The Final Chapter
Lucas sat alone in the main library of the house the next day. He was holding a book in his hands, but he hadn’t turned a single page in over an hour. He had only sat still and stared at the two pages before him, his mind going over everything that had happened five years earlier, and what had happened the night before.
He couldn’t believe that he had lost Savannah, but he knew, too, that there was nothing he could do about it. She had been right. When it all came down to it, she had been right. He had been involved five years earlier, and it was his actions and choices that had led to her being kidnapped and held hostage for ransom.
He had no business trying to stop her or win her back. He had nearly cost her her life, and there was nothing that he could do about that, no way that he could take it back and make it right. He had lost the love of his life, and there was nothing he could do to change it.
The door opened, and he turned in his chair and looked up to see Caleb walking into the room. He left the door wide open and strode directly over to Lucas.
“Get out, Caleb. I don’t want to see you, and I have nothing to say to you,” Lucas said, finally closing the book in his hands and setting it on the table before him as he stood up from his chair.
“That’s too bad, Lucas, because you’re going to have to see me,” Caleb stated flatly, walking up to Lucas and facing him.
Lucas felt all of the anger and sadness that was roiling around in him come to a head, and he raised his voice sharply. “No! I don’t have to see you. You cost me my relationship with the woman love! The woman I was going to marry! She won’t take my calls, she won’t see me, she won’t even speak to me! I love her, Caleb, and I wanted to marry her. Now, she’s gone!”
He walked away from Caleb and began to pace, his anger and frustration growing stronger in him as he walked back and forth. “I’ve made tremendous sacrifices for you. I nearly lost my freedom when they were going to put me in jail, I have lost my father’s respect, and I can’t lose anything else for you! Listen, I am truly grateful that you saved my life when we were in Afghanistan. I would not be standing here today if it weren’t for you, and that’s the truth. I have a lot to be grateful for when it comes to you, and I have a lot to be thankful for, but I think that by now, I’ve paid you back.” He paused then and wondered if the thoughts that were running through his mind just then were going to actually make it out of his mouth.
They did. “I honestly think that we should part ways. I truly do.” Lucas couldn’t believe that he had spoken what had been on his mind since he had walked away from Caleb at the car after Vincent had been shot.
Caleb held his hand up. “I let you say your piece; now, you need to listen to me. This is why I’m here. I have to tell you, me saving your life that night in Afghanistan did not indebt you to me for the rest of our lives, and you are the one who needs to let go of that moral obligation because you’d have done exactly the same thing for me if the bullet had hit me instead of you. I’m going to tell you something else, I am never going to forgive myself for getting you involved in my drug life and problems. You were clean as a whistle. You had never done anything wrong, all of our lives, not once! You didn’t deserve what happened to you. Not at all. I never should have asked to borrow your car. I never should have used it to go do my stupid drug deal, especially without telling you what I was really using your car for. I never should have let you lie for me and take the fall when it was me all along who stole the drugs from Vincent. You had nothing to do with it.”
Lucas had stopped pacing and was staring at Caleb. Caleb took a few steps toward him and gave his head a shake as he continued. “You shouldn’t have had to deal with any of that. Yet there you were; you stepped in and did all of it to save me because I saved your life and you thought that you owed me for it.”
Tears welled up in his eyes as he spoke on. “You never should have been arrested and thrown into jail and dragged into court. That should have been me. You didn’t do anything wrong. I did. That was all me, and you took the blame for it; you took the punishment and paid the price for it. I wish every single day that I could take that back somehow and make it right. I would undo every single bit of it if I could, but I can’t. I love you, Lucas. You’re my brother. You’re the only family I have. I would never do anything to hurt you, but here we are. I don’t want to lose you, but I understand how you feel. I do, and I’m going to make it up to you.”
Lucas shook his head as tears formed in his eyes as well. “Don’t bother trying to make it up to me. We’ve both done enough. Please, Caleb, just leave. Leave and don’t come back. We’ve said all that there is to say, and we have both done far too much. It’s time we went our separate ways. You can leave.”
Caleb stood stock still for a moment, blinking in disbelief, wanting to try to say anything that might change what had happened, but there was nothing that could be said that would undo it. He stared at Lucas for a long moment and then turned and walked toward the door. He stopped halfway there and turned to look over his shoulder, but Lucas had turned his back on Caleb and was staring out of the window. Caleb faced the door walked out of it, not bothering to close it.
Lucas was gazing out of the window when he heard his name spoken, and he turned to see his father standing just inside the library door. Carter had a strange look on his face – one of confusion, one of revelation, one of disbelief.
“Son, I want to speak with you. Come here,” he spoke in a level tone.
Lucas walked over to him and stood before him, looking into his father’s eyes. “What is it?”
He frowned and his brow lowered some. “I happened to see Caleb coming into the library, and I was going to come in to tell him to leave my home, but then I heard you two talking. I stopped outside the door, and I listened. I heard everything that the two of you just said. I want you to tell me right now, is everything that you two said true?”
Lucas’ throat tightened, and tears formed in his eyes again. “Yes, it’s true. I took the fall for Caleb when he got into trouble. I didn’t know what he was doing. I saved him because he’d saved my life. I felt that I owed it to him.”
Carter shook his head slowly, looking at Lucas as if he was seeing him for the very first time. He reached his arms up then and embraced Lucas, pulling him close. “Oh Lucas, I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry that I ever doubted you. I’m sorry that I treated you so poorly because of it. I love you, son.”
“I love you too, dad,” Lucas answered back, finding it almost impossible to swallow the tears and emotions that were overtaking him.
His father let go of him and held his shoulders in his hands as he looked at him in the eyes. “Can you ever forgive me for the way that I’ve been with you?”
