Authors: Annalisa Simon
“And now?” he prodded regarding her intensely.
“I can’t imagine what it would be like to really lose you. This was the most afraid I’ve ever been in my life. I don’t ever want to feel like that again.”
“One of us will have to die eventually you know,”
“Arrrgh, I could strangle you now for joking around like this!” Candasee groaned and a small laugh crept passed her lips. It was almost like it was between them early in their relationship. Darius was always making light of situations to keep her smiling.
“
Ahem”
Candasee’s gaze swept around to see Nathan standing at the door.
“I thought I’d tell you I was leaving to go back to the hotel. Julia needs a ride back in time for this evening’s showcase. Courtney said she would take us there. I can see that you are busy, I guess that you are staying a while longer?”
“Just a while longer Nathan, I’ll drive back.
”
“I see, well the police need to talk to me to get a statement about this whole matter and they already came for Eve,” he said as his voice trailed off and his eyes moved to where Candasee’s and Darius hands were still joined. He was fighting even for his reputation now and he couldn’t help but feel a sense of loneliness wash over him.
Had he lost her already?
“
Nathan thanks for calling me and for being there for Julia. I’ll drive back in time for the showcase tonight, I promise.”
“Okay, I’ll
see you back at the hotel then.” Instead of leaving his gaze shifted to Darius.
“Darius, I know that we aren’t friends by any stretch of the imagination but I apprecia
te what you did for Julia today. On behalf of Julia and all the intensive participants, thank you for risking everything for her.”
All traces of the
Darius’ earlier smile was now gone and in its place a cool, assessing stare. Nathan was about to leave when Darius called out to him.
“Nathan,
wait! You were there right along with me and in fact you led the charge in. I was wrong about you!”
Candasee looked at Darius in surprise to hear that.
“Yeah well let’s leave it at! We managed to stop what could have been a terrible situation.”
“Okay!”
Darius conceded nodding his head slowly. Nathan was in an unfortunate position because of his commitment to his family but cheating the delegates of a fair experience still wasn’t right. If he’d made it to Barbados that morning, he would’ve made sure that Graeme Carthswright understood the full weight of his responsibility to correct his mistakes.
It was the first time that Nathan sensed that there could be a truce of some sort between them.
Nathan looked at Candasee and Darius a few moments more before backing out of the room and closing the door again.
“
Are you sure you don’t want to go with him?” Darius asked.
“
No, I’ll talk to him later. I should probably tell you that I went into your office for the keys to your SUV and I drove it here. I hope you don’t mind that I did that.”
So that’s how she saw the photographs
, he thought. “I have nothing to hide to from you Candasee, besides you always drove it more than I did anyway, it’s still practically yours.”
“So, how does your shoulder feel?”
“Right now, it’s not too bad! I imagine they pumped me full of pain killers. Candasee there’s another reason I wanted to speak to you and this is probably one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to say in my life.” He took a deep breath before continuing and winced slightly at the pain.
“
I want more than anything else to keep you here with me but you need to go.”
“
What? Why?”
“
Nathan has made some mistakes but he loves you and needs your support to get through this! I offered him four million dollars to walk away from you in return for a donation to save his family’s foundation but he refused it. I suspect he hasn’t told you this, but the academy is experiencing really serious financial problems right now to the point where paying for the scholarship prize is practically impossible. His brother made an alliance with the Samaroo’s to fix the results in exchange for the money. Eve was to be declared the winner.”
“What?”
“I don’t envy his position in all of this. He wanted to protect his family name and went along with the plan.
Nathan refused help from Darius?
“Why did you offer him the money?” asked Candasee. You have nothing to gain from helping him.
“I did it because when you went back home I knew you wanted to continue working there and I knew their programs were making a positive impact on the lives of the students.”
“But you told him to walk away from me. That’s blackmail too isn’t it?” she asked with her heart sinking to know Darius would use that tactic where she was concerned again.
“Yes, and I’m not proud of it but at the time I thought it would be dangerous for you to be with him. I didn’t expect him to turn down the only solution he had left.”
“So Nathan put the entire intensive at risk because he didn’t want to lose me?”
“He was trying to hold everything together for the intensive, for you, for his family all at once. I figured that he wanted to try to reason with his brother instead but I guess he underestimated how crazy and determined the Samaroo’s were in getting what they wanted. He was in an impossible situation and I think you should hear him out before you make any final conclusions.”
“How do you know all of this?” Candasee demanded, now remembering the afternoon when she saw Mr. Samaroo and his wife lead Nathan away with what appeared to be two of their body guards.
“When it comes to anything I’m interested in, I like to know what I’m getting into. I wanted to know more about Nathan
after I saw how he treated you that day in class with Eve. So I called in my private investigator to help me.”
“How do you know about that
incident? You weren’t even there!”
“I have access to the security videos all across this property from my office and that day I was watching your class. The last time I did that
in the conference room you weren’t too pleased about it, so I admit that I’ve been watching you quite a bit this week. When I heard your conversation that day I knew Nathan was hiding something and I decided to find out what it could be.”
“I can’t believe that you’ve been spying on me!”
Candasee exclaimed feeling exposed.
“Candasee don’t get mad, it allowed me to be able to know what was going on and it
helped me to save Julia today.”
“I can’t believe he didn’t tell me anything and I’ve been asking him about all of this.
