his lack of interest
seemed to fill her with even more hurt
. 
“Y
...
yes...thanks
”
Moving
out of the room
,
he
turned
,
his
expression
unreadable
.