Gone Too Far (14 page)

Lyndon's life was too fast for her, and it was dangerous. Worse were his friends, and one friend in particular, Nick, gave Leigh the chills from the moment she met him. Then one day, while at Lyndon's mansion, Lyndon left her to go shower and dress. Unaware that Nick was there, Leigh was taken off guard when he found her and came on to her. She resisted, but he got very physical and seemed to enjoy the stark fear he was eliciting from Leigh. She had fought as hard as she could and screamed for Lyndon, but when he came and she was free of Nick, Lyndon only hurt her further by trying to keep her from calling the police, because it might harm his career.

“I felt so ashamed,” Leigh said, “and I didn't do anything. I was so angry and so…confused.”

“But you didn't call the police,” Max said.

Leigh shook her head. “I knew that it was…I'm a Chase and we don't call the police. We call Mom and Dad, but I couldn't even do that. I was too scared of what Dad would do. My father…”

“Is a very powerful man.” Max's tone was sympathetic.

“You know my family,” she said. “Everyone knows that trouble seems to just disappear. I knew my mother had caught on, from the way I was acting, that something was wrong, but I never told her. I never told anyone. Then one day I read about Lyndon in prison, about the gay relationship with Nick and his confession. I know it was my parents.”

“Do you?” Max asked. “Hollywood is a weird place, and I'm not just saying that as a Republican. Actors go to great lengths to hide things. If Prior was gay, he could still be an actor, but not an action star.”

“He wasn't gay.”

“Well,” Max said, “I know this doesn't help, but Steven did what he felt he had to. He's your father.”

“I know.” Leigh was a little surprised that Max came to this conclusion so quickly, and she wasn't sure if it was a good or bad thing. “We've never talked about it, but that's not uncommon in my family. We tend to act as if unpleasant things just don't happen.”

“You have a dysfunctional family?” Max asked. “How odd! You're the first person I've met whose family doesn't communicate.”

Leigh smiled. “Fine. Everyone's family is dysfunctional, but mine is dysfunctional on steroids.”

“I don't believe that,” he said. “Someone as incredible as you had to come from something good.”

Their eyes caught for a moment, and while she felt incredibly flattered by his words, something about the spike in her temperature told her that this was trouble. And as his lips spread into a tender smile, she knew she was in trouble.

Max's smile faded as he turned still and serious. “I'm sorry this happened to you, but you know you shouldn't feel ashamed.”

“I don't feel ashamed because of what happened to me,” Leigh said. “I feel ashamed because of what didn't. These women I've been talking to are healing physically, but emotionally, they are so far from good. I was feeling so sorry for myself, and nothing that happened to me could even compare to them.”

“Stop that,” he ordered. “Leigh, what happened to you was horrible. It was a terrible crime. Just like any other assault, you were victimized and you have a right to suffer some trauma regardless of how it ended up. You're angry because of what happened and what could have happened, and there is nothing wrong with that.”

“I'm not angry anymore,” she said. “I was for so long, but now I'm just…I don't know.”

“I'm not worried about you, Leigh.” Max reached out and placed a tender hand on her shoulder, touching her soft skin. “You're strong and you are blessed. You'll be fine, and I know you know that.”

Avery felt a warm glow flow through her at his words, and the tension that she felt around him seemed to dissipate. She could feel the bond that had been growing between them since the first moment they met growing strong enough that neither of them could pretend it wasn't there. This was why she didn't stop him as he leaned into her. She closed her eyes when his lips touched hers and savored the kiss. Leigh found it hard to decipher what she was feeling. His lips were sweet and seductive, and were relaxing and unnerving in an unexplainable way. Then that little voice in the back of her head told her to stop trying to figure it out and just enjoy it. Enjoy that little flutter in her belly that was quickly turning into so much more.

 

Sitting on her bed, researching Evan's condition on the Internet, Kimberly was startled when she looked up and found Michael standing in her doorway looking at her.

“How long have you been standing there?” She hadn't taken his key away, because she knew Michael wouldn't let a lock keep him out anyway.

“I came to get you,” he answered, unwilling to tell her he'd been standing there watching her for some time.

He didn't like coming to this house because of its memories, and as he looked at Kimberly sitting in the bed they shared for just a short time after moving in, he was even more reminded of how offtrack his life had gotten.

“Get me?” Kimberly asked. Remembering that she was wearing only a rose silk slip dress, she reached for her bathrobe at the end of the bed.

“Don't,” he said without thinking.

