Redemption (The Bet) (32 page)

Her favorite? Fuzzy Navels. A few of those and she was lip-locking any guy who bore a slight resemblance to her current unrequited love. She was a pathetic mess she knew it too, didn't need you pointing out that sad fact. However, she was determined pathetic mess and until the day she heard from Nicholas's own lips that he wanted nothing to do with her, Samantha would keep pursuing him, no matter how hopeless.

"Sir, I beg of you, I have a family…"

Nicholas raised his hand. Mr. Hawthorne's pleading voice brought him back to the situation at hand. "Alright, Steven, I'll level with you. How about a permanent vacation?"

"Sir?" clearly he was puzzled, Nicholas didn't blame him. It wasn't everyday his altruistic side came out to play during business.

"An
all-expenses paid vacation for you and your family. By the end of this week, I can have a new life set up for you, somewhere warm and friendly, where the natives actually like Americans." He took his shot at a joke and was looked at as though he'd grown a third eye in the middle of his forehead. Right, no more jokes for him then.

Wise enough to realize what was offered more than likely came with price tag, Steven Hawthorn posed his question. "What's the catch?"

"Yeah, Nicholas…Mr. Grayson, what's the catch?" Samantha grounded out through clenched teeth. They'd wasted a good amount of time trying to uncover the identity of this rat and now he was being rewarded for his betrayal? She wanted to see the damn bastard hang!

"I'm suddenly feeling, I don't know,
generous?" his rhetorical question was answered with expected silence. "Yes, let's go with generous. I own a small island, uncharted and all that. I need someone in charge down there who will have my home ready for me whenever I decide to visit."

"Let me see if I understand you correctly. You're going to pay to uproot me and my family down to your private island, pay for everything and have us wait for you ever
y time you decide to drop by. You want me to be a housekeeper?"

Nicholas
grinned. "Precisely. Good housekeeping is so hard to find, these days. You've worked hard for me these past years. Sure you've been led astray, but you had motive. You did it for your family, your little girl. I've recently come to treasure mine and like you, I would do anything for them, even if it meant betraying my boss. I admire that. That is the reason for this unexpected offer, which I suggest you accept, before my sanity returns."

"Of course, thank you sir, thank you very much." He wasn't a stupid man, far, far from it.

Nicholas grinned and slammed his hands on the glass table. "Very good. Samantha here will take care of everything, so please be packed with the essentials by the end of this week." Nicholas stood and proceeded to the door, but stopped mid-way. "Oh and Steven?"

"Y-yes, Sir?"

"Mind telling me the name of the one you divulged my companies' information to? You know, as compensation for all that you’re getting in return." With a practiced eye, almost anyone could detect the sneer and bite beneath the veneer of his handsome features.

"The man, who called and told me to do it
never gave a name. Only that I was assisting in the fall of a megalomaniac."

"An infliction that runs in the Grayson family, I'm afraid," his smile was no longer warming, the effects only chilling and deprecating. "But not to worry, I've taken great pains to stop it from spreading. Quite a shame that you cou
ldn't divulge any information…"

"Well, I don't know if this will help; but the files I've been ordered to leak, did pertain the names of our top
five investors."

"Very good, thank you, Steven and I hope to see you and your family sometime in the near future. I'll leave you in Samantha's capable hands." He made his exit, and Samantha was tempted to throw something at his retreating back. Instead she settled to aim her scowl at the moron grinning from ear to ear at her.

"Count your blessings, Hawthorne."

~*~*~*~

"I'm going out with a few friends from work, sweetheart, try not to wait up. Brandon's sleeping over at Corey's house." She pressed her violent red lips to his cheek, smiled becomingly and walked out.

"Try not to wait up," Dom angrily mimicked. "Try not coming home smelling like some other man's spunk, for a change!" He yelled at the door, at the four walls of the room, at the wedding photograph sitting on the mantle, mocking him. Dom just yelled at nothing in particular because the person he wanted to yell at had just walked out the door, on another journey to open her legs to the entire world.

