Fates' Destiny (11 page)

Once
Ali and Jason were in their rooms and Anna was tucked in and read to Destiny descended the stairs with her arm wrapped around her ribs. The pain was excruciating but she wasn’t going to show it. She’s tougher than that. She’d just go soak in a warm bath and get a good night’s rest and she should be all better tomorrow.

But before she did any of that she felt this overwhelming compulsion to check on Adam. She hadn’t heard a sound out of him all evening and it was starting to worry her.

She descended the staircase leading to his office, fighting back the cries that wanted to escape with every step she took, and tapped on his door.

“Come!” She heard his voice from the other side which meant he wasn’t dead. That was a relief.

She pushed open the door and poked her head inside. He was still at his desk, staring at his monitor. The pizza she’d brought him sat in the same place she’d put it, completely untouched.

“Is everything ok?” She asked him.

He pushed away from his computer and turned his attention to her. “Not really. Have a seat.” He motioned to the chairs.

She took
slow, cautious steps across the floor. Once she was in front of the chair she slowly lowered but stopped as another flash of pain shot through her.

Concern marred
his brow when she let out a soft cry.

“Are you ok Destiny?”

“Oh yeah.” She laughed to mask the pain. “I’m fine.”

Again she tried to lower into the chair
only to be stopped by the pain again.

“You are most certainly not
fine
.” He rose out of his chair and rounded the desk.

“What’s wrong? Are you hurt?”

“Well…” Oh man. She really didn’t want to explain her stupidity to him. “I kind of let Jason throw a baseball at me.”

“You did what?” His voice
boomed though the room as anger hardened his dark eyes. “Why in the hell would you do something like that?”

“I was trying to help him.” She defended. “His coach said he couldn’t play until he got over his fear of being hit with a ball…”

“So you let him hit you to prove a point?”

She nodded, feeling so stupid. “I was just trying to help him and I did. After he hit me I threw the ball up and he caught it.”

“Stupid, stupid woman.” He shook his head but she noticed his anger had simmered. “Where did he hit you?”

“
Here.” She ran her fingers over the sore place below her breast and winced.

“May I?” He motioned to the hem of
her shirt and she nodded. He was going to look with or without her permission so there was no point in arguing. Plus, it hurt to breath much less argue.

He dropped to one knee in front of her, gathered up her shirt, and gently lifted it. As the cool air hit the painful part of her skin she heard him gasp.

“My god Destiny.”

“What?” She looked down and was shocked to see the circle of black, blue, and purple that discolored her skin.

He ran his fingertip over it and she hissed. “Ouch!” She said, a hint of anger to her sarcastic tone.

“Destiny,” He dropped her shirt and rose in front of her. “
we need to get you to the hospital.”

Hospital?
“Really Adam?” She asked with a snort. “I’m fine. I’ll just put a little ice on it and I’ll be good in a couple of days.”

“We need to make sure you didn’t break a rib or something.”

“I’m fine.” She wasn’t going to the damn hospital. “And plus, who would watch the kids if you take me to the hospital?”

“Ali can handle them. Now, stop arguing with me.”

Her eyes narrowed on him. “I’m not going.” And that was final.

He took in a deep breath, the muscle under his eye twitched. “Destiny,” His voice no more than a low growl. “You’re going to the hospital even if I have to tie you up and drag you there behind my car.”

The anger and agitation in his dark eyes proved to her that he wasn’t kidding around.

“Fine.”
She didn’t even bother continuing. She wasn’t going to win this.

“Thank you.” His features softened and then before she could take her next breath he scooped her up in his arms.

She opened her mouth to argue but was quickly silenced when he said, “There’s no point in telling me to put you down so don’t even bother.”

Her mouth went silent but her brain was calling him a domineering control freak
... And the messed up part was she kind of liked it.

“Ok, so what’s going on at work?”

Destiny struck up conversation as she laid on the bed wearing nothing but a white hospital gown with little blue swirls on it and a thin sheet pulled up to her waist.

Adam sat in the chair next to her bed with his sneakered feet propped up on the edge
of the bed, his fingers laced together atop his belly, watching the nightly news on the small flat screen TV mounted on the wall. He looked a hell of lot more relaxed then he did earlier.

“I think the manager I hired to oversee my two Miami apartment complexes embezzled 4 million dollars from me.”

Destiny choked on a breath, which caused a flash of pain to rip through her.

“You ok?” He asked, alarmed by her sudden cry of pain.

She nodded. “That just caught me off guard. You don’t seem to mad about it.”

“The money’s insured. But I am pissed.”

Well if he’s not mad about the money then what is he mad about? “About what?”

“I don’t like being made a fool of Destiny. But that doesn’
t make me as mad as the fact that for a year now my tenets have been living in shit and I had no clue.”

Yeah. That would piss her off too. “How did he steal the money?”

“I bought the two properties a year ago. When I did I’d hired James Wilson to manage them. They needed a lot of work so I entrusted him to hire a contractor to renovate both properties. He’d gotten a quote from a contractor for 3 million and I transferred the money to him to get started. Well, Luke talked to the contractor he’d allegedly hired and he told Luke that Mr. Wilson told him that we found someone to do the renovations for less.”