Kimberly's beauty was at times painful to see, but at other times, like now, it was just incredible, and it had been a long time since he'd seen this much of it.

Kimberly wasn't sure why she paused for a second before putting the robe on anyway. She had sensed a change in her body's reaction to her ex-husband. Sex had always been great between them, from the first night they met and throughout their marriage. When things were good, they could barely keep their hands off each other. Even after things began to disintegrate, the sex was still fiery and passionate. But his cruel treatment of her at the end changed everything. Not only did she not want him, but also every time he tried to have sex with her, she felt sick to her stomach. She hated him for using their children to keep her prisoner.

She had slipped once. The last time they'd been together, some eight months ago, Kimberly had felt a moment of weakness, because Michael could have died in the jet crash, but she was quickly reminded of her mistake when she walked in on him with his mistress, Elisha, in his office.

“I've seen it all before,” he said.

She shrugged off the discomfort his words caused her. “Michael, this isn't your house anymore. You can't—”

“Marisol let me in.” Michael wasn't interested in another lecture about how his name wasn't on the deed to this house anymore. That was a piece of paper. He still felt like it was his, because his family lived here.

“What do you think you're doing?” she asked as Michael stepped in the room. “This is my bedroom.”

“Do you really want to fight now, Kimberly?” he asked as he kept coming toward her. “I was just at the hospital, and Mother told me that you had left the hotel.”

“We had to,” she said. “It was upsetting Daniel. He wanted to come home. How is Evan?”

Michael smiled. “That's why I'm here, Kimberly. The doctor said that his immune system is stabilizing.”

Kimberly hopped up onto her knees on the bed. “What does that mean?”

“The doctor says it means it's more likely that he'll come out of this coma than not.” Michael sat down on the edge of the bed.

“That's it?” Her mind was so erratic that it was difficult for her to understand things. “They have no idea on when this will happen? I was reading that the effects of this disease can last for up to six months. Could he be in a coma for six months?”

“First things first,” he said. “This is good news.”

Michael had been on cloud nine when the doctor told him the good news, and while he hugged his mother because she was there, his first thought was to get to Kimberly. He couldn't wait to tell her, and he didn't want to call her. He wanted to see the look on her face. He wanted to see the joy, but that wasn't what he got. Instead, she fell facedown on the bed and broke into tears.

“Kimberly.” He reached out with the intent of touching her, comforting her, but he wasn't sure what he should do. “This is good news, baby.”

Kimberly cried even more as she felt his hand rub her back. “I know. I know, but it's just so unfair. It's so unreal. How can this be happening to my baby?”

Michael lifted her up and brought her to him. He wrapped his arms around her as she cried into his chest. “I'm sorry. I feel…I was supposed to protect you all, and I failed every single one of you. Now I can't do anything for him. I'm so sorry.”

Kimberly looked up at Michael and saw something so unusual in his eyes. She had seen him in pain before, but this time he didn't seem to be doing what he usually did, which was immediately directing anger outward or masking it. He was wearing it completely, and he looked like a child, a little boy.

“This isn't your fault,” she whispered. “You know that.”

“When we moved out of Chase Mansion,” Michael said, “into this house, Dad asked me if I knew what it meant to be the head of a household. He said it didn't mean I was in charge. It meant that I was responsible. I failed all three of you, and now…I can't go on if he doesn't make it.”

“He'll make it.” Kimberly felt her hand trembling as she stretched it against his chest. Looking into those eyes that were still lit up, although filling with tears ready to flow, she said, “We can't believe anything else.”

Kimberly saw the longing in his eyes as he looked at her and knew she should tell him to leave, but she didn't want to. She was hurting and she needed comfort. As his gaze slid downward, she felt her body react to him.

He reached out and touched her hair, running his fingers through it. He flipped it back, revealing her perfect, long neck. As her eyes closed, his hands went to her bathrobe. He slid it over her shoulders and down her arms. The knot came loose, and the robe fell onto the bed. The touch of her body was so familiar and comforting that Michael couldn't stop. His fingers traced her arms up to her shoulder. He brushed against her neck as her head fell to the side. She opened her eyes and looked at him so enticingly that it electrified the air around them.

Kimberly was surprised at how she was still so captivated by his virile appeal. He was all man, and she could feel, with every touch, the mastery he still held over her body. As his fingers slowly traced her chest to the point between her breasts, she felt her entire body weaken. Everywhere he touched prickled with heat and excitement.