She was like a rash, or better yet, a flesh eating disease that nibbled away at your core until there was nothing left except a shell of what was. That's what Dominick Kingston has come to think of his wife af
ter so many years of marriage, a marriage that was as fake as the woman who slept next to him each night.

There were times when he wondered if this was all life had to offer? Was this it for him? His life, done at the dull age of twenty eight? Stuck in a sham marriage with the only thing keeping him from running mad was the little boy who didn't even share his DNA? Was this all life had to offer to the once upon a time promising star athlete of John Edgar High? He'd once been in the same league as the Nicholas Graysons' of the world.

His future had been ripe with opportunities, but now where was he? Working some low level shit job that couldn't even garner him respect? Married to a woman who was leeching life away from him each passing day? Well, Dom was coming to the end of his ropes. His adulterous wife, his failed marriage and even his stupid, unthankful job as an accountant, they were all hanging on by a very thin thread. A thread that could, at any given moment snap. He brought the green bottle of Heineken to his lips and chugged it down in one go. The bitter salty liquid dribbled on the side of his mouth and he used the back of his hand as a napkin. He grabbed another bottle from the fridge and administered the same treatment as the first.

He hadn't had the need to drink this much since the night he found out about all the men in Evey's life and it'd almost killed him. To love a woman to such an extent an
d have her trample on his heart, it'd been too fucking much. iIt was still too fucking much. For ten years, ten years of hoping that she'd finally see the errors of her way and commit herself to only him. He'd known in high school that she'd been a slut. Dom had known, but he'd still loved her. When she'd told him she was pregnant, he'd been thrilled, coming from a well-rounded background, Dom knew that it was only fitting to man up and do the right thing. So he'd proposed, naively thinking that if he married her, she'd stop. God, how hard he'd wished for her to stop.

His entire family thought he was a moron for sticking around, even after the shocking discovery of Brandon's paternity. They all despised her, right down to his little sister, who thought Evey was a succubus in disguise, who had his heart in a jar and loved playing with it whenever the need struck her. Dom wholeheartedly agreed with Lucy. God! He'd been
so stupid! He’d thrown away a good life, his hopes and dreams, his aspirations, everything! He'd thrown everything away for her.

Dom had wanted what his father had been to him and the rest of his siblings.
He'd wanted to be their rock. He’d  wanted to be the one who kept them all together. Brandon hadn't been his by blood, but there was no other father who could love him more. It hurt. It'd hurt ten years ago and it hurt now, only now, Dom was so close to leaving. The only thing keeping here was his son.

"God." He downed another beer, grabbed his keys and
he walked out. If he stayed in that house, he knew the walls would close in on him and squeeze him to an early grave.

~*~*~*~

Seven hours later found Samantha in the evening traffic, on her way home, eager to snuggle up with a bottle of aspirin, a down pillow and one of her rousing fantasies of Nicholas and herself, alone, naked and deserted on a remote island. She was a loser and had absolutely no life whatsoever and again, she was very aware of the fact, but she simply didn't care. Her life was her job
. She was content. So she drove and coincidentally enough one of her favorite song was playing, Cheap Trick's ‘I want you to want me' no other song, could possibly describe how Samantha felt.

She dialed the volume up and opened her mouth to belt out the song, the lilt of her voice rising and falling with every lyric. Escaping from the fishbowl that was downtown traffic, she signaled right, stopped at a light and continued on. The arch that signaled t
he entrance to St James Bridge was less than a fifteen minute ride from home.

Driving across the bridge, one could always see the plethora of twinkling golden lights that illuminated the city, their reflections mirrored back over the dark beauty of the river below. It was truly magnificent sight, except Samantha never remembered seeing a man ready to jump to his death as a part of its beauty. Not giving a thought to what she was really doing, she pulled over, turned off the engine and pressed the emergency lights. Once she was out of her car, she pocketed her keys, looked both ways for oncoming traffic before running across.