Lucas nodded. “If you can forgive me for lying to you about it and covering it up all of this time. I was trying to stay true to my friend and to the choices that I had made, choices that I thought were the best decisions at the time.”
“I’m glad to forgive you, and I’m grateful to you for forgiving me,” Carter answered him. They embraced once more, and Carter let him go. He made to leave then, but turned after a few steps and looked at his son.
“I want to say that I owe you an apology for the way that I treated Savannah. If you want to be with her, you should be able to be with her, no matter who she is, if you truly love her the way that you said you do. If you want to spend the rest of your life with her and marry her, I would welcome her into this family. I may not have agreed with your choice at the beginning, but I can see now how much you love her, and I want you to be happy.” Carter gave him a smile. It was one of the few smiles that Carter had given him in five years, ever since the day that Lucas had saved Caleb and taken the fall for him.
“I’d love nothing better than that, father, but unfortunately, she’s gone, and there’s no way I’m going to get her back.” Lucas could barely speak the words. He felt as if his chest was so tight that it might actually explode with all of the emotion that he was trying to hold within it.
His father frowned and looked sharp. “That’s a shame.”
***
Savannah took a deep breath and walked into the gallery on Fifth Avenue. It was going to be the last time that she walked into the gallery, and she could hardly wrap her head around that knowledge, let alone think about telling her friends that she was leaving and saying goodbye to them.
Natalie glanced up at her to say hello when Savannah walked in, but the word stopped at the edge of her mouth when she saw the look on Savannah’s face.
“What is it? What’s going on?” she asked as she stood up out of her chair at the table in the back room. She’d been sitting there having tea and flipping through a fashion magazine, but her attention was solely focused on Savannah.
Savannah stopped where she was, and Natalie walked up to her and gave her a big hug. “I’m here. I’m right here with you,” she said quietly. She held her for a little while and then let her go.
“Where’s Leo?” Savannah asked with a tight voice. “I need to talk with you both.”
Natalie drew in a breath and frowned slightly. “He’s in the front. I’ll go get him. I don’t think anyone else is out there.”
She left, and Savannah wrung her hands, wondering how she was going to tell them and what she was going to say that would be the right thing to say, hurting them the least and letting them know that she cared immensely about them.
Leo walked in a minute later with Natalie at his heels. His face was contorted with worry. He reached for her as soon as he was in the room, folding her into a big hug. She hugged him in return, and in the safety and security of his embrace, she could no longer hold in her emotion. She began to weep, and Natalie held them both as they let her cry it out until she was still again.
When they let her go, she looked at them with profound sorrow all over her face. “Leo, Nat… I have to tell you something, and I’m so sorry to tell you. I really am. I hope you understand.”
They walked her over to the table, and the three of them sat down together. Savannah did her best to try to find some courage, and she began.
“Something happened in Los Angeles that I didn’t tell you two about when I came back because I hadn’t made up my mind about it yet, and I didn’t know what I was going to do. Now, I know what I’m going to do, so it’s time for me to tell you both about it.” A shiver ran down her body as her tears slowed, and she drew in a deep breath.
“Robert didn’t just ask me to show my work in his gallery in Beverly Hills. He also asked me to work there for him. He wants me to manage it. He wants to pay me twice the annual salary that I make here, and he wants to give me a place to stay until I find my own home. It was such an incredible offer that I didn’t want to make a fast decision on it. I wanted to give it some time, think on it, and make a decision that would be best for me and for everyone else. I had a lot of things to weigh: you both, and my job here at this gallery, and…” she took another deep breath as she said his name, “and Lucas.”
Leo’s mouth fell full open, and Natalie blinked in surprise.
“My god… that’s… that’s incredible…” Leo stammered. Natalie said nothing; she only watched in amazement. Leo reached his hand up to his throat and then his face, holding it there. “So, what have you decided to do?”
Savannah could see that they already knew, but they were letting her have the chance to tell them. She bit at her lower lip for a moment. “I’m going to take it. Lucas and I… well, we broke up. There was a horrible, horrible… incident, and I don’t want to talk about that, but the end gist of it is that I’m not going to stay here in New York. I just can’t. Not now, anyway. So, I’m going to take Robert’s offer and go to Los Angeles. It really is the best opportunity for my career, and it will be a good place for me to be right now.”
Leo and Natalie both gasped. “What happened?! Oh my god…” Leo trailed off. “I know you don’t want to talk about it, but if you decide to, we’re certainly here for you. I’m so sorry, darling. I know how much you love him, how you’re so… into him…” He shook his head and wiped at tears from his eyes. “I’m so sorry.”
Natalie gave her shoulders a shrug. “You know that going to the other side of the country isn’t going to make healing any better or easier, right?” she offered in a helpful tone.
Savannah shook her head and closed her eyes. “I need to be as far from New York right now as I possibly can be. I just can’t… I can’t stay. Not now.”
“I am so sorry that things went so wrong with you and Lucas, but is it really enough to make you want to leave your whole life here?” Natalie asked, reaching her hand out to rest it over Savannah’s where it sat on the table.
“Yes. Definitely,” Savannah answered sadly. “I wish it was just… a normal breakup or something I could just walk away from, but it was awful. Besides that, the Los Angeles offer was already on the table, and I think it’s just really good timing for the change. It’s really the best job offer I’ve ever had. I mean, I love working here, but this is a great chance for me. Artistically, this is about as good as it can get for someone in my position. It’s just all shaping up to be exactly the right choice at exactly the right time. I’m just miserable that I’ll be leaving you two. I love you both. I’ll miss you two so much.”
“We’re going to miss you, too. You know, if you ever want to come back here, your job will be waiting for you, and we’ll always be here for you, too.” Leo reached for hand as well, and the three of them held on to one another’s hands.