Why do I always attract men with hidden agendas
?”
“Candasee I wish I could lie here and tell you that he’s no good for you and that he’s a thief but he isn’t. Every time he looks at you, I recognize the look in his eyes. I never like to lose at anything but this isn’t a game. I don’t want you to be here with me and then later you are conflicted because you realized that you made a mistake.”
“You’d be willing to give me up?”
“No, I’ll never be willing to do that, but I am willing to see you happy. If that means we’re apart then
I’ll have to accept that! I had four and a half amazing years with you that I’ll never forget and I want sixty more. That’s how greedy I am but not if you aren’t all the way in with me.”
“I don’t know what I want Darius,”
“I know and that is why I want you to go. You have your duties to wrap up. I’m hoping they let me out of this place in a few days.”
“Well I guess, I’ll come and see you tomorrow then.”
“No, don’t come!”
“What?”
“I only want you to come see me when you’re sure that I’m the one you want Candasee. My injury here isn’t fatal. I’ll live. Let me ask you one thing.”
“Okay.
”
“If we’d never contacted each other this week would you have married Nathan?”
“Yes, I guess I would have.”
“That’s
my point exactly! As much as I’d love to steal you away from him now, you will wonder if you made the right choice. Your emotions are out of sorts now because of the kidnapping and all of this new information. I’m not going to take advantage of that. Go to him and work things out. Only if you decide afterwards that you’ve had a change of heart do I want you to come to me,”
“But...”
“Go to him Candasee; he needs your support now too! When you go out, please tell Ramon I want to talk to him.”
He’d told her to leave
but the struggle was evident in his eyes which had darkened like storm clouds. Candasee let go of his hand and walked away slowly feeling very conflicted. This was too much to absorb all at once. Darius was right, any decision she made now wouldn’t be coming from a place of clarity.
S
he re-emerged into the waiting area and found Ramon seated there with Marianne and Francis. She gave him the message and he went inside.
Marianne smiled encouragingly at her.
“I have to go, Mom. Francis take care. Tonight’s the showcase and final judging so I need to be there for that,” Candasee said.
She hugged them one more time before leaving lost in thought at Darius’ strange request.
“Hey, how are you?
” asked Ramon, sitting beside his friend.
“I feel terrible but that should pass soon, I hope,”
“I know that this time around you felt you had to do something but next time you get one of these heroic ideas, please wait for the police. I don’t want to have to give your eulogy so soon after finding my long lost brother,”
“Yeah, I think I agree with you there,” said Darius.
“This was a close call.”
“So, I met Nathan outside, he seems to be a decent guy, a bit on the intense side though,” said Ramon.
“Yeah well he’s trying.”
“That’s all I’m going to get out of you on that subject?” Ramon asked.
“What’s there to say? He’s Candasee’s fiancé!”
“When are you going to tell her what you’ve done for her Darius? She is leaving here in two days you know?”
“I know that but I’m not going to manipulate her into being with me. I tried that approach before with disastrous results.”
“This isn’t the same thing. You were workin
g against her then not with her or for her best interests.”
“It’s the same thing to me. I don’t want Candasee to stay with me just because she thinks I need her help or because I’ve built her dream for her. If she and I renew
our marriage, it has to be because she chose the man who would fit the love and vision she has for herself the most. After meeting Nathan and seeing her with him I’m not sure that’s me anymore.”
“You didn’t see her out there in the hall. She was literally in pieces wondering if you’d make it,”
“And so was my mother, Julia and I’m sure you and Courtney were too. I’m not minimizing her feelings, but all it shows is that she has a heart which unfortunately right now is very divided. I told her to see what she had with Nathan first and that I didn’t want to see her again until she was sure that I was the one she wanted. I’m not going to share her heart Ramon. I can’t.”
“
You are joking right? What if she never comes back, what will you do then?”
“I’l
l pick up the pieces and move on.”
“
Right, like you’ve been doing these past two years? You call living out of your office because you don’t want to go to your own house living? Travelling because you want to escape going home is living? Buying more things that you don’t need to fill that empty, gaping hole in your heart is living?”
“
All of that’s going to change when I get out of here. I’m going home when I leave the hospital. It’s time to face my demons there,” Darius said with a thin smile. “If she has a chance of being happier with him I think she should take it.”
“Wow, I don’t think I could ever give up Courtney like that! She means too much to me,”
“And you won’t ever have to, you guys are already perfect for each other and you’ve walked the path Candasee and are on now. You found your way back to each other and your relationship is stronger than ever before. Candasee doesn’t know if she wants to come back and I am giving her the freedom to say no to me.”
“
I know I can’t tell you what to do but I think you should tell her everything. Don’t let her walk away just like this!”
“I have to
for her sake and mine. Listen Ramon, I need your help with something else okay.”
“Sure, what is it?”
“I want you to contact Graeme Carthswright in Barbados. I was on my way to see him today, but as you can see I didn’t make it. Make arrangements with my pilot to fly him here tomorrow instead to meet with me.”
“Okay, this is a strange request. Is he by any chance Nathan’s brother?”
“Yes actually, and he is the chairman of their arts foundation. I wanted to make sure that the scholarship prize money for this year was available on time. I watched those young people this week work really hard for this, and they made the final night of the travel show a real success for me. I owe them a lot for that. He called me and asked for my help and I decided I would do it.