When he finally kissed her, it was sensuous and made her feel as if she were falling under a deep spell. It brought back so many memories that she needed to have right now. As he knelt over her in the bed, Kimberly knew that there wasn't anything else that could make her feel as if everything was going to be okay, even if just for a moment, than having Michael right here and right now.

“I want you,” she whispered. “Now.”

The fire between them exploded as they began kissing furiously and tearing at each other's clothes in a frenzy. There had always been a madness to the way they made love, and this was no exception. She bit him on the shoulder as he pulled her hair. Like two starving people, they clawed at each other in hunger and an obsessive need to quench their thirst. Flesh against flesh, he was panting as her chest was heaving, and they rolled around wildly as their hands, fingers, and tongues made fiery contact with every part of each other's bodies.

The next time Kimberly rolled on top of Michael, she pushed him down. Straddling his naked body, she pressed against his chest to keep him from raising up. Looking down at him, she positioned herself over his erect tip. This was when she felt the most powerful, just before he entered her.

“Kimberly,” Michael begged. “Please.”

She moaned in pleasure as she lowered herself on top of him. Her entire body shivered as she felt him fill her up. Slowly she went down as far as she could before lifting up again. He was saying her name because he knew that was what she liked, and as she lowered herself onto him a little faster this time, she stayed for a while and moved around. She leaned back, pulling at her own hair and arching her body.

Michael's hands slid up her stomach and cupped her breasts before reaching behind and bringing her down to him. He felt her hair surround him as he took her lips with his. She was moving up and down now, crying in delight. Her screams stimulated him, and his hands squeezed her butt to bring her down harder as the inferno inside of him raged.

Their bodies molded together as if made for each other, and their very out-of-control movements began to form a frenetic rhythm. They were both bursting with desire and anguish as they delighted each other in crests and peaks before soon they erupted in a release of ecstasy that blew them both away.

A
s soon as Carter entered Hue, Avery felt herself getting excited. He looked great in a dark blue suit. This was an unexpected surprise, and she was eager to see him. The second he saw her, she waved for him to follow her into the back room. The only other person working at the gallery that day, Nina, was on the floor setting up a display.

Avery rushed ahead of Carter into the back room and was confused that he wasn't right behind. When she went to the door and looked out, she saw him walking toward her, but pretty slowly. It disappointed her that he wasn't more eager to see her, but he was coming. That was all that mattered.

As soon as he stepped inside, Avery closed the door behind him and rushed to him. She put her hands on his face and brought him to her to kiss, but he pulled away.

“What's wrong?” she asked. “Nina won't—”

“Stop it,” Carter said as he held her hands away. He wanted so badly to kiss her just one last time, but he knew if he did, all his resolve would be obliterated. “I didn't come here for that.”

Avery could tell from the tone of his voice that he was anxious. It was easy to detect in a man known for his cool and calm. Setting aside her desire, Avery looked at his face and saw he was distressed.

“Oh, my God,” she said with a gasp. “Evan? Is he…”

“No.” Carter imposed an iron control of himself, knowing it would be a constant struggle to maintain it. “I came here to tell you that I'm not going to see you anymore.”

“How many times have you said that to me?” she asked.

This wasn't going as she'd hoped. Avery knew that Carter still harbored anger toward her, but she felt that as time progressed, he would let go of that hate and even if they couldn't be together the way they both wanted, he wouldn't feel the need to be mean to her anymore.

“This is the last time,” he answered, feeling sick with the struggle going on inside of him right now. “It was stupid for us to start this up again. It was understandable because of everything going on, but it makes no sense anymore.”

“Don't you think I know that?” Avery asked. “I have tried my whole life to make good choices, to be logical and do the right thing. It didn't work. This may not make sense, but it still feels right.”

“It doesn't,” Carter answered, stepping back to avoid her attempt to touch him. “I mean it, Avery. Julia knows and—”

“Is she threatening you?” she asked. “Threatening to leave you if—”

“No,” he said. “She just cried. I seem to make all my fiancées cry, but this is the last time. Not just for Julia, because I admit I don't love her, but also for myself. Our being together only hurts people, most of all me.”

Now it was Avery's turn to feel anxious. A quick and disturbing thought—that he really meant this—flashed through her mind. But he couldn't.

“Carter…” She wanted to protest, to say something that would prove him wrong or counteract his point, but he was right. She just didn't care. “This is wrong, I know, but I love you and you—”

“Stop saying that!” Carter yelled, his voice ringing with command to mask his uncertainty. “Stop saying you love me. You never loved me.”