“You can come out to see me anytime, too. You know that, right? There’s plenty of room for both of you at Robert’s house if you decide to visit. He’s got three more bedrooms in the guest wing besides my room. I know that he wouldn’t mind if you came out. When I get a place, I’ll be sure to get a three bedroom or bigger so that I can have you out to visit. I’d love it if you came. That’s an open invitation.” She smiled through tears, and so did Leo and Natalie.
Natalie looked at her sadly. “When do you think you’ll go?” she asked in a quiet voice.
Savannah could hardly bring herself to say it. “I am going to go today. In just a little while, in fact. I’m sorry to leave you short like this. I really have to go, though. This has been one of the worst experiences of my life. I’m just devastated, and I need to go. I’ll be back to sort out my condo and all of my things. I might rent it out until I can sell it or something. I’m not really thinking about that right now. I’m just thinking of getting out of here as fast as I possibly can.”
They were even more understanding and comforting to her than she had ever hoped that they could be, and she was grateful for that. When she had left the horrible crime scene with Vincent dead on the ground and Lucas and Caleb behind her, she had gotten a ride home from the police, and once there, she had turned her phone off. She had cried for hours and hours, all through the night. When morning’s light crept up over the city, bringing color and clarity to everything, she had made up her mind.
There was no way that she could stay in New York City. No way that she could remain there with Lucas in the same city, trying to contact her, trying to see her, and trying to get her to forgive him or forget what had happened. She didn’t know what he might try to do. All she knew was that she couldn’t take him back. She could not see him again or talk with him, and she couldn’t stay where such wretched memories would haunt her.
The thought of the warm and welcoming glow of California’s bright sun seemed even brighter and more welcoming to her the morning after her ordeal was over. It seemed like the only viable answer to her problems. She knew that it was the best choice for her. She had packed a few bags for herself, and when it was later in the morning, she had called Robert and told him that she was going to take the job. He bought a plane ticket for her and emailed it to her right away. She would be leaving that day. There was no time to waste, no time to stay and spend another minute in her life there, miserable and heartbroken.
She didn’t want to hear any more lies. She didn’t want to have to dread Lucas walking into the gallery, or him trying to find her and contact her. She just wanted out, and taking Robert up on his offer was the best way to do it. It was the best decision that she could have made for herself and for her future at that time.
The hardest part had been telling Leo and Natalie. She wasn’t too worried about telling Ellie, as Ellie already knew about it, but Leo and Natalie would not have time to think about it or get over it. They were going to be blindsided with it and have to deal with the news and the knowledge that Savannah was leaving right away. She hadn’t known how they would take it. She’d hoped for the best, but she’d kept her expectations low, just in case.
They had surprised her, and it was a relief and a comfort to her that they were so accepting of it and so incredibly understanding. She was grateful to have such good, close, caring friends who were so ready to support her and help her through such a hard time.
She stayed at the gallery with them for just a little while, and then they went out to lunch together before she went home. She got her place as settled as she could before Ellie came to pick her up. She had asked for a ride to the airport, but she hadn’t told Ellie why, and she wasn’t looking forward to telling her best friend about all that had happened with Lucas. She had been able to get away with brushing it all off with Natalie and Leo, but she knew that Ellie wasn’t going to let it go so easily.
Ellie was at her door early in the afternoon. Savannah let her in, and Ellie took one look at her face and locked her in a big hug.
“My God, Savannah,” she whispered. “I don’t know what happened to you, but whatever it is, I’m here for you.”
Savannah closed the door and sat down with Ellie on the sofa. Ellie held her hand as she began to speak, somehow finding a voice that she wasn’t even sure she had.
“Lucas and I broke up,” she said quietly.
Ellie’s face contorted in a mixture of sorrow, surprise, and confusion. “What? Why? How? I thought that you two were doing so well! I thought that you were both in love and things were wonderful. What on earth happened?”
Savannah shook her head and closed her eyes. “He’s not a good guy, Ellie. I can only sit here and wonder how I ever could have fallen for such a bad guy.”
“Ladies do it all the time. You’re in the majority, actually.” Ellie sighed in disappointment. “What happened?”
Fighting back the tears that threatened to come again for the billionth time, Savannah began to explain. “I went to work and got a delivery. It was a single rose, and it came with a card. It said that a car was going to come for me, and we were going to have a night full of surprises. I thought it was from Lucas because he and I had talked about spending the evening together just the night before when I got back from California. I went out after work, and there was a limo there. I thought it was Lucas. It wasn’t.”
“Oh my God… who was it?” Ellie asked, her eyes growing wide as she listened.
Memories of the terrible experience came flooding back, and she closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying not to be sick. “It was this disgusting, big, heavy man with a cigar and a gun. I guess he had just been paroled from prison, from Sing Sing, actually. I didn’t know it when I got in the car. I tried to get out, but he held me at gunpoint. He took me to this old, broken down warehouse in Harlem, and he called Lucas and demanded five million dollars from him. He said that if Lucas didn’t pay it, he would kill me. It was terrifying. I was all tied up to a chair, both my hands and my feet. Look at this… these rope burns are from the ropes I was tied up with.”
She held out her hands, and Ellie looked carefully at the scabs that covered the places where blood had leaked from her body. Ellie was horrified. She looked back up at Savannah in a panic.
“What happened?” she asked again.
Savannah continued, “Well, Lucas said he’d get the money and be there. Then the guy… Vincent Rosetti is his name… I’m never going to forget that… Vincent started telling me about this drug deal that he had been in five years ago and that Lucas and his best friend Caleb were involved in it. I guess it went badly, and Caleb got away; Vincent and Lucas were arrested. Lucas got out of it because of all the money he has, and Vincent got sent to prison. He sat behind bars, stewed about it for five years, and decided that when he was out, he was going to get even with him. Then, when he got out on parole, he saw that photo in the newspaper on the society page of Lucas and me, and he decided to take me captive for a ransom so he could extort money out of Lucas and get his revenge.”