Dom loved coming to this bridge, looking out, he was given the slightest bit of hope. His life may have been complete shit, but he was a man who could understand signs and right now, someone above was sending him a sign. Everything was going to be ok. There was a warm breeze that tempted him to close his eyes, so he did so, and spread out his arms. He was seated on the rail, the river beneath him, his legs dangling, it almost felt like he was flying...like he was free.

"D
on't jump!"

Dom opened his eyes and turned to look behind him. Coming at him, faster than he'd ever seen a girl run, was a crazy woman, screaming, "Sir, don't jump! Just don't do it!"
she approached him, winded, eyes wide and concerned she stared at him as though he was the one who needed saving. "I...I, whew, excuse me," she held up her hand and took a moment to catch her breath before speaking. "Look, whatever it is, it's not that bad! I know it may seem like it is right now, but this is not the answer. I have the number of a really good therapist. I mean, she works wonders, and if you'll get down I can give it to you and we can…"

"I'm not suicidal." Dom murmured
bemusedly, still shocked that this woman, with her blond hair in disarray and her wrinkled business suit assumed something so ridiculous. For God sakes he was Catholic! Suicide wasn't even an option to anything!

"W
hat?" she blinked as though she hadn't expected that answer.

Dom couldn't help himself, he began to laugh. This entire scenario he found was just too funny for words. "I wasn't going to jump, I'm not suicidal."

"So then why…"

"I like this vie
w. I guess I couldn't help getting a closer look." He shrugged a shoulder and smiled down at her. "Want to join me?"

Samantha stepped away, suddenly realizing what the hell she was doing. She didn't know what had driven to be so hasty and impulsive, but something had pulled her here, something had---"I'm not a fan of heights." She took another step back and warily looked at the red haired man she'd been prompted to 'save'.
"Maybe you should get off that. I mean like, come towards me…it doesn't look safe."

Dom's grin widened. "It's completely safe, now if I did this however," he leaned forward, she screamed and he laughed.

"Fine, whatever; do whatever you want. Jump if you want. Have a nice afterlife." She fumed.

"I thought guardian Angels weren't supposed to abandon their charges."

Samantha turned around, halfway down the sidewalk. "I'm not your guardian Angel and I'm only leaving because you're an ass!"

Dom jumped onto the sidewalk and ran after her. "Hey! Hey wait up! I'm sorry." he grabbed her arm and gently turned her around.

Samantha stared at his apologetic face and reluctantly sighed. "You're forgiven." She placed her hand inside his offered one and immediately pulled back. "Ouch you shocked me!" she accused and nursed her hand to her chest.

There was something about her. The way she acted, the way she looked, the way she stared at him, that had Dom
smiling. It was an odd feeling. A good sort of odd that had him offering to buy her a drink.

Samant
ha readied her apologetic smile, opening her mouth to let him down."I---I'd loved to." Wait a damn minute! Her brain screamed. That wasn't a rejection, you moron!

"Great. I'm Dom by the way."

Samantha looked at him and their gazes locked, she broke eye contact immediately and looked down to conceal her blooming cheeks. "Samantha." This was so out of character for her, she hadn't the slightest idea of what the hell she was doing. But-maybe that could be a good thing? There was something about this guy, Dom that seemed almost familiar---almost right.

Or maybe he can end up being a rapist who will ravish you, tie a rope around your neck and ditch your body in a sewer!
 Samantha's mind nastily bit out. Samantha chose to ignore it. For a little while, she wanted life not to suck so hard.

~*~*~*~

Bella skipped rope, Sophie played catch with a friend and Dylan ran around with Grayson. This was their momentary reprieve from a long day at school before they had to go in to do homework. So the kids enjoyed the warm evening, still light enough to play, but not too dark to go inside yet.