“How can you say that?” Avery's chest felt like it was going to cave in from his reaction. “I loved you completely. I can't help what happened.”

“That's a lie,” Carter said. “You ran away and married someone you didn't love so you could avoid dealing with me. Love doesn't run away. It stays and fights.”

“Stays and fights what?” Avery retorted angrily. “The level of deceit you brought to our relationship prevented me from even understanding what I could fight.”

Carter took a deep breath, feeling he was about to boil over. It had taken all the strength he had, and a glass of gin, to build up the courage to walk in here and do this. If he didn't leave now, he would take it all back. Seeing her cry and hearing the pain in her voice was just too much for him.

“You'll hurt me again,” he said. “Something, anything, will happen and you'll hurt me again. You hurt me every day you go home to that man.”

“I tried to be with you!”

“No,” Carter said. “You tried to make it okay to be with me. And when you couldn't, you gave up and you went to him.”

“You know I don't love him,” Avery said. “I love you and I wish that I could be with you.”

“That does nothing for me, Avery. I hurt you and you just run away. But when you hurt me, my life stops. I can't let that happen again. I won't!”

“Baby, please.” She reached out to him, but he yanked away. She felt panic setting in. “I know we can work something out.”

“We have.” Carter opened the door, unable to look her in the face. “And it's this. Good-bye.”

Avery stood in the back room for several minutes, trying to pull herself together, but it wasn't working. The more she thought about what Carter had said, the more devastated she felt. She finally gave in and fell into a chair, sobbing. She had no right to sob; she knew that. The idea that they could carry on this eternal affair was a joke and a farce. She could hope the day would come when Anthony wouldn't need her anymore and she could be free, but what then? Carter would be married to Julia. The most she could be was his mistress. That wouldn't work. Just as he had wanted all of her the last time, this time, she wanted all of him.

Maybe deep down inside, she just wanted him to stop hating her, and she hadn't even accomplished that. This was hopeless, and Connor was already suffering. Avery was afraid her desire to seek joy for herself may have made it worse for her baby.

 

Leigh knew she was frustrating Bem by walking in front of him, but she didn't like it his way. She felt like a child following him and still did not believe he was necessary. Today, as they got out of the private car, she jumped in front of him and ignored him as he called after her.

She was already running late for the team's scheduled get-together. After she kissed Max the night before, Leigh pulled away and made an excuse to leave for her hotel. She wasn't sure what she was going to do the next time she saw Max, but despite chickening out the night before, she knew she was looking forward to being with him. It had been a long time since she'd felt excited to see a man. She thought she should feel guilty, lying in her bed touching her lips with her fingers while Evan was still sick and everyone here was working so hard. But she felt hopeful.

While Leigh was nervous about seeing him this morning, she felt the presence of the entire group would alleviate some of the tension. After all their hard work, the last day in Kenya was supposed to be fun. They were to gather in the meeting rooms at eight in the morning and spend the day at the Nairobi Zoo before they had to leave tomorrow. But when Leigh showed up, it was 8:10 and no one was there.

“No,” she said, thinking everyone had left without her. “Ten minutes? Do I have the wrong time?”

“No, you don't.”

Max seemed to come out of nowhere. Leigh's eyes lit up with surprise. “Where is everyone? You said to meet here at eight, right?”

“I told you to meet everyone here at eight.” He stopped in front of her with an indefinable confidence. His expression was a mixture of childish anticipation and determination. “I told everyone else to meet at nine.”

“What are you up to?” Leigh asked, not sure if she should be angry or excited.

“Trickery,” he answered. “I wanted you to meet me here at eight, because I have a different last day planned for you and me.”

“Bem will be here any second,” she said.

“I've taken care of that. He's going to be distracted for another two minutes, so we should get going.”

“No zoo?” Leigh asked, feeling charged with excitement.

He shook his head. “Have you ever heard of Giraffe Manor?”

 

“You're not having fun,” Peter said as his wife sighed loud enough to be heard by the other customers at the luxury outlet mall in Long Beach, California. “Not that I could tell anyway,” he added after getting no response.

Haley wasn't sure what he'd expected. It was his idea to go slumming in Long Beach and have a real outlet mall experience. Why he wanted to come this far from Los Angeles, where they were basically on the border of Orange County, she would never know. He had finally gotten his fill, and that, plus her constant nagging, made him want to call it a day. They were on their way to the hotel where they had valet parked, just across the street from the mall's largest garage.