“Oh my God.” Ellie shook her head, her eyes bulging with shock.
“So, there we were in this warehouse, and I was all tied up, and he was telling me this whole story about the drug deal that went wrong and how angry he was that he was the only one who served any time. Lucas showed up, and I was so relieved and so… so angry. He had been lying to me the whole time that we were together. He’d never said a word about what had happened before. He was talking about falling in love with me and how much I meant to him and how he wanted to be with me, but he didn’t bother to mention this one tiny little thing from five years ago. One little thing that just happened to be so big that it got me kidnapped and ransomed for five million dollars. It was unbelievable. I was so angry at him, and scared, and worried that one or both of us would be shot and killed.” She closed her eyes and took a few moments to calm herself before she continued.
“Vincent took him down to the street to get the ransom money from the car, and while they were gone, Lucas’ best friend Caleb showed up and untied me and took me out to the alley behind the warehouse. I guess they were working together to take Vincent out and rescue me.” She shook her head and gritted her teeth. “Well, I went looked around the corner of the warehouse and saw everything that was happening. Vincent was about to shoot Lucas, and I was so terrified that he was going to be killed, but then Caleb and a policeman who was hidden away both shot at Vincent, and they both hit him. He was shot in the shoulder and in the leg. He turned around and fired at the cop, and the cop shot him again in the chest that time, and he died right there on the street.” She wiped at a few tears that had escaped her eyes.
“God, Savannah, I can hardly believe this all happened! This is insane!” Ellie shook her head and stared at her.
“I went up to Lucas afterward, and he wanted to come to me and hold me, and I wanted that, too. But more than that, I wanted the truth. I had to know. So I told him that Vincent had told me all about it. I asked him if it was true that he had been involved in the drug deal with Vincent and Caleb five years ago, and he said yes. He was honest then, and he told me. He was involved. He was part of it. The whole thing was true. He was the reason I was kidnapped and held hostage, and he was the reason that I almost lost my life. I told him I didn’t ever want to hear from him again, and I left. My heart was shattered. I just couldn’t believe it. I came home and cried all night long. I haven’t ever cried this much. It’s like a part of me is slowly dying inside, and there’s nothing that I can do to stop it. So I called Robert, and I told him I would take the job.” Savannah stopped speaking then and waited for Ellie to digest what she had just heard.
Ellie blinked in silence for a moment. “You did what?” she asked quietly.
“I called Robert and told him that I would take the job. I’m going to go to Los Angeles. I can’t stay here, Ellie. I just can’t. I mean, after all of that… it would just be too hard. I know that Lucas could try to get ahold of me at any time. He could walk into the gallery and try to see me; he could follow me in town here; he could do anything to try to get back in good with me. He is too close in New York City. He’s a boss in this town, and I just can’t be that accessible to him. I don’t want to stay in a city where something like this has happened to me. I want a new beginning. I want a fresh start. I want to take my career to the next level. I could go out there and leave all of this behind me.” Savannah hoped with everything in her that she would be able to leave it all behind her.
“Honey,” Ellie said in a soft voice, reaching for her and giving her a big strong hug, “I cannot believe that any of that actually happened to you. How horrid!! God, and you’re okay. Thank heaven! I don’t know what I would have done if I had lost you. This is the worst thing that has ever happened to you! You must be devastated!”
“I am. That’s why I’m leaving,” Savannah answered. “I have to heal, and I can’t do that here. I’m going to do it there.”
“I understand why you’re leaving, I truly do, but I just wish that you weren’t going so far.” Ellie sighed sadly as she held on to Savannah’s hand.
“I’d go farther if I could,” Savannah answered honestly. “You know, you can come out and visit me anytime. I’d love to have you, and you know there’s plenty of room out there in Robert’s house. When I get my own place, I’ll have room for you to come and visit if you want to. Don’t worry that you’ll never see me. You just won’t see me as often. I’m really sorry about that, but obviously… I can’t stay, and this change with Robert, well, it’s the best thing that could happen to me right now.”
“I know.” Ellie sighed heavily again. “I’m just going to miss you like crazy.”
“I’m going to miss you, too,” Savannah answered as she wiped away another tear.
“We’d better get going, then, so you don’t miss your flight to freedom,” Ellie said with a pat on Savannah’s hand as she stood up from the sofa. Savannah stood up with her. They embraced once more, and then Ellie helped her carry her luggage out to the car.
An hour later, she was in the airport waiting to board her plane, and an hour after that, she was taxiing down the runway, and New York City, and Lucas Carrington, and all of the drama that had happened were behind her, fading in the distance.
Six hours later, Robert welcomed her to Los Angeles again and helped her put her luggage into the SUV he was driving to pick her up. They drove back to his house, and she was just as sad about being there that time as she had been happy about being there the first time. The difference was profound, and Robert sensed it immediately.
“Savannah, I hope I’m not prying. I know that I just asked you for an answer, but now, I’m curious. I wonder if you wouldn’t mind telling me what it was that made your mind up to take this opportunity and move out here to Los Angeles?” He was kind in his query, and she didn’t feel pressured by it.
“I guess I needed a fresh start,” she answered, keeping it simple as she gave him a half-smile. It was all that she could manage just then.
He nodded thoughtfully and was silent for a few minutes as he thought about it. He looked over at her then and spoke again. “It’s good that you came out for a fresh start, but I have been around long enough to know that big life changes sometimes need an adjustment period. Why don’t we have you start on at the gallery for a trial period, and we’ll make sure in a month that that’s still what you really want. If you’re still glad to be here and you’re ready to make it permanent, then we will do that, but if you want to rescind, I won’t take it personally, and there will be no ruffled feathers on this end if you decide that this wasn’t the right change for you.”