“And the renovations never got done?”

“Nope. And we had no idea until last night when we found out we were being sued.”

“Ok. Well, where’s the other million?”

“Yesterday Luke got an email from Mr. Wilson saying a bunch of ac units needed to be replaced and he’d gotten a quote from a company that they would do it for a million. Luke contacted that company as well and they told him that Mr. Wilson hadn’t been back in touch with them since he got the quote.”

“Man, that’s just messed up. Has Luke spoken to Mr. Wilson?”

Adam shook his head. “He can’t find him. He’s not at either of the offices or his home. Luke reported it to the police and the detective heading the investigation has assured me that they will find him.”

Well, that’s good. “What are you going to do about the lawsuit?”

“Only thing I can. Settle out of court and give them what their asking for. I was in the wrong Destiny.” His eyes lowered to the bed. “I should’ve paid more attention to what was going on there. It was poor business on my part.”

“Well, you didn’t know you’d hired a criminal.” Her brow drew together. “Did you?”

Adam let out a soft snort as a smile curled his lips. “No. I checked him out just as I do all my employees. Even today I went back over his file to see if I had missed something. The man was clean. No criminal record of any kind. Hell, he didn’t even have a speeding ticket.”

“Well,” Destiny shrugged and instantly regretted it. “Money can turn people in to bastards.”

“Yes it can.”

Just then a soft tap came from the door.

“Come!” Adam yelled out of habit, Destiny thought.

The door opened and in walked the doctor she seen when she first arrived. He was a friendly looking man with w
hite hair and soft blue eyes. He made her laugh while he examined her, before she received any pain medicine, and instantly felt horrible for doing it.  

“You’re x-rays came back fine Ms. Reece.”

Oh that’s a relief.

“But your ribs are extremely bruised and so you’re going to have to take it easy for a couple of days. I’m sending you home with something to help with pain.”

“Thank you Doctor.” Adam rose out of his chair and extended his hand out to him over Destiny.

“You’re very welcome Mr. Fates and if I may say on behalf of the cancer patients and staff here ‘thank you’.”

Destiny stared at Adam in total curiosity as he thanked the doctor again. Once he was gone she had to ask, “What was that about?”

“After Liz died I made a very generous donation so that the hospital could expand their cancer wing.”

Destiny shouldn’t have been shocked but she was. Actually, it was more like amazement than shock.

“That was very kind of you.” Was all she could think to
say.

He looked down at her with a smile. “It was the least I could do for them after all they did for Liz. Now,” He turned to the small counter in the corner, grabbed her clothes, and sat them on the bed next to her. “Get dressed and I’m going to go get your prescription.”

Destiny gave him a nod and watched him as he walked out of the room, thinking the more she gets to know about him the more she enjoys being around him.

~              ~              ~

Adam was astonished by the woman who sat in the passenger seat of his car. She let his son hit her with a baseball to help him conquer his fear. Who does that?

She was reckless and fearless and
extreme and… simply amazing.

He glanced over at her to see her eyeing him. Her green eyes were glassy; a soft smile played her lips.

“What?” He asked curious of her thoughts.

“You really are a nice guy when you’re not yelling at me.”
Her words relaxed and soft.

“And you’re a nice girl when you’re not challenging me or pointing out my flaws.” He countered playfully.

A giggle escaped her. “Challenging you and pointing out your flaws has become my new favorite hobby.”

“Obviously.”
He snorted as he cut his eyes at her.

“You can’t tell Jason about this.” Her silliness turned serious all of a sudden.

“I won’t.” He promised. “I told Ali that if he got up looking for us to tell him you went to bed and I was still locked in my office.”

“Oh good.”
She sighed in relief. “If the poor kid found out I had to go to the hospital he’d probably never walk out onto a baseball field again.”

Again he chuckled.
“Probably not.”

Silence fell between them. She let out a soft moan as
she pulled her legs up in the seat and curled into a ball. Her head rested on the tan leather. Her eyes were heavy and still on him.

“I love that.” She said sleepily.

“What?” He couldn’t help asking.

“The silver in your hair.” His body went rigid when he felt her fingertips gently brush the hair at his temple. That soft touch ignited something deep within him. Something he thought was long dead… Desire.

“It makes you look so sophisticated.” She continued. 

He couldn’t respond. Hell, he could barely breathe. He wanted to glance over at her but he fought the urge for fear that if he did he would end up touching her and not stopping until the yearning he now felt was satisfied.

“I’m sorry.”
Her tone softer and full of regret. She must have felt his sudden tension. “I shouldn’t have done that. This medicine’s making me loopy.”

He couldn’t keep himself from glancing over at her this time. She looked so troubled by her action. He couldn’t let her suffer like that.

“It’s ok Destiny. Just close your eyes and I’ll have you home shortly.”

The corner of her lips rose into a half smile.

“Ok.”

After Kenna finished the burger and fries she’d picked up on her way home from work she’d called Destiny only to hear her voicemail. She was going to call her right back but when she thought about it she decided to just call her tomorrow. Destiny was probably busy with the Fates children.