“Look,” Haley said, peering at the time on her phone. “I'm going out with my girls tonight, so I need to get going. I'm taking the Jag. You can get a driver or—”

“Come on,” he urged as he followed her across the street. “I don't have any friends here, Haley. I'm tired of following you around like a little puppy doing what you want with who you want.”

“No one asked you to even come here,” Haley argued. “I'm not adjusting my life for you. Since our marriage became public, my parents have been all over me. I'm supposed to act like I love you, and I can't even date. You want to hang out, then hang out. You don't need me. Throw that Aussie charm on these…whatever they're called.”

“People,” he said bluntly. “You can be an incredible bitch sometimes, you know that?”

“I've always known that,” she answered. “Glad to see you've caught up.”

Haley could tell from his expression that she upset him. He was so different from when she'd first met him. He was fun and didn't give a shit. He loved to party and spend his family's money. Like her, he wasn't sensitive or sentimental, which was why she was so certain this marriage of convenience would work.

“I want to go home,” Peter said, sounding like a ten-year-old boy who had wandered too far from his mommy. “My life and my friends…everything is in Sydney. You need to come with me.”

“I can't do that.” She stopped and turned to him. His homesickness was really starting to irk her and worry her a little. And for Haley to be worried about anything was saying a lot. “My nephew is in a coma! He could die!”

He rolled his eyes, seeming bored with her excuses. “Whatever. I'm tired of sleeping in a guest house and getting evil stares from your father.”

“God,” she said, looking around the front of the hotel for the valet, who was nowhere to be seen. “I thought I was impatient. We don't have much longer to go. Where is that damn valet? This is what happens when you try to valet in the slums. Chaos!”

“So it shouldn't be a problem,” he said. “If there isn't much time, you can stand to come to Sydney. You have to or my uncle won't believe…”

He noticed that Haley was no longer listening to him, and she was no longer looking for her red Jaguar. Something had caught her eye, and she rushed to the corner to get a closer look.

“What is it?” he asked, following her.

Haley thought she was seeing things, but she wasn't. A wicked little smile formed at the edges of her lips as she took it all in. Her first thought was wondering if she was seeing right. Her second thought was how she could use this to her advantage. There were so many possibilities.

“Who is that?” Peter asked. “Who is that person you're looking at?”

“No one you need to be worried about,” she said as she reached into her purse for her phone. She quickly got frustrated when she couldn't find it, because she was running out of time.

“Give me that,” she said as she snatched Peter's phone from him. “How does this camera work?”

“Just”—he reached for it—“let me show you.”

“There isn't time!” Seeing the camera icon, she reached up and took a picture as best she could before the chance was lost.

She only hoped she got what she needed. This could be a gold mine.

 

The Interfaith Meditation Room and Chapel on the first floor of the hospital was open twenty-four hours a day, but this was the first time Kimberly had come down there since Evan was admitted. Now that she was there, she wasn't sure what to do. She was alone except for an elderly woman lighting a candle at a nondescript granite table on the other side of the room.

Kimberly had stopped praying when she was young. After the abuse she experienced at home and the way she was treated as a teenaged prostitute in Detroit, she felt certain that God either didn't exist or he didn't care about her. She felt justified in giving up on him, because he had already given up on her. Then she met Michael and after their one-night stand, she found out she was pregnant. She was a model at the time, and all her model friends urged her to have an abortion. But she had already done that, and it had taken a piece of her away. She vowed to never do it again. She was deathly afraid that Michael would dump her when he found out, believing that she had planned this to trap him. So, for the first time in a long time, Kimberly prayed.

The next night, she told him and God blessed her with Michael, love, and understanding. She prayed a lot over the next six years, because she was so blessed. But in the last couple of years, her prayers weren't prayers of thanks. They were prayers about abandonment and begging for some solution to her nightmare.

Now, she was here to pray for mercy, but she didn't know exactly how to do it, and it was too important to mess up.

“God,” she whispered as she knelt down. “In the Bible, you say that your grace is sufficient. I'm placing all my trust in your word for my baby. They say it is a sin to bargain with you, but I'm offering my own soul and a promise to get rid of all my hatred and my quest for vengeance. If you give me my baby back, I will be who I should have always been—grateful for your mercy and grace. Please, give me a sign that you believe me.”

Kimberly opened her eyes as she felt someone was near her. She was hoping to feel a spirit but was surprised to see her ex-husband, the man she had recently made love to after having promised herself she would never do it again just days before. How could he be her sign?