She smiled genuinely then as she looked over at him. “Robert, you really are such a good man. I’m so grateful for that. Thank you more than I can say for everything that you’ve done for me. It’s been nothing but a tremendous kindness to me since I met you, and I’m so grateful for it!”
He gave her a wink and a smile. “Thank you. It’s my pleasure. I want to see you succeed. Someone gave me a big break when I was about your age, and it made all the difference in the world to me and in my life. I like to try to give that back to others anytime I can. Kind of… pay it forward, if that makes sense. I’m glad to help you, and I know that everything that I do for you is going to be paid forward on your behalf as well.”
They rode on in silence, and he helped her into the house with her luggage when they arrived. She was settled in shortly afterward, and she passed on dinner that night, saying that she had eaten on the airplane, though it wasn’t true.
She had no desire to eat. She had no desire to do anything that night but cry herself to sleep on her pillow in the massive bedroom of the guest wing at Robert’s house. She had to cry it all out that night because the next morning she was going to start a new life, and she was determined to leave the old one behind in the past, as a shadow that would be forgotten altogether one day.
*
Two weeks went by, and Savannah was doing better every day. She wasn’t sleeping well at night, but she was more rested and relaxed, and she was determined to make a good start in her new life. She was catching on well at the gallery and was already improving in her job there as the days went by.
Robert had introduced her to several people, and she felt as if some of them could be good friend material for the future. It seemed as if everything was slowly shifting into place. She had changed her phone number to a California line so that no one could contact her if they didn’t already have the number. Mostly it was to keep Lucas from calling her, if he became so inclined.
Day by day, it felt as if the shell of her old life in New York City was beginning to come off of her, piece by piece. The hard part was that Lucas was embedded much deeper in her than she had realized at first, and it became clear to her that it was going to take a long while to get him off of her mind and out of her system.
She was trying to do that when one of the shop girls in the gallery came into her office in the back and told her that she had a guest out front. She walked out with a smile on her face, but the smile fell in an instant when she saw Caleb standing there. She went up to him with every muscle in her body tensed and spoke low so that no one else could hear her.
“Get out. Now. I don’t know how you found me or what you’re doing here, but you need to leave. You never should have come here.” She demanded, looking toward the door to give him a clear direction.
He shook his head and spoke softly so as not to draw any unwanted attention to their conversation. “Now, hang on. I’m just here to talk with you; that’s all. I’m not going to leave until you talk with me, so I want you to consider that, please. Just a cup of coffee. We can go to that little café across the street – we’ll get a coffee, we’ll talk, and that’ll be it.”
He made it sound so innocent, as if it was just going to be a quick conversation and then he would be gone. She was certain that it wasn’t going to be that way at all. “No. I’m not going anywhere with you. I know who you are and what you’ve done, and I’m not leaving with you. Now, get out before I call the police. I’ve just started working here, and I don’t want a scene, so please don’t make me call the police.”
She stood before him with her arms crossed over her chest, speaking in her softest voice and trying to sound tougher than she felt as she demanded that he leave without showing any outward signs of her anger at his being there.
Caleb shook his head. “No, you don’t seem to understand. I’m not leaving until you talk with me. That’s all I want; just a talk. I want you to think about this. You’d be dead right now if it weren’t for Lucas and me. You’re standing here alive in your new life and in your new job because he and I came and risked our lives to rescue you. The least you could do is show me a little courtesy and come across the street to get some coffee with me. You at least owe me that.”
Sighing heavily she looked around and saw that the gallery wasn’t busy. She wouldn’t be missed. She waved at the shop girl minding the front desk and told her that she was going to go across the street for a few minutes, and she’d be right back. The girl smiled and waved her away.
Caleb walked at a slight distance from her as they crossed the street and went to the café, and she appreciated that. It made her feel somewhat safer. He bought them both coffee, and when they went outside, he sat down at a café table set apart from all of the others, just beneath a big, leafy tree in the shade.
She went to the table and sat near him, keeping her eyes on him and looking around them both at the same time to see if anyone else was around lurking in the shadows somewhere. Mostly, she wanted to be sure that Lucas wasn’t hiding somewhere watching her.
He sipped his coffee and smiled happily. “Boy, it’s beautiful out here in sunny southern California. I can see why you like it so much. I can see why you’d want to move out here from New York City. No more snowy winters for you! Lucky lady.” He gave her a wink and took another sip of his coffee.
She narrowed her eyes at him. “What do you want, Caleb? What are you doing out here?”
He sighed and shrugged his shoulders. “Well, so much for small talk and banter. I guess it’s straight to business for us. I guess I deserve that.”
He pulled his chair closer to hers and she tensed, keeping a close eye on him. He leaned forward and spoke with a low voice.
“I think you should know exactly what happened because I know Vincent, and I know that he only told you a little bit of the story.” He looked dead serious, and she felt her heart skip a beat.
“What are you talking about?” she asked in a low voice, furrowing her brow at him.
“I’m talking about what happened five years ago. There’s more to it than you know, and you made a huge decision to cut a man out of your life because you only knew part of it. I think you would have made a different choice if you had known everything. I’m going to tell you everything, just so you’ll know it. I’m not saying it will change your mind about anything that you’ve already decided, but you sure as hell have a right to know, so I’m going to tell you the whole thing.” He took another drink of his coffee, and she watched him as he set the cup down and looked up at her, ready to tell her the whole truth.