With a glass of wine in hand she made her way to the sofa and plopped down. She propped up on a pillow, stretched her tired legs across the dark red material, and grabbed the controller to the flat screen TV mounted on the wall in front of her.

As she flipped through the channels, hoping to find a good movie on, her cell phone vibrated atop the coffee table.

Thinking it was Destiny she shot up and snatched the phone off the table. When she saw the local number that wasn’t programmed her brow drew together.

Who would be calling her at this hour? It couldn’t possibly be a bill collector or anything like that. She didn’t owe any debts.

Curiosity pushed her to accept the call and put the phone to her ear.

“Hello?”

“Hey Beautiful.”

Her heart fluttered at the sound of Luke’s voice. She hadn’t heard from him all day even though he said he’d call once he landed. At first she was thinking he was busy. After all, he did say his trip to Miami was business. But as the day went on and turned to night she
started to wonder if he’d just forgotten about her. She was thrilled he didn’t.

“Hey!”She folded her legs under her and focused on the phone call. “How was your flight?”

“Long.” He sighed. “I hate flying. I’m so sorry I didn’t call you. Things have been a little crazy for me today.”

“Bad?” She asked.

“Well, let’s put it this way. I’ve been at the police station most of the day.”

Her eyes widen
ed as panic tightened her chest. “What? Are you ok?” Was he mugged or something?

“Oh yeah.”
He chuckled. “I’m fine. We suspect the manager over our complexes here has been embezzling money from us.”

“Really?
How much?”

When he said 4 million dollars Kenna choked on her sip of wine.

“Are you shitting me? 4 million dollars?”

“Nope.
And Adam’s pretty pissed off. But I think he’s madder about his tenets being neglected than the money.”

“Really?”
She couldn’t imagine anyone not being mad over losing 4 million dollars. “How bad is that going to hurt the company?”

“Not as bad as you would think.” He explained. “We’re going to feel it but we’ll bounce back. Now we just have to focus on the lawsuit.”

“What are you guys going to do about that?”

“Settle out of court and give them what they want. It’s only right.
We’re going to meet with the lawyers when Adam gets here Monday.”

She hoped she didn’t sound selfish or anything like that but she had to ask, “When will you be back?”

“Awe.” He teased. “Do you miss me already?”

“Yes.” She wasn’t going to deny it. Strange to think she missed a guy she’d only met yesterday but she did. She missed him a lot.

“I miss you too Beautiful. I should be home by Wednesday. So be ready to have dinner with me Wednesday night.”

She laughed at his teasing demand. “Ok. So, what are you doing right now?”

“I’m sitting at the hotel’s restaurant… Alone… Wishing the beautiful woman I’m talking to on the phone was sitting across from me. What about you?”

She giggled. Could the man be any sweeter?

“I just got done with a burger and now I’m relaxing on the couch with a glass of wine.”

“Wishing I was relaxing with you?” He asked; his voice full of hope.

Again she giggled. “Yes.”

She was shocked by her own words. Never in her life did she think she’d be so comfortable with a guy… Especially a guy she just met. But she was. She was very comfortable with him. She felt like they’ve known each other forever and she could tell him anything.

“Cool. Now, how was your day?”

“Uneventful.” She answered as she lifted her glass to her lips.

“I find that hard to believe.”              

“It was a typical day.” She shrugged.
“Mud, creams, a few make-up tips. It was… boring.”

~              ~              ~

Luke didn’t care how boring her day was. He still wanted to hear about it. Anything to hear the voice that he’s craved to hear all day.

He listened to every word, every breath, as he finished his dinner. God, how he wished she was sitting across from him.
He could just picture her relaxing on her sofa. Her beautiful dark hair down, falling all around her sun kissed face. Her blue eyes glittering in the light.

As he listened to her chatter away about a woman who thought she could magically make her wrinkles disappear he wondered what this spell she had over him was.

He’d never cared about how a woman spent her day or craved to hear her voice. Usually he just used women for his own gratification and that was that. He didn’t do relationships or dates or commitment. Giving a woman control over him was something he vowed he’d never do.

But
Kenna was different. She was so timid… so fragile. He felt like he needed to look after her, protect her, care for her. It was so strange but he didn’t fight it. He couldn’t. His pull to her was just too damn strong.

Once she was done talking she let out a loud yawn.

“Maybe I should let you go so you can get some sleep.” Even though he didn’t want to stop talking to her. He never wanted to stop talking to her.

“Oh, no.
I’m fine. I’m not ready to get off…” Another yawn interrupted. “the phone.”

“Me neither but I don’t want you tired tomorrow.”

“Ok.” She sighed. “I guess you’re right.”

He laughed. “Don’t let my brother hear you say that. Telling me I’m right is an unforgivable sin in his mind.”

Her laugh was like the sweetest song he’d ever heard.

“Ok. So…” She hesitated for a moment. “Will you call me tomorrow?”

Hell yeah he’ll call her tomorrow. “Every chance I get.”

“K. Goodnight Luke.”

“Goodnight Kenna.”

He didn’t lower his phone until he heard the beep that she’d hung up. After that he paid the check, rose from his chair, and headed to his room with nothing but Kenna on his mind.