“Five years ago, I was in a bad way. I had fallen in with a bad crowd, and I was really on the wrong track. I had gotten into drugs, and things were not going well for me. I decided that I wanted out. I wanted to make back all of the money that I had blown on drugs and bad choices and get a fresh start. I’ll be totally honest with you; the reason I decided to change everything was because I’d fallen in love, and the girl I had fallen in love with was about as far above me in every way as any girl could possibly be, but I’d fallen for her so fast and so deep that there was no way out for me. I had to try. I had to do everything I could to try to be worthy of her, if I could ever get as close to worthy as possible. So I decided to clean my life up. I was going to make one more run. One more job.” He laughed coldly then as he thought back on it.
“It’s always that way, though, isn’t it? Right when you decide to make the change, that’s when the bottom falls out and everything goes wrong…” He looked down, and his shoulders drooped. “Well, everyone on the wrong side of the tracks knew my car. They knew me, and I didn’t want to be seen or caught doing this last job. See, I had decided that I was going to steal a million dollars’ worth of cocaine from Vincent. I was going to steal it and sell it and then be done with it. I’d go into the warehouse where I knew he kept it; that’s the same warehouse where you were taken. I had cased the joint. I knew where everything was. I was going to sneak in, steal the score, stash it in a strange car, and take off. It was perfect. He would never know who’d hit him. And, to be honest, a million in coke back then wasn’t that much money to him. He was a drug god at that time. He had more money than any other drug dealer on the northeast coast. I wasn’t even sure he’d miss it, but I figured wrong. I thought I’d be smart and go in with a car no one would ever recognize. So, I borrowed Lucas’ car. It was an uptown car. Totally believable. I asked him if I could borrow it, and I never told him what it was for. He didn’t even bat an eye. ‘Yeah sure,’ he’d told me, giving me the keys. ‘Take my car.’ I thought I was so smart.”
She stared at him, watching and listening to him as he spoke, seeing through his eyes what had happened so many years ago. It was an awakening perspective for her.
“He had no idea what was going on. I mean, he knew that I was into drugs a bit, but he didn’t know to what extent. He thought I was doing it recreationally. He had no idea how deeply I’d fallen into it. He didn’t know who Vincent was, or how dangerous things had really gotten for me. He just thought I was borrowing his car, poor guy. Well, you know what they say: when it rains, it pours. I took the car, I put myself in a disguise, and I went to the warehouse. I stole the coke and stuck it in the trunk of the car, and I took off. Well, it turns out that Vincent happened to see me make my getaway, and someone told him right away that the drugs were gone. He was on me so fast… like white on rice.” He shook his head, and a faraway look came into his eyes as if he was reliving it, as if it were happening even at that moment.
“I took off going through town like a demon out of hell, and he was right on my heels. He didn’t even stop to grab his goons; he just jumped in his own car and took off after me. We played chase all through Manhattan, and we got close to downtown. It was busy; there was a lot of traffic. I took a corner too sharp and wrecked the car. Vincent was right on my tail. He came around the corner and didn’t know that I had wrecked. He didn’t see it until it was too late. He hit the car… he hit Lucas’ car.” He paused and shook his head.
“I got out of the car and saw that Vincent was still in his car, unconscious. My arm was broken, and all that coke was in the back of Lucas’ car. I didn’t want the cops to show up and find it. I called Lucas and told him I’d had an accident and asked him to come help me. He wasn’t far away. He was downtown that day, and I knew it. Lucas had been out with our friend Pedro. They jumped in a cab and booked it to the wreck. I was so mad at him for bringing Pedro, but Lucas was just worried. He said that he and Pedro were out getting beers and were both worried about me when they found out I was in a wreck, so Pedro came with him to make sure I was okay. I knew that we didn’t have much time, and I told him that we had to get his car out of there if we could, you know, have it towed or something before the cops showed up. He wanted to know why, and I had to tell him. I opened the trunk and showed him the drugs. I told him I was making one last deal and had accidentally wrecked the car. He was furious with me. He was yelling at me about using his car for a drug deal, and neither one of us saw Vincent get out of his car with his guns. I guess he’d woken up. I had forgotten all about him after I saw that he was unconscious. Never gave him a second thought. Then, all of a sudden, there he was firing shots at us. Pedro got out of sight, and Vincent never saw him. Lucas had no idea who he was or what was going on, and I yelled at him to run, and then, like an idiot, I took off. I ran. Lucas was going to run, but Vincent pulled his gun on him, demanding to know where I was and where his drugs were. He was there, threatening to shoot Lucas and kill him if he didn’t talk. Lucas told him that he had no idea where I went, which was actually true. Vincent was about to pull the trigger when the cops showed up, lights and sirens going, guns pulled. They put Vincent in a squad car first, since he was the one with the gun, yelling out death threats. He was cuffed and pushed into the back of the squad car. While he was being arrested, Pedro came out to talk to the officers and tell them what really happened, but Lucas, thinking he still owed me for his life, shook his head at Pedro and told him to keep quiet. The cops didn’t know. They didn’t think Pedro was involved as a witness. They just thought he was walking up to the scene of a crime. They kicked him out.”
Caleb stopped then and took another long drink of his coffee, finishing it off and setting the empty cup back on the table. He looked over at Savannah, and she waited as he finished his story.
“Well, Pedro left the scene and then went to the jail to talk to Lucas afterward. Lucas admitted to Pedro that he was saving me and that he told the cops that it was him all along. It was him who stole the drugs, him who was in the high speed chase, and him who should take the blame. He said that he felt that he still owed me for saving his life. He said he couldn’t let me go to jail for it. My crime. My stupidity. No… big-hearted Lucas with no brain in his head, he had to take my place and swear that it was him. The cops believed him. Pedro told him that he shouldn’t do it, that it wasn’t his doing or his fault and that I needed to pay for my own crimes, but Lucas wouldn’t hear it. He told Pedro that if he was ever his friend, he would walk away and keep his mouth shut about everything that happened. Pedro said he would, but he was furious about the injustice of it. He said he was done with me, and he never wanted to see me again, so I lost my friendship with Pedro.”
He went quiet for a moment, thinking of all that he had lost over the years due to his drug use. It was immeasurable.
“Carter went to the jail… that’s Lucas’ dad,” he added, looking pointedly at Savannah.
“I met him,” she replied coolly, not mentioning that Carter had treated her terribly and that he was one of the reasons she had chosen to leave Lucas.
“Well, Lucas and Carter used to be very close. They were as close as a good father and a loyal son could be, but this crossed the line. He was beyond furious that his son was arrested and that he was accused of being involved in a drug situation. Lucas did something really stupid then. He lied to his dad. He told him the same story that he’d told the cops, and, like the cops, his dad believed him. I swear to God, I have never been able to figure out how any of these people thought they actually knew Lucas and could believe that he’d ever be involved in anything like that. He is the most honest and upstanding guy I have ever known. Anyway, his father said he wouldn’t stand for it. He said that he was going to fight it. Lucas told him not to. They all went to court. The judge gave Vincent fifteen years; Vincent tried to tell them about me, but Lucas said Vincent was lying, and it was just him working alone on it. Vincent was furious about it. The judge went to his chambers and came back and gave Lucas nothing, saying that in return for his testimony against Vincent, they were letting him off and dropping the charges, including the driving while drinking charge because they’d given him an alcohol test when they’d arrested him. There he was out drinking with Pedro, took a cab to rescue me, and then the cops showed up. It was his car there, wrecked with drugs in the trunk. There was no way he was getting out of a DUI, but the judge let him off of every charge in exchange for his testimony… or, at least, that’s what he advised the prosecution to do, and they listened to him. Lucas left. His father hated him for it after that. Their relationship was destroyed. He lost all his respect for Lucas. He told him to never do anything like it again, or he was going to be out of the family and out of the inheritance for good. His heart broke. He lost everything that meant anything to him. I just found out recently that Carter paid the judge off. That’s why he let Lucas go, because he met with the judge in his chambers and paid him a huge sum of money so that their family name wouldn’t carry any kind of criminal record. Lucas hated it when he found out about that. It was cheating to him, and he’s just not a cheating kind of guy.”
He sat back in his chair and folded his hands in his lap. “I’ve been clean since that happened. I’ve never wanted to touch drugs since, and I never will again. I saw the real cost of what I had done – a cost that everyone else was paying for me, and I never wanted anyone to go through anything like that for me again. I’ve made my amends, at least as much as I can.”
“What did you mean when you said you saved his life, and he felt like he owed you for it?” she asked curiously.
“We were in the military together in Afghanistan. He got shot behind enemy lines, and I carried him a long way to the safe zone. I saved his life. He’s been trying to repay me ever since then, thinking he owes his whole life to me. All I’ve ever wanted from him is his friendship, not this obligation debt he thought he owed me. That’s gone now, though. We talked it over, and he is past the point of thinking he owes me. Now, I’m just hoping that you will see that everything I’ve told you about this whole mess was the truth.” He looked at her hopefully and waited.
“I believe you,” she told him earnestly, and she did. She knew that every word he was telling her was true. It sounded so much more like the Lucas that she knew than the drug-dealing Lucas whom Vincent had hated, and every word of what Caleb had said had fit in perfectly with Vincent’s story, from the other perspective.
He looked at her intently then. “I hope you do, and I hope that if you do, you go back home to New York City and make up with Lucas because he loves you and he needs you. He’s miserable.”
She shook her head slowly. “No. I’m sorry he’s miserable, and he’s not the only one. I’m miserable, too. I’m not going back to New York, though. I’ve already changed my life. I’ve moved. I’m not going back. I love him, too, but it should have been Lucas coming out here to try to fix this, not you. If I really meant anything to him, he’d be here, and he’s not. You are. I’m done with all of this.”
Standing up, she walked to the recycling bin and tossed her empty cup into it. She looked back at Caleb, sitting at the table. “Thank you for the coffee and the truth. I wish I had heard it from him instead.”
He watched her leave, and she walked back across the street and into the gallery, letting the door close behind her.
*
Caleb slipped into the Carrington house unnoticed and quietly headed to Lucas’ wing. He found no one there, so he went to the kitchen and peeked in. Lucas was in the room there, pouring himself a glass of wine.
Caleb walked in, and Lucas looked up and saw him. His jaw tightened for a moment, and he shook his head. “You need to leave. You’re not welcome here anymore.”
“I wanted to tell you that I went to Los Angeles to see Savannah,” Caleb said evenly.
Lucas was pouring his glass of wine but stopped mid-pour and set the bottle down on the island counter between himself and Caleb. “Why Los Angeles?” he asked with a touch of curiosity.
“Well, she moved there, right after… our episode a few weeks ago. She got a job at a gallery there in Beverly Hills. I went looking for her, and it took me a while to find her, but I finally did. When I did find her, I told her everything. She knows all of it now. The whole truth,” he said quietly, watching his best friend.
Lucas was shocked. His mouth fell open slightly, and he stared at Caleb.
Caleb, seeing that he had Lucas’ attention, continued, “She said that she loves you and she wants you, but she’s not coming back to New York. I’m here to tell you that because I’m going to tell you this. You said that you really loved her and that you wanted to spend the rest of your life with her. You said you wanted to marry her and make her your wife. Well, if that’s true, then you need to get your ass out to Los Angeles and prove it to her. Go out there, get her, and tell her that you love her and you want her.”
He waited, and he saw the change come over Lucas’ face. Lucas was a whirl of emotion. He shook his head almost imperceptibly. “I didn’t think she was ever going to speak to me again. I thought that she hated me. I thought that there was just no chance for us ever again.”
Lucas walked over to Caleb and embraced him, hugging him tight for a moment before he released him and looked at him. “You didn’t have to go all the way out there and find her and tell her the truth about me, but you did. That means everything to me, Caleb,” he said solemnly. “Thank you.”
Caleb smiled widely at him. “Hey, we’re even now, just so long as I get my best friend back.”
Lucas gave him a light slap on the shoulder. “You have your best friend back, and we are even. No more trouble ever again, though.”
“I promise,” Caleb swore, giving Lucas a sincere grin. “I’ve sworn off trouble for life or longer.”
Lucas walked toward the door, and Caleb looked over at him. “Hey, where are you going?”
“Los Angeles. I have to go get the love of my life!” Lucas gave him a salute and disappeared out of the kitchen door.
The door at the other end of the kitchen opened, and Camilla walked in, her long blonde hair spilling around her shoulders. She looked pensive. Caleb stood frozen where he was, watching her as she moved, taking in everything about her, not wanting to disrupt the moment in any way, so that he could savor it for as long as it may last, just being near her.
She poured herself a cup of tea and looked up at him. “I heard what you two were talking about.” Her full soft pink lips curled into a smile, and she shook her head slightly. “I may have been wrong about you. You might not be a bad egg after all.” She turned then and started to walk out of the kitchen.
He went to her, reaching for her arm gently to stop her. She paused and turned to look at him. His heart was pounding as he spoke quietly to her, getting lost in her baby blue eyes.
“If I’m not so bad, then give me a chance. Let me take you out.” He spoke with hope in his voice and pure sincerity.
She tilted her head a little and smiled again, almost a laugh. “I don’t like bad boys.”
He reached up and touched her cheek gently. “I’m reformed. I promise.” He almost whispered it to her. “I’m a bad boy gone good. You’ll love that, if you give it a try. All of the excitement with none of the danger.”
Camilla raised an eyebrow at him doubtfully. He couldn’t resist her. He leaned over slowly and kissed her cheek softly. She didn’t move or back away from him, and when he realized it, he glanced into her eyes once more before leaning in close and kissing her lips, tenderly and gently. She closed her eyes and drew in a breath, tensing as he moved his lips over hers.
Much to his surprise, and to hers, she kissed him back, taking her time, tasting him slowly as she wound her arms around his neck. Caleb pulled her close to him, folding her in his arms as he parted her lips and kissed her as he had wanted to for so long.
***
Savannah walked out of the gallery and slipped her cell phone into her purse. She had had a pleasant day, and she was enjoying feeling good. The sunshine soaked into her, and she loved it. She looked up and stopped short right where she was. There, before her, on the bench just outside of the gallery, was Lucas.
He was sitting there alone, simply watching her. She stared at him, stunned. He stood up, and she began to walk slowly to him. He met her halfway, looking her up and down and giving his head a shake as he did so, as if he couldn’t believe what he was looking at.
“California looks so good on you. You’ve never looked better. I could just sit here all day and drink in the sight of you,” he told her with a growing smile.
“What on earth are you doing here?” she managed to get out as she did her best to control her speeding heartbeat.
He bit at his lip slightly and gave her a conspiratorial look. “Well, to be honest, I was trying to figure out a way to go in and talk to a lady I know who works here. You see, there was this misunderstanding, and I’m trying to think of what I could possibly say that would ever make her want to see me or speak to me again.”
He took a step toward her. “I have been giving it some serious thought, you see, because it’s really important. I feel like this is my one good chance to tell the woman I love just how much she really means to me, and I can’t screw it up.”
Savannah crossed her arms over her chest and gave him a reproachful look. “Well, if I was you, I’d lead with a sincere apology and a damn good explanation for not just telling her the truth to begin with.”
He walked to her and reached out, taking her hands in his. “I cannot begin to tell you how terribly sorry I am that I wasn’t honest with you from the start. I should have told you everything when we started getting serious. I promise you that I will never let anything like that happen to you or us again. You see, I’m in love with you and I can’t stand not having you. I need you, and there isn’t much in this world that I need.”
She smiled at him; she couldn’t help it. Her heart was soaring in her, and all that she wanted was to be in his arms. “I forgive you. I love you, and I’ve missed you, too.”
“You love me?” he asked with a big smile and dancing, green eyes.
“Yes,” she answered, laughing a little at him.
“How much?” he raised an eyebrow.
“Why?” she asked suspiciously.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a black velvet box, opening it before her to show her a huge diamond engagement ring inside of it. “Do you miss me and love me enough to be my wife?”
Savannah was too choked up for words at first; she swallowed as hard as she could, but the swell of emotion in her came out as tears and a soft cry as she covered her mouth with her hands. Lucas reached up and took her left hand in his. Pulling the ring from the box, he slipped it onto her finger.
“Say yes, Savannah, please… say yes and give us the life we have both dreamed of.” He looked at her imploringly.
She laughed, and tears glistened at the corners of her eyes. “Yes! Yes…” she reached for him, kissing him and wrapping her arms around him as he picked her up in his arms and held her tight to him.
When he let her go, she looked up at him and then back at the gallery. “What about… what about this? I committed myself to this,” she told him with a concerned look.
“I’m a billionaire, Savannah. You aren’t going to need to work,” he offered with a smile.
She shook her head. “This is where I want to work,” she told him quietly. “This is where I want to live now.”
“Then this is where we will live, and this is where we will get married, and then someday, this is where we will raise our family.” He pulled her close and kissed her again, and she melted into his arms.
“I love you.” She smiled at up at him. “Thank you for coming here to get me back.”
“I had to come. I can’t live without you. I love you too, always.” He pressed his lips to hers in a kiss, a promise that would last forever.
{{**}}
Message From The Author:
Hiii
Hope you LOVED the book and if you want to check out the other books in my billionaire series then just check out my Amazon author page at the link below!
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